Barra: Day Seventeen

Our last day in Barra began with a tour from Rob our taxi friend. He had only lived on Barra for the last ten years, when he and his wife took an early retirement and moved back to Barra where she had come from. He professed to not be the best at being a tour guide, saying he mostly did grocery store runs and airport runs, but he was really wonderful. We really had only seen, up to this point, Castlebay and part of the east side of the island, up to Brebhig where we were staying. 

Rob began the tour driving through Castlebay, on our way to Vatersay. Vatersay is a separate island, though in the 90s they built a causeway to connect the two islands. Currently, there are around 100 residents on Vatersay. The reason I wanted to go there was those tantalizing beaches we could see when looking across from Castlebay. And they were no less beautiful in person:

Unfortunately, the beaches are better viewed when on foot, so we did not get out and go down (though I'm sure we could have). Rob pointed out various things as we drove by, like the smallest post office in Scotland, which is in the back of the post mistress's house and you have to knock on her door if you want to mail something! 

The scenery was gorgeous. It was overcast but the rain held off during our drive and just added more to the atmosphere. The west side of the island had more of these rolling hills and white sand beaches, which is a contrast to the east side and the rocky inlets. 

We arrived to the airport right when a plane was about to take off, so we stopped and watched it, to see what our experience would be like the next day!

We still can't get over how it takes off when the sand still has a little layer of water! This beach completely disappears during high tide, so the plane can only land and take off during low tide and that means that the departure times are tide-dependent and weather-dependent. 

It was a great way to spend two hours, and Rob dropped us off in Castlebay at the post office. We weren't planning on mailing anything...we were going for afternoon tea!

The post office has a tea room inside, and this was more than enough for lunch. After one last wander around Castlebay, we said goodbye to the castle and began the walk back to the B&B. This time, we knew what to expect so it didn't seem so bad. Once we reached the crest of the hill, and only had 1.5 miles to go, mostly downhill, a local drove by and offered us a ride! I said yes, and so we had a pleasant conversation with an older man about the weather. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing, listening to the ocean and reading books. 

Barra was so lovely and just what we needed. It was a busy trip, seeing city after city, and it was much needed to get to a quiet place, where we didn't see other tourists, and we could just relax. I think one of my favorite things was sleeping, cozy under the warm duvet, with the windows open so I could fall asleep to the waves.