I haven’t written much on here for well over a year. AFC Wimbledon haven’t exactly inspired me to write. I haven’t been to as many away games this past season compared to earlier seasons.
We have a new Campervan though. The Big Green Bus has gone to a new owner. I hope they have as much fun with it as we did. We have replaced it with an even bigger bus, yet to be named. We had a couple of trips out to familiarise ourselves with it. This but is the big one. Three weeks in Spain and France.
I am writing this on board the MV Galicia, heading for Santander, in Northern Spain.
We drove down to Portsmouth to get the ferry last night and sailed about 21:30. We encountered a hold up at the check in gate. We got stuck behind a car that had two dogs and the wrong paperwork. Despite these issues, everything went smoothly. Our cabin is small but perfectly adequate for two nights. The bunks are comfortable and the toilet works.
Going on board
Leaving Portsmouth – The Spinnaker Tower On the ferry
We had supper in the lounge, tapas and a glass of wine, then went to bed about eleven. We woke up somewhere off the Brittany coast. Breakfast was good, nothing spectacular but perfectly fine.
This was probably the first time I had been at sea for more than a short inter-island hop since I left the Merchant Navy. We also did something that I never did during my MN years. We sailed between Ushant and the mainland. We always went round the outside. But I assume that the Master is a Breton and knows what he is doing.
The whole journey was been a pleasant experience. Diane decided to upgrade us to a Commodore class cabin, which helped. It was only £35 more than a standard cabin. It gave us significantly more space. We also had access to the Commodore lounge. This lounge is quieter than the public lounges and has complimentary tea, coffee, and cakes. At lunch time and pre-dinner wine and tapas are available, also complimentary. Well worth the extra cost in my opinion, if you are planning an overnight trip on Brittany Ferries
Biscay Sunset
Clouds over Biscay
After a very enjoyable dinner we wandered up on deck to watch the sun go down. Also to give the whales and dolphins one last chance to show up. Diane had been religiously looking for a whale or a dolphin all day.
Biscay Sunset
It was then time for bed, as we had an early start on Wednesday morning. The ship docked at 7:00, so that meant up about 05:30 if we wanted breakfast before disembarking.
After a breakfast at the hotel, it was time to head to the station to get the train back to Glasgow. The reverse of the journey we made a few days ago. However instead of the grey drizzly weather we had on the way up, it was clear and sunny for the journey back.
We passed KiIlchurn Castle on the way up, but managed to get a photo of it on the way back.
We arrived back in Glasgow Queen Street just after twelve. We weren’t quite ready for lunch so decided to wander around the centre of Glasgow. Considering that I spent the first thirty years of my life in Scotland, I really don’t know Glasgow well at all. I never had a reason to visit the place. Edinburgh was closer and much easier to get to. Apart from one job interview, and the occasional trip to Hampden, there was no need to visit. I have been to Sydney more times than Glasgow.
We were ambling down Buchanan Street when we came across the Willow Tearooms, as designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. We thought that would be a good place to have lunch, but they were a bit full. The earliest they could give us a table was about two fifteen. We said thanks, but no thanks and headed off. We found a café in St Enoch Square called “The Glasvegan”. Surprisingly enough it turned out to be vegan. I had a Not-dog, and Diane had a sandwich called Homucide. They were both decent. I passed on a cappuccino for a black Americano. I am not saying that I am about to become vegan, although if I had to I could live without meat and dairy products, except in my tea and coffee. Soya, oat or almond milk just don’t work in my opinion. In fact the only thing that stopped my late wife Grace from becoming completely vegan was the fact that she had to have cow’s milk in her tea.
My niece Vicki has fairly recently moved to Glasgow, with her baby Remi and her partner Finn. As Diane has never met her, and I hadn’t seen her for at least two years, we arranged to meet up for a coffee. We managed to navigate the busses, though Diane was disappointed to find that her London Travelpass wasn’t valid, and she had to pay.
We spent an hour or so catching up on what was happening and meeting Remi for the first time. Both Vicki and Finn work in the theatre, so the past few months have been difficult, but they both currently have work, so that is good. We caught the bus back to the hotel, the same one we stayed in the first night.
