Oban To Castlebay (Barra) Outer Hebrides

A change of plan was the order of the day. Originally, I had planned to make my way up the west coast of Scotland to the Isle of Skye and then catch a ferry across to Harris in the Outer Hebrides, but last night a flash of inspiration beset me and I changed my mind and decided to catch the ferry from Oban, directly to the Outer Hebrides (the lower islands of Barra and Uist).

To reinforce this was a good decision, the weather today was perfect, blue skies, a slight breeze and sunshine. The ferry left at 3.40pm so we had the morning and a bit of the afternoon to explore Oban, which is a picturesque town in the west of Scotland. Apart from meandering through the various shops selling highland woollen products, we went for a tour of the Oban Whisky distillery, established in 1796. This was good and including tastings of whisky straight from the barrel (about 63% proof), before it is watered down to about 40% proof for bottling. They even gave us the glasses used for the tastings. After this wonderful experience, I then bought a bottle of Lagavulin 16 yo whisky (which they also sold) and not the Oban 14 yo. I guess Lagavulin, Oban and others that were for sale are owned by the same  company. No Pics allowed in the distillery (and mobiles must be turned off), something about highly flammable vapours.

Oban Distillery

Above - Around Oban

Below - On the Ferry to Castlebay, Barra,  through Inner Hebrides.

Sunset from the Ferry

Tomorrow, it is off on another Ferry to Island hop up through the Outer Hebrides. Tomorrow it will be ferry to Eriskay on Uist island.