You likely have a neighbour you’ve never really met. Perhaps you wave to them over the fence most days, exchange a few words when you’re putting the bins out, and know when they’ve bought a new car or hung a new flower basket. But you’ve never actually crossed the garden and sat down for a cup of tea.

That’s a little how I’ve felt about our neighbouring island, Eigg. It’s been there, just across the water, close enough to see from Rum and familiar enough to feel as though I ought to know it. But until this week, I’d never actually set foot there.

So this week, I finally went over for that cup of tea. Well, actually, I went over to compete in the annual Small Isle Games.

It might’ve been a week late because of the weather, but the ferry managed to muster up the right amount of crew to allow the boat to run to an amended timetable - meaning that those of us from Rum could manage a day trip to our neighbour who usually requires at least two nights away. It didn’t come without a cost - what can be a two hour return trip turned into a seven hour expedition. Three and a half hours there, three and a half hours back, to pick up Team Canna on the way.

The competitors at the Small Isles Games........

© Herald Scotland