Benbecula

Today's the day .................... for a huge disappointment

I was supposed to be doing something today that I have wanted to do ever since I first heard that it was possible to do it.

It's been on the Bucket List for ages but today, it was actually going to happen. Will and I were going to go on the little plane that flies from Glasgow Airport to the Outer Hebridean Island of Barra. There isn't an airport on the island - at least, not one with runways - so the plane lands on the beach at low tide. It's a fabulous beach too - a vast expanse of fine, silver sand. How exciting a thing to do is that?!

So after much researching and a lot of organising, we were actually at the appropriate departure gate in Glasgow Airport. We had checked in, gone through security (had an oversized can of deodorant confiscated) and done all the other things you have to do in airports - when the departure board suddenly changed to Flight Cancelled.

We never really got to the bottom of why it was cancelled at such short notice. The flight later in the day was also cancelled 'for technical reasons' - and it seems a bit odd that two planes would suddenly not be working. But whatever it was - I'm sure you can imagine how disappointed we were?

The alternative that we were offered, which reluctantly we had to accept as the next available Barra flight was not until Wednesday afternoon, involved flying us to another of the Outer Hebrides - Benbecula. From there we were taken by coach to the southern tip of Eriskay, where we caught the ferry across to Barra. Then there was another coach at the ferry port on Barra to drop us off individually at our intended destinations on the island.

So that's what happened - and to be fair, it was good fun to do this journey too. But the Barra flight remains firmly on the Bucket List - to be ticked off another day .....................