LEJOG Day 21
I woke up in Barra with the wind blowing a gale. I ventured out of the tent to the amenities block. Not too many amenities to be had. I ran into a bloke who I had had it brief chat to the night before. He had said that he had lived in Canberra. He asked me if I would like couple of tea. I had arranged to have breakfast at the Hotel down the road, but it was not open for non-residents for an hour. I took up the offer of a cup of tea in a campervan not affected by the wind.
It turned out the bloke was an ex-diplomat who had a posting in Canberra. He had a lot to say, mainly about his area of expertise. This was the impact of corporate behaviour on Foreign Policy. He also had some interesting comments on urban planning. He and his wife lived in a small village in Kent and he was active in stopping developers expanding the village. I thought about a past relationship I had with the daughter of a bloke who made a ‘shit load’ building a few houses on the outskirts of a village in Kent.
I was finally able to extricate myself from the chat with the ex-Diplomat. I headed up the Hotel for breakfast. Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs was a good choice.
I then head north to the ferry terminal. For whatever reason there was a problem with timing of the ferry. I was not the only confusion potential traveller. The Hotel near the terminal had a bumper crowd for lunch as we waited for the next ferry.
A short ferry ride saw me in North Uist. The wind was now howling. I head north as great speed (in the context of a fully laden bike and big lunch) not sure where I would end up. There were lots of houses sprinkled around, but actual towns.
I finally saw a sign saying “Camping Ground 2 klms” – sometimes miles are dispensed with. The place turned out to be a farm. The couple that ran the place were very enterprising and had set-up and basic but great facility. They pick that I was from Australia and told me more than I wanted to know about their trip to see the wife’s sister in Curumbin Queensland.
I had no need to eat dinner on account of the big lunch. The wind was stronger the ever. I took shelter in the ‘cook house’. It was crowded (8 of us). There was group of 20 something Glaswegians that were on their way to a Folk Music Festival in Stornaway on the Isle of Lewis. The headline act of Thursday Night was Val Morrison. They asked me if: “ I had heard of Val Morrison”. I was not sure if they were taking the piss.
I headed back to the Vaude. I was pleased to see it still up right –great German design that tent.
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