The cows on the beach made quite a picture:
And while it may have been a bit chillier than we would have liked, we were still able to get in some barefoot beachcombing.
On our final morning we had a most informative taxi driver who drove us to the airport. We learnt so much about the island and the islanders in that far too short taxi ride. We got to the airport a lot earlier than we needed to as we wanted to see Scampy land. It was touch and go as to whether she would actually land, as the mist came down and strictly speaking I don't think the pilot could see the runway at the required 100ft, but after circling they obviously decided it was worth the risk and down she came.
The Beechgrove Garden team disembarked from the flight to do a special programme from Barra - for those of you not in Scotland, this is a Scottish Gardening programme on TV. It was odd - they were all shorter than I expected them to be.
After puzzling over the sign in the ladies toilets which said "Don't put sand in the toilet", it was, sadly, time to go. It was great fun watching the wheels spray water up as we taxied along the beach before taking off.
It did strike me that they needed a sign on the plane about wiping your feet before climbing aboard. I was wondering who did the vacuuming before the next flight.
Overall impression? Barra is a beautiful place. There was a lot we could have done, but didn't have the time or the energy to do. On offer was Sea Kayaking, Power Kiting, boat trips to neighbouring islands, as well as cycling and walking. As far as we could tell the only thing lacking on the island were official campsites. There isn't a single official campsite on the island, and my enquiry about wild camping was met with a frown from the lady in the information centre. But there were quite a few camper vans around, which is, of course, an option.
If you want to fly in to Barra, do it soon. Apparently there is discussion in Europe about the safety of a beach landing, and there are moves to stop the flights to the wonderful airport in Barra.
8 reactions
1 From Emma - 16/09/2007, 01:50
There is nothing on earth that would get me onto that plane, a.k.a. narrow tin tube !
2 From Tessa - 16/09/2007, 13:05
Thanks for the great pictures and for sharing your trip.
xx
3 From Isobel - 16/09/2007, 15:13
4 From Arianwen - 16/09/2007, 23:09
5 From Maggie - 17/09/2007, 12:31
It reminds me of the time we landed in a M*A*S*H style helicopter on a small island in Witsundays (Oz Barrier Reef) where they had to clear the wallabies and local kangaroo, Myrtle, from the landing pad.
Lovely stuff - and yes, who does the vacuuming? The co-pilot or pilot?
Maggie
6 From carol - 17/09/2007, 16:58
7 From Kate - 18/09/2007, 11:56
8 From Linda - 18/09/2007, 23:36