The "bus" which took us to Castlebay turned out to be the same one which made the trip across a causeway to Vatersay, another of the Hebrides chain, just South of Barra. The driver did a good selling job on us about the place, so we decided to go there after a brief stop to grab some lunch and see the sights. The latter didn't take very long, as Castlebay is a small place! We didn't get a chance to visit it, but there's a rather imposing Castle in the middle of the Bay (hence the name, I suppose).
It was hazy sunshine but still quite chilly when we were dropped in Vatersay, so we decided to go for a walk along the dunes. Very peaceful, with lots of flowers growing out of the sand.
It wasn't only flowers which grew out of the sand, we discovered. The dunes were littered with rubbish which had just been dumped by the islanders. Dead trucks; decaying engines; old tyres; fishing nets; rusty anchors; plastic trays; etc. etc. You name it, we found it in the dunes. I suppose that some of the rubbish may have been jetsam, but I don't suppose it was the tide which washed up the old truck!
The beach itself was, thankfully, free of rubbish, and there were a few hardy souls playing in or by the water.
It was still a bit chilly at this point, but very soon the clouds began to clear and the sun came out. Shock horror! In fact we needed to take our sweaters off as the temperature began to soar (in a Hebridean kind of way, being above the magic 20 degree mark). It was the sign of things to come, as a genuine heat-wave was to hit the islands very soon.
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