Barra Island, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

Drove to Oban and bought a 'Hopscotch' ferry ticket with Caledonian MacBrayne. The ticket covers a set route and is valid for one month.It was cheaper to buy it that way rather than individual tickets. There was another set route option but it was only for 8 days. Luckily we had the Hopscotch ticket as the first ferry crossing we had booked for Oban to Barra was cancelled.

The weather in Oban was really nice and we camped beside the sea at an enormous camp site. It has heated bathrooms which were so nice on a cold morning. There were not many people about as the weather at this time of the year is cold, wet and sometimes misty. I think we were the youngest in the campsite. Up until now we have been the oldest in the hostels we have stayed at so that makes a pleasant change to be the youngest!
Oban
Our friends Ereti and Wallace gave us lots of warm clothes so we have been lucky as we would never have survived the cold wet days otherwise. We had planned to visit the Charity shops to buy some secondhand winter clothes but Ereti had loads of clothes we could have. She could start her own charity shop.

The ferry crossing to Barra Island was very smooth. There were not many people on the boat and most of them stretched out on the couches and went to sleep. There was a disinfectant- smelling area especially for the dogs and their owners next to our lounge area. Brits really love their dogs and take them everywhere.

We need to telephone people we want to visit so we have finally bought a cheap cellphone to do that. It has been difficult finding coin telephones or places to buy cards for the card phones so after leaving home and wanting to be 'low-tech' we have now found it necessary to have the computer and cellphone!

We have been able to text our daughter Kerri who has just headed off to South America for a 10 day tour. She had the chance to take the familiarisation trip as part of her work as a travel agent.

The Caravan Club guide book we have doesn't list many campsites in the Outer Hebrides so we visited a tourist office who told us we could free-camp where ever there were parking signs. Places where overnight camping was not allowed were signed as such.

The leaves on the trees are turning the glorious autumn tones.

All the street signs are in English and Gaelic and the Outer Hebrides (named by the Vikings) are also called the Western Isles or Na h-Eileanan an Lar! Half of the Gaelic speaking Scots live on the islands so you can hear Gaelic spoken often.

Barra is pretty small so were able to drive around it in no time at all. It is windswept and peaty. The roads are one laned and have lots of bays for passing so there is no way you can race along. The island is joined to Eriskay Island by a causeway.