Western Isles - Day 1
Tues night .... I'm writing this from the hostel at Berneray - North Uist. With no phone signal. (Or very little). - I'll add photos later as I get a better signal .....
Yesterday I was up at 430am, with the mad idea of cycling to Glasgow Queen Street to meet Neil for the 0821am train to Oban.
Left home at 0520am, headed for Kilmarmock, up western road then up auld A77 through Newton Mearns and then Giffnock, Shawlands and the city centre.
Got to Queen Street for 730am, nice and early and 32 miles clocked already. Was a bit wet on the run up.
Met Neil, and train left on time. - 3 hrs later we were in Oban. Got chatting to a guy called Mike, who said he was staying at same hostel as us on Barra. .... (More on that in a bit).
After arriving in Oban we had a couple hours to kill. A light lunch, then purchased the Hopscotch Number8 that would be our ferry guide across the Western Isles.
We were fully aware weather wasn't to be great later, which seemed rather weird as the sun was shining in Oban.
The ferry we were getting was the 1340 Oban-Castlebay-Lochbisodale service. - a mere 5 hr sailing. - so off we went.
A few hrs into it, sea got rough. Very rough. And christ did I feel it. Was green :/. - did not move from my seat for 2 hrs holding my head lol. - was what you call the longest 5 hrs of my life. !!!
Finally we arrived in at Castlebay, Barra at just after 7pm. - the rough crossing meant the boat took a bit longer but we arrived safely and that was the main thing.
Bumped into Mike again who pointed out where the hostel was, and we signed in. - nice place and very reasonable for 18 quid each a night. ....
We invited Mike to join us for a bite to eat and a few beers. Had a few great hours, getting to know him- an ex marine. From Scarborough, who had just set out on a 6 week wild camping adventure of the Outer Hebrides - yes you heard it. 6 weeks. In November. - wild camping !
Having only met this guy for a few hrs, it's amazing what you can learn about someone. - his adventures as an outward bound centre team leader, having also worked all over the world. ....
By 10pm, my eyes were getting heavy. Prob the rise at 430am that was starting to catch up on me - so it was to my kip I went and the end to a very busy birthday day 👍👍👍👍👍🙏.
Tues would be the start of our cycle to north end of North Uist. :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Yesterday I was up at 430am, with the mad idea of cycling to Glasgow Queen Street to meet Neil for the 0821am train to Oban.
Left home at 0520am, headed for Kilmarmock, up western road then up auld A77 through Newton Mearns and then Giffnock, Shawlands and the city centre.
Got to Queen Street for 730am, nice and early and 32 miles clocked already. Was a bit wet on the run up.
Met Neil, and train left on time. - 3 hrs later we were in Oban. Got chatting to a guy called Mike, who said he was staying at same hostel as us on Barra. .... (More on that in a bit).
After arriving in Oban we had a couple hours to kill. A light lunch, then purchased the Hopscotch Number8 that would be our ferry guide across the Western Isles.
We were fully aware weather wasn't to be great later, which seemed rather weird as the sun was shining in Oban.
The ferry we were getting was the 1340 Oban-Castlebay-Lochbisodale service. - a mere 5 hr sailing. - so off we went.
A few hrs into it, sea got rough. Very rough. And christ did I feel it. Was green :/. - did not move from my seat for 2 hrs holding my head lol. - was what you call the longest 5 hrs of my life. !!!
Finally we arrived in at Castlebay, Barra at just after 7pm. - the rough crossing meant the boat took a bit longer but we arrived safely and that was the main thing.
Bumped into Mike again who pointed out where the hostel was, and we signed in. - nice place and very reasonable for 18 quid each a night. ....
We invited Mike to join us for a bite to eat and a few beers. Had a few great hours, getting to know him- an ex marine. From Scarborough, who had just set out on a 6 week wild camping adventure of the Outer Hebrides - yes you heard it. 6 weeks. In November. - wild camping !
Having only met this guy for a few hrs, it's amazing what you can learn about someone. - his adventures as an outward bound centre team leader, having also worked all over the world. ....
By 10pm, my eyes were getting heavy. Prob the rise at 430am that was starting to catch up on me - so it was to my kip I went and the end to a very busy birthday day 👍👍👍👍👍🙏.
Tues would be the start of our cycle to north end of North Uist. :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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