We had no transport arranged for while we were on the island. There is a road which runs all the way around the island which you can see here and so we decided to rely on our two feet to get around. Our hotel wasn't ready for us when we arrived, as it was still early, so we left our bag and set off to find our way to Castlebay. Half an hour later we happily discovered that it looked just like it had in the film, Whisky Galore.

Castlebay

The weather just got better and better as the day went on, and after a lovely lunch at the Castlebay Hotel (Onion and Oatmeal soup - absolutely yummy! If anyone has a recipe please send it to me!), we decided to take the road out of Castlebay up the highest hill called Heavel. We wanted to attempt climbing up to the statue of Virgin and Child which is set up on the mountain, about three quarters of the way up. Once we left the main road to climb the hill the going got very steep, but we huffed and puffed our way up, and boy was it worth it! The weather was just fantastic, and the views were amazing.

Virgin and Child

The statue was erected in 1954, and our taxi driver was telling us that on the day it was taken up the hill there was a procession of townsfolk who went up with it, including two ladies who were both over 80. They were certainly built tough in the 1950's!

After sliding walking back down Heavel, we headed back through Castlebay to our hotel. At times signposts got a little confusing:

Confusing?

but we found our way safely enough. Sitting down to dinner we were treated to the most spectacular sunset.

Barra Sunset