Day three, a day of decisions.
Somebody, I can't remember who, once said rules are made to be broken. I hope the same can be said of plans. When I came up here, I had a plan. Coll, Tiree, then today, Wednesday catch the ferry from here over to Barra at the southern tip of the Outer Hebrides and cycle my way north to reach the Isle of Lewis for the 21th.
However, the weather for the last few days, even before I had arrived, had not been very good. Watching the TV weatherman and at several sites on-line it showed absolutely no improvement, and was probably going to get a lot worse out on the Outer Hebrides. It was going to be very wet, cold and with near storm force winds. Now I don't mind cycling in the rain if I have to, but it was looking silly for the next few days. Plus once I had gone over to Barra, I had fewer easier choices to return back to Oban quickly.
Sitting eating breakfast I was running all the options through my head, and a new plan began to form. Playing around with ferry timetables, I phoned the B&B on Coll, she had a room for me on Thursday. I left the hotel and went to the ferry terminal. I knew there would be room for be and Bumble which ever one I wanted to travel on, but I needed to know if I could get from Oban to Coll with my car on Thursday morning. Then at least I could travel around Coll exploring some of the beautiful places in more depth, without getting soaked every time I went out the door.
Yes, I could bring the car over. So that was the new plan. Forget the Barra ferry which was due anytime now, spend the day exploring Tiree, then catch the late ferry to Oban, a four hour cruise. Sleep in the car overnight, and be back at the ferry for 6.30am check in again.
I had a very enjoyable day on Tiree, I hope to get back again for a few days and have a good look around. It is a lot flatter than Coll, but much busier with more people.
The windsurfer was making the most of the wind and was certainly travelling very fast at times. He was at Crossapol beach, just one of many fabulous beaches. Some of the beaches on the west coast of Tiree get world class surf and host some very large international surfing competitions.
I reached Hynish the southern tip of Tiree, with its visitor centre and several places nearby. Then having delayed too long, had a mad dash back to the ferry terminal.
More of todays travels here......
http://365project.org/markp/Alternatively/14-06-2017
