Seeds of time, Vatersay

We had an amazing day today. Borve was covered in mist when we awoke. We enjoyed our daily scolding by the oystercatchers and caught up with the Irish cyclist, admiring his Trangia stove on which he'd cooked a full breakfast. We're so getting ourselves one of those (we were starving having eaten only hot muesli the night before!)

We headed off on our bicycles up into the Barra interior, where we set off on foot to explore some chambered cairns. One, Dun Bharpa, is a huge neolithic chambered cairn that remains unopened. It's 5m high and 34m in diameter. The rain and low cloud made it all the more mysterious - perfect weather for visiting cairns.

I managed to turn my ankle on the way down. It was fine for a bit, but it seized up while we were visiting our friend in Castlebay. It was really lovely to catch up with Simon and see him at his house. He gave us a great insight into Barra island life and recommended we take an evening cycle around Vatersay. As I hopped up to leave, I realised that I could hardly put weight on my right foot - damn! We cycled down to the Co-op, bought some painkillers, and I kept the foot moving as much as I could. While cycling, it was OK, but getting on and off the bicycle was a tad sore. Meanwhile, though, Vatersay proved to be a fabulous place to explore. We came across an aircrash site from 1944 with parts of the plane still in place - chilling.

We walked (the ankle warmed up after a while and the painkillers had kicked in) along the coastline with fantastic views of the headlands to the abandoned village of Eorasdail. It had a real sense of place and I wondered who had lived there and what life must have been like.

We cycled back to the tent at Borve while the sun set. We'd eaten at the Barra Heritage Cafe - the centre is well worth a visit - so we weren't hunger anxious this time. Barra and Vatersay are wondrous places - good memories here.

More photos of the day here.