A Caravan too close !

The b&b rooms at Orasay might have been a bit on the small side and the beer a bit suss but the Inn's breakfast was overwhelming causing H's eyes to spin as we plowed into big bowls of cereal and fruit before tackling our huge cooked plates accompanied by the usual 4 gallons of tea !

Finishing breakfast I mentioned to H that we actually might need some sun cream when the weather changed and it started to rain.

The exceptionally strong wind though was thankfully behind us again as we took the Hebridean way coastwards and across a succession of beautiful causeways.

In between we cycled on more than our usual share of single lane roads with tiny passing areas.
These passing areas can cause a degree of friction between car and bike as some cars either try to squeeze past you in between passing bays or expect you to ride like the wind to avoid delaying them .

This stop start type of cycling is tiring although it did provide a degree of perverse entertainment as Caravans and tankers following pressured you in to pulling over or cycling like buggery to the next passing bay. One car towing caravan went within inches of pulling in on me which provoked my normal mild mannered Aussie response of cycling after him with the aim of kicking his tail lights in !

Pommie Kev guided us with due aplomb (read he was taking no shit from the Aussies) to Berneray on a beautifully wild loch filled route to our waiting ferry to Leverburgh.

Our 1 hour crossing saw us navigate gingerly between reefs and rocky obstructions before piling us out on to the shores of Harris.

In need of a quick fix we hit the local supermarket briefly sitting outside taking in the afternoon sun, before cycling 3kms to our b&b on the outskirts of town

It was obvious that Pommie Kev back was back in form as when I congratulated Julia on her days cycling Kev simply said "creep" under his breath.

As for our senior representative one K T Henley is doing pretty well despite his cold and his intense dislike of hills and warm frothy English beer .

His usual on trip faux pauxs have been kept to a minimum so far.

3 stand outs though include - 1) telling someone en route he'd cycled from Port Campbell that day (meaning Campbelltown on Kintyre 2) commenting loudly on a young girls green tinted hair only to have that same girl walk into our cafe and say good morning to her mum the cafe owner standing just behind us and 3) Calling a touring English cyclist a bore without realising that he was standing in ear shot - all in all a low strike rate so far for our esteemed cultural attaché !