We had arrived on Barra but that was not going to be our
first island of the trip, after a quick halt in a layby for Hilda to use a
patch of grass we were back in the car and heading south to Vatersay. There are
no campsites on Vatersay but Wild Camping is permitted and for a donation you
can use the facilities at the Community Centre, so this is what we did. The
community centre is on the narrow spit of land between two fabulous beaches,
Taigh a Bhaigh and Traigh Shiar, this second one featured in The Times top 10
UK beaches to walk your dog on. We parked and pitched our tent just below the
sand dunes and after dinner had an evening stroll along Traigh a Bhaigh beach
as far as the outgoing tide would let us. We saw plenty of birdlife both in the
air and feeding on the tide line plus a grey seal out hunting for it's supper.
A sheltered dip
First Beach of the holidays
First piece of seaweed
Grey Seal out hunting
The outer and inner doors on my little 2-man tunnel tent
have multiple zippers allowing me to get thoroughly confused when half-asleep
about which one to pull in which direction to get out. But lying snug and warm
in sleeping bags and extra blankets (just in case) I unzipped the top part of
both doors so we could look out at the sky. Despite the late hour it was still
too light to see any stars but there was a lovely moon.
Moon from the tent
Tuesday was a gloriously sunny day, we started with a walk
on Traigh Shiar. The sand is crushed shells meaning it is white rather than
yellow and the sun shining on the sea turned it a deep turquoise colour, the
temptation was too high and within a couple of minutes shoes and socks were
off, the trouser legs rolled up and I had joined Hilda paddling in the sea. I
may be a Born and Bred Yorkshire Girl but I do draw the line somewhere and did
NOT put a knotted handkerchief on my head.
One of the Sunday Times top ten beaches to take your dog to
The tide was going out so there wasn't much beach so we made
our way back up and over the dunes to Traigh a Bhaigh and then down and over to
the third beach on the island, Bagh A'Deas. We had lunch here and then the
shoes and socks came off once more for another paddle. Rather than retrace our
steps we continued clockwise round the island following the marker posts that
show a circular route starting and finishing at the Community Centre. We
stopped plenty of times along the way to watch butterflies and inspect the
brightly coloured wildflowers growing everywhere. We detoured off the route to
avoid walking through a field full of cows and calves who showed great interest
in Hilda over the fence. We ended up back on Trigh Shiar and this time the tide
was out and we had the whole of the beach to ourselves - magical!
Bagh A'Deas beach
Crystal clear waters
Proof of Paddling
Splish, Splash, Sploosh!
The car is on that narrow spit of land in the centre
Traigh Shiar again - heaven!
