We touched down on the beach and much to my surprise it was smoother than I was expecting, given you could easily see that there were deep patches and no go areas. The crew are obviously very experienced and landing on the beach to them is like a walk in the park. After the engines were shut down, we were allowed to exit and as expected, the camera was out quickly, snapping up the lovely scenery. I took a breath of fresh air and said to myself how lucky I was to be where I was and that after all this time, I had finally made it.
As there was a requirement for a quick turn-around, we were ushered towards the terminal. The facilities were rather good for a regional airport and there was a much better offering than what you’d find in some regional Australian ports (namely Longreach/Barcaldine et al). As we had no checked-baggage (the baggage collection system consists of it being placed on an external belt for you to pick-up) we headed straight to the local bus. After a short period waiting, we were on our way to our Hotel for the night and to the much publicised and main village on the Isle of Barra, Castlebay. We had selected to stay at the Castlebay Hotel and neither my Sister nor I were disappointed. Excellent service and wonderful food were part of the experience and I appreciated being treated like an individual and a real guest, not just another number. The following images are from in and around the Castlebay Village.
After a massive amount of exploring, a wonderful night’s sleep and a hearty Breakfast, it was time to say goodbye and return to Glasgow.