Arguably Inevitable: Cycle Touring Europe: Day 43: Oban

Cycl'ing: 45km
Friday September 20

We rose to decent weather, finally. Our to do list before getting on the 1:40 ferry to Barra went thus: food, Jenn's shoe problem, whiskey. We achieved all but one.

Before getting on the ferry I naively asked, who do you think sees worse weather, Scottish ferries, or BC Ferries. As we loaded on the ferry, the deck hands grabbed our bikes (unusual), and proceeded to cinch them down like they meant business. A sign? Upstairs we went to find ourselves a seat with a plug and view of the ocean. Meanwhile, everyone else around us pulled out their pillows and blankets, and began settling in, like this trip some childhood sleepover. A sign? The boat pulled out of port, and over the loudspeaker (first Gaelic, then English), we were informed that the crew would try to make the crossing as smooth as possible, however, there were considerable some swells 'out there'. Exciting! Fast forward an hour later, and the boat is crashing up and down, waves coming over the front of the boat, and sea spray covering all the windows. We couldn't see much out of anything because of the weather. We tried to watch a movie, but quickly succumbed to sea sickness. We lay down (everyone else around us was sleeping, or pretending, or drugged?). After a wave of intense nausea passed, I got up to see Jenn clutch a white bag, but looking very green.

Suffice to say, it was not the smoothest of sailings, and we were glad to be off the boat, despite strong winds, grey clouds, and impending rain. Once on Barra Island we made our way over a causeway and onto tiny Vatersay Island. After 10 km we found a lovely white sand beach that looked completely out of place and unexpected. This would be our campsite for the the night.