Slept really well, and woke to really calm weather, still misty but really still with no wind. A quick visit to the super calming toilet block, and I went back to sleep. I was supposed to be contemplating making porridge before trying to catch the 9:30 ferry to Eriskay. Eventually, I decided to get breakfast on the go and started to pack up.

I had one mechanical issue to sort out where a bolt on the front rack kept loosening. It’s one I’ve had trouble with before, and as such the Allen key head started rounding off when I tried to tighten it yesterday. I did have a spare bolt, but it’s much too long to screw into the fork leg (the rounded bolt was cut down from one of these). In the end the long bolt worked well, as both the rack and fork are threaded, and a long bolt clamps them together quite well, and provides a visual reminder if it is loosening.

I’m not too sure what time I got away, it certainly felt too late for the 9am latest check-in time. So I pedaled fast, but not so fast to get a photo of the quickly drying runway of Barra Airport. It would be good to see something land here. It was interesting to see how they have routed the flow that would have crossed the beach in a channel around the edge.

Just as I reached the junction for the ferry, another cyclist was coming the other way. As he passed me, he said he thought we would miss the ferry, it would be a two hour wait for the next so I tried to keep up with him. In fact, we were in plenty of time, and the beauty of the bicycle is you are fairly certain to get on. I think it’s trickier with a car and you would have to book, especially on these smaller ferries.

I recognised plenty of cyclists from yesterday and chatted with a guy who camped on Vatersay and cycled up Barra this morning. He is also heading to the Orkneys.

The first hill on Eriskay was pretty steep, and towards the top, I resorted to zig-zagging across the road, but I made it. My focus was on breakfast, but there were no opportunities on Eriskay. To be fair it is only a small island. I crossed a causeway to South Uist, and almost immediately, Kilbride Cafe appeared in front of me, like a message. Stop here!

After an excellent full Scottish, I headed off across South Uist, which is one of the larger islands. It’s also much flatter than my previous islands, which was nice. The Hebridian Way generally followed the main road, but deviating a few times onto really nice quiet loops towards the coast. This isn’t to suggest that the main road is busy, its not, but saved some of the complexity ov the passing places on the single track (main) road. The most awkward is when there is a car behind, so you signal for them to pass, but they drive so slow you reach the end of the passing place and have to stop and put your feet down. There are also hassles where you see a car come towards you, but with a long distance (or uphill) between passing places. You stop and signal for them to come, and by the time they arrive, there are a couple of cars behind me, which I also need to let pass – a confusion I could do without. The biggest lesson I’ve learnt (remembered) is when letting a car past, check for a second car behind it as they just charge through behind the leader.

On the quiet back roads, I saw at least two Owls (well, I’m sure they weren’t eagles). It was great to see, but I think they may have been responsible for some of the more gruesome “roadkill”. Then the gulls seemed to enjoy cleaning up the mess.

I crossed another causeway on to Benbecula.  It was only about 2pm but had sort of decided to make this a target. It had a co-op, a campsite, and a hotel (which hopefully meant a pub). I could see a massive circus tent in the distance, and I cycled towards it after shopping. It turned out to be a music festival which starts tomorrow. This meant that campsite places were at a premium, but a very nice site let me have a pitch of someone who was delayed until tomorrow.

I had a bit of a mare putting the tent up, I can’t quite put my finger on it as it is a hexagon with six pegs and a pole, but something wasn’t right. Eventually, I got it good enough, well hopefully as it seems pretty windy. I bought stuff in the shop to “make” a chicken curry, but had forgotten to look for meths and a dressing/bandage for my burn. So after a rest, I cycled 3km back to the shop just to find they didn’t have either. On the way back I stopped at the Dark Island Hotel for a beer. The guy on the campsite said that the public bar entrance was around the back. The whole of the back of the hotel was marquees and gazebos, in readiness for the festival, so I parked the bike out front and went into reception.

I was led through some very nice bars and restaurants, and then through a door which was BEHIND the public bar. A big soulless room, with no windows and the hard-core drinkers from the area. Although they may have been early festival goers, well into warming up. One woman’s voice was so high and loud, echoing around the room gave me a headache. The high pitch Scottish accent really is the worst. Anyway, I had a nice pint of Bellhaven and beat a hasty retreat.

I made a top curry! It included an onion so it’s proper camp cooking. A top tip is, if you find you don’t have any oil to fry the onion, just use the oil that settles at the top of a pesto jar – simples. The only problem is I had to have the rice on top of the curry due to the logistics of cooking times, a single burner, and a lack of pans. I suspect this would have been the traditional way of eating curry in the outback. I also had a bottle of Old Jock, which more than compensated for the disappointment of the pub. A beer I must try again!