Under sunny skies, we bid farewell to Glasgow, and headed for Oban. Got there well in advance of ferry departure time, so with a burning sun overhead, walked up path to McCaig's tower, which isn't a tower, but a construction which bears no little similarity to the colosseum in Rome. There was a juvenile rabbit busily dining on the grassy lawn in front of it. We ate our sandwiches by the bay, until the man next to us decided to feed the gulls. The gulls here are enormous, and got quite carried away. One flew between our shoulders and took Ross' sandwich in one swoop. Noisy, flapping Chaos ensued.

When finally we got underway on the ferry to the Isle of Barra, it had started raining. It didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the large group twitchers in our deck. Ross was convinced they were actually spotting for ice bergs, as they all stood around the ship, binoculars and cameras poised. After an uneventful sailing - in which I managed to finish my first book of the trip so far (Alex Miller's Conditions of Faith, for the curious) - we arrived at CastleBay in time, and found our reservation at the Hotel ready and waiting. Had dinner and in the relative dusk of just after 9:30pm took off for the 15 mile Lap of the Island. Very spartan. Impressive sunset......and not raining.