Our first morning on Barra was an exciting one - it was Tommy's birthday! After the cards and presents were out the way, we took a walk from our campsite at Borve along the machair in search of a beach. The girls had taken a real shine to our binoculars and they were soon commendeered to look at flowers and bugs in great detail. After a small detour to avoid some bullocks in a field, Tommy was the first to spot the sand. And what sand it was! Our first taste of a Hebridean beach. The girls ran wild for a while, as you'd expect! We had to drag them away for lunch, which we had in the Kisimul Cafe in Castlebay. Then there was the biggest treat of the day - a boat trip over to Kisimul Castle. The castle is a Historic Scotland property, meaning entry for us was free, including the boat ride. It's a small compact place but worth a look if you're even in the area. We didn't get many pictures as Tornado Twin 2 had a rapid descent down a flight of stairs and I was too busy comforting her! It was a nice wee castle to look round, but lacked some of the usual Historic Scotland touches such as information boards - i think because it is privately owned and only leased to HS. The children's quiz was a bit of a disappointment - you really to buy the information leaflet to get all the answers, which is a bit mean. Try explaining to a 7 year old that you can't translate the Latin motto into english because there's no internet signal and therefore no Google! You'd think that would be enough for one day, but after dinner we found ourselves out on a walk and discovered another beach - even bigger than the last one. This one is just before the Isle of Barra Beach Hotel - a very aptly named place. Another glorious sunset and that was our first full day in the Hebrides. Heaven. Read more about our travels in the Outer Hebrides.
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