Monday was a clear, sunny day, although still quite windy. Which is typical, because it was also the day we were returning (some of us hoped!) to the mainland. This was a little in doubt, as we weren’t sure the weather was calm enough for the Twin Otter to get in. To add to the confusion, we had people going out on the BEB flight (some for a mileage run, others to pick up aircraft abandoned on BEB) before the GLA flights departed again. It was going to be an interesting and complicated morning, not helped by my complete inability to retain any plans which had been made.

Breakfast in the Castlebay was adequate, but again struck with the Hebridean disease… “we’re in a hurry” meant that those who had requested their breakfasts quickly so that they could catch the bus to the airport received them last, resulting in yet another no notice change of plans – I’d drive the laggards (QF Hammer, Shuttle-Bored) around to the airport for a mileage run, come back, finish packing, check-out, refill the car with diesel, pick up the other Castlebayers, go round to the Isle of Barra to collect luggage, and then onto the airport. All in an hour and a half, with the airport trips taking about 25 mins each. Spot the problem. In the meantime, ajamieson had done his usual know everything and everyone involved in aviation in Scotland, and had phoned Loganair to see what the status of the flight was – official answer “On decision, but they’d be surprised if it didn’t go”. For those of us hoping for an extra day, we were a little bit downcast….

The first group was taken to the airport no problem. It was my first time driving the car, and I was delighted to be able to do a hill start without burning out what little clutch was left in it. It’s been a while since I drove single-track-road-with-passing-places (as most of Barra is!), and I quickly realised what Shuttle-Bored and ajamieson had been going through – the problem with single-track-road-with-passing-places is that one can never relax – you just don’t know when a car/Sheep/lorry/other random thing is suddenly going to appear around a corner, necessitating a screeching of brakes, an assessment of who is closest to the nearest passing place, and an appropriate re-positioning. Added to that was that the car was fine once it got going, but it took a very long time to get going… still, I was soon back into the swing of it, manoeuvring around lorries at 55 with a joie de vivre that drew squeaks from the car occupants (I knew exactly what I was doing, and always had the space and control to make it… ). We got the mileage runners to the airport in plenty of time, and those that didn’t have were able to buy tickets at no notice (minimum check in on BRR seems to be when the aircraft doors are closed ). With time pressing for me at least, there were some quick goodbyes to Spotwelder Mark and Jane, who were going off under their own power from BEB. jmd, QF Hammer, and Shuttle-Bored would be returning to be on the GLA flight with us. Quick sprint back around the island… (noticeably faster now no-one was there to comment) dashed into the hotel, sent ajameison, who was ready, off to refill the car while I flung my stuff into my rucksack and went to check-out. Check-out was of course on a Hebridean timescale, although we did share some nice gossip on the IofB Hotel, whether a new runway would ever be built, the alcoholic barman and other such wonders while we settled our accounts.

We then literally ran back to the car to get back round to the Isle of Barra before the bus, to take people’s luggage from them. ajamieson drove that leg, and managed to overtake someone in Castlebay, get the car into 5th and keep it there, and hit 70 between Castlebay and the Isle of Barra We arrived to find a group of worried FTers outside the hotel.

“Where’s the bus?” was the first question asked... Now I do have to say, our response was a little mendacious, but could be considered acceptable under the circumstances – “oh it’s behind us” we assured them airily, despite the fact we’d not seen hide nor hair of it (although in fairness, I suppose ajamieson could have done while taking the car to get fuel). However our assurance was obviously not as reassuring as we thought:
“There is one, isn’t there?” was the next question, asked in tones of deep suspicion. We assured them that we had checked at our hotel and been assured that there was one – and then asked if they had checked at their hotel… they had. Well, two hotels couldn’t possibly be wrong then! And just as this debate looked like it was heading nowhere fast, the bus appeared in view down the road… Phew!

Having loaded up some luggage, we set off for the airport. All I shall say of that journey is that if I got squeaks, ajamieson got screams…. But despite that, we got there intact and in plenty of time. The car was left in the car park as arranged, and we waited on both the BEB plane and the bus arriving, in the meantime enjoying the best that the airport café has to offer. In the meantime, we speculated on the economic value to BA of the passengers about to board, and if a crash of the Twin Otter would have a noticeable reduction in profits (ultimately, we thought not, but it was a nice conceit! ). Both the bus and the plane arrived, and the group was nearly re-united once more for our final journey to GLA.