20 May 2010

Day 7: Castlebay to Tiree


The good news is today that there was no wind. The bad news is that there was fog instead. So you could cycle at a normal speed again, you just couldn't see anything.

Still, in the tantalising periods of terrible visibility between those of no visibility, I nipped across from Barra to Vatersay, the last tickbox Hebridean island in the chain of ferries and causeways.

From there it was a ferry to Tiree, where I met up with my pal Mark. He's come up specially to join me for a couple of days to drink whisky, swop stories, and perhaps do some cycling now and then.


Tiree is a very likeable little island: one enormous flattish village green with houses plonked at random on it, as if shaken from a box. They don't have driveways: the owners just drive their cars from the road straight across the grass.

The pub was great fun. There were some entertaining Belgians, and the barmaid was at school with my niece Lucy. It's a small world. And a small island. One day I'd like to cycle right round it. I think I'll do it tomorrow, before breakfast.

Miles today: 13
Miles since Cape Wrath: 254

3 comments:

  1. Never mind 6 degrees of separation, if you can meet up with somebody your niece went to school with on a remote scottish island in the fog, together with inhabitants from a country your aunt was born in that's smaller than yorkshire, I think we're down to only 3 degrees and shrinking!

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  2. Joe and Brendan21 May, 2010 18:33

    Joe and Brendan would like to ask how many ferries have you been on and what those yellow stripes are for on the bottom of the bike ferry?

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  3. Hello Joe and Brendan!

    I have been on nine ferries. Ferries are lots of fun! Me and my friend Mark really enjoyed going on them with our bikes over to lots of islands. I hope you go on a ferry soon.

    I don't know why they have yellow stripes. Maybe it's like animals, and it shows the difference between boy ferries and girl ferries.

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