The isle of Barra Day 2 - First trip to the Outer Hebrides

Vatersay Beach

Friday, 24 May - still at Barra, had to rebook our campsite at Borve but happy to do that, the setting is lovely and the island is not that large.  The shower block is nice and clean, powerful enough shower to wash my hair, then they actually had a hair dryer with a diffuser! I didn’t have time to use it but did have time to be impressed that it was there. I even noted my pleasure about it in their visitor book!

We left early in the morning to explore the island and it is stunningly beautiful.  However, we went left from Borve and got to the airport too early for the planes that land on the beach. We drove on a bit after passing the airport, but the roads got smaller and we were not sure what was up ahead so we parked for 2 hours to wait for the plane. Not sure if this is a waste of time, but at least I got to go inside the airport for a lovely blueberry scone, with clotted cream!  

The passengers were given time to take their selfies and photos
and I thought that was really nice

There is about a 20 minute turnaround between
landings and take offs

Yes, the wait at the airport was worth it! So interesting to see the plane arrive and take off!  And just sitting and waiting gave us time to watch the tide roll out. A luxury that cannot be described.  Barra Airport (called Traig Mhor or Big Beach airport) states that “it is the only airport in the world where the runways are washed daily by the tide.”

This warning reminded me of the airport at St Maarten!

After this, we simply circled Barra.  It is only 7 miles wide and 8 miles long so we didn’t think it would take that long but we were wrong!  It is a very slow road, but extremely scenic.  There are also very few places to pull over when you are driving such a large vehicle as our motorhome so our choices of stops were limited.

We ended up asking permission to park in a play school car park since all the larger spaces in Castlebay were full of campers and we really wanted to spend some time here.  They were pleased we asked if it was ok and I then didn’t feel too guilty.  I had hoped to drop in after our walk around Castlebay for a coffee and cake, but we were there so long, we needed to get back to the campsite.  

The guide book I bought “Outer Hebrides, the Western Isles of Scotland, from Lewis to Barra” by Mark Rowe has been really helpful so far.  The only trouble is his route is north to south while our’s is south to north, so I am reading his book backwards!

Cafe Kisimul
If I had not read about this restaurant, I would have
passed it by assuming it was a pub!

The guide book described an award winning curry restaurant in Castlebay that made me very curious and we ended up eating lunch there.  Cafe Kisimul, the same name as Castle Kisimul in the harbour at Castlebay.  I am allergic to cumin so knew i would have to miss out on the Indian part of the menu but it also said they served Italian.  In the end, I got locally sourced fishcakes and they were perfect.  Alan got a Korma and he enjoyed it very much.  This cafe reached the final of the Tiffin Cup in 2010 and claims to be the best curry house in Scotland.  I can’t say since I couldn’t eat it, but it is well worth a visit!  

I also shopped at the local craft and food shop, “Buth Bharraigh”, bought some delicious and different tablet at the Hebridean Toffee Company and the local Co-op.  On the way out of town, Alan spotted a sign for the Barra Distillery, so I also added a bottle of Barra Gin to my growing Scottish collection. This one uses local Carrageen seaweed as one of its botanicals and I liked it!  (Question, is there a Scottish gin I don’t like? Answer - I don’t know yet!)

Causeway from Barra to Vatersay

Barra and Vatersay are the two most southerly inhabited islands of the Hebrides and their beaches are absolutely breathtaking.  I knew we still have Luskentyre Beach to look forward to on Lewis, but how to beat Vatersay Beach?  I will have to wait and see.  Poor Kenzie waited all day to be able to run on a beach, there just wasn’t one easy to park at on most of our drives. But after leaving Castlebay, we headed along the causeway to Vatersay Island and found our way to a beach I has spotted on the ferry coming into Barra!  She loved it so much, she actually cried when we had to leave.  I had never heard her do that before and it made me so sad.  I hope we can give her  a beach treat everyday of this trip.

This beach is right across from Barra but the road that takes you there twists and turns and it feels like you are just going away before you finally seem to be travelling in the correct direction.  The beach feels and looks like where I am from in Florida, or what it was like before developers ruined it!  The sand migrates along the shore and I loved how this gate is barely usable and then, only because it is used.  We walked across the Machair to the Atlantic coast to see that beach but it was getting late and we needed to get back to Borve and make sure we had a place to stay for the night.

Upon arrival at Borve, we found our space and settled in for the night.  What a fantastic first full Hebridean day.