By the Clyde
This evening we were supposed to have a “Gala Scottish Farewell Dinner” at a local restaurant. What we would have been served I can make a guess at. Haggis would have featured somewhere, either as a starter or a main, and the pudding would have been Cranachan. Because all restaurants have to close at six p.m. this was not possible. The Holiday Inn Express gallantly stepped into the breach, with possibly the worst meal I have ever been served, The starter was Tomato and Basil soup, which tasted exactly like Tesco’s own brand Tomato and Basil, and was therefore edible if not exactly great. The main course was advertised as penne bolognese. What arrived was macaroni cooked to the point of disintegration with a sauce of dubious provenance, it certainly did not look and taste like any bolognese that I have ever seen. I was accompanied by two slices of garlic bread, baked from frozen. They at least were edible. Pudding was some kind of cheesecake, probably from Iceland (the shop not the country). I think the cook had brought a three-year-old in with them and to stop them getting bored had let them loose with the squirty cream to decorate the slices.
Diane’s granddaughter could have done a better job.
At least the beds were comfortable.
Back Home.
Breakfast the next morning was reasonable, nothing spectacular, but it filled a hole. Then we walked back up to Central Station to catch the 10:37 Pendolino for London. We managed to bag a table, the train was fairly quiet leaving Glasgow, and had a pleasant masked trip back to London. We were home by five.
Summing up….
It was a very strange holiday. It was the nearest to an alcohol free holiday that I have ever had. It was also the least sociable holiday of this type I have ever been on. Nobodies’ fault, but normally we would get together with our fellow travellers, for a drink either before, or after dinner. Due to the restrictions, that was not possible, so everyone went back to their rooms after dinner.
I didn’t hate it, the scenery was amazing, as was the weather, especially for October on the West Coast of Scotland, but it wasn’t as much fun as it would have been without Covid-19. But without Covid-19 we would have been on a Rhine cruise.
We didn’t expect this holiday to be normal, but today it became just a little weirder.
At least we didn’t have to get up at five-thirty this morning. We had the morning free. I think that the morning was supposed to be a trip to the Oban Distillery. Due to the current restrictions our tour had to be split into two groups, one group had the morning slot, ours had the afternoon.
We didn’t do that much with our new found freedom. We went to Tesco’s, to top up on our snacks. Tesco’s in Oban may have the widest catchment area of any supermarket in the UK. People apparently come from as far away as Barra to do their shopping. (Probably a monthly shop rather than weekly.)
Having picked up our, hotel supplied, packed lunches we set off for the ferry terminal to catch the MV Isle of Mull, to Mull. Craiginure, to be precise.
MV Isle of Mull (Photo from Wikipedia)
I’m not sure what the original itinerary was, but what happened was we caught the ferry across to Mull, disembarked, then re-boarded, and went straight back to Oban. The Sound of Mull is a very scenic cruise, and the weather was excellent, if a little chilly, but it would have been nice to spend a bit of time actually on the Island. I am making the assumption that getting us back for the Distillery was the object of the exercise
NLV Pharos
Sister Ship MV Isle of Lewis
McBrayne’s Funnel
We arrived back in Oban in plenty of time for our distillery visit. Again it wasn’t as I had anticipated. I thought we would be given a tour round the actual distillery, followed by a dram in the sample room. What we got was a very entertaining talk on how the whisky is made. Our guide explained how the taste of the whisky is influenced by how the malt is produced, the smokiness, from the peat, the esters that give the whisky its subtly, from the brewing, and to a lesser extent, distilling process. Above all the character of the whisky comes from the cask that it is matured in. Normally the casks are second hand American Bourbon casks, but they also use old sherry casks.
We were given a ‘tasting’ stave of four of the distillery’s products. The standard 14 year old, a Distillers Edition, the Little Bay and a Distillery only bottling. The only problem was that because of current restrictions on selling alcohol in Scotland, we were only allowed to nose (smell) them. Now you can tell a lot about a whisky’s character by its nose. The people who produced blended whiskies, such as Bells or The Famous Grouse, do it almost all by the nose. However it is not quite the same as being able to taste them. They did however give us samples to take away and taste at our leisure. It was unfortunate that the sample bottles looked like the type of thing you would use to take a urine sample to the doctors. We were assured that the product inside did taste much better.
I decided, based on the nose, to buy a bottle of the fourteen year old. When we tried our samples back at the hotel, I decided that I had made a good choice. Actually, the Distillery only bottling was sublime, but it was £100 a bottle.
I may have a comparative tasting session with the Caol Ila. I could also include the Ardbeg that my sister bought me for my birthday and Diane’s current favourite, Laphroaig. The Ginger Wine will not be going anywhere near any of them.
Tonight we didn’t have a dinner booked at the hotel. Rail Discoveries, rightly, assume that most people like a change from the hotel food and want to find a restaurant and eat out for one night of the tour. Scottish Covid-19 restrictions, unfortunatly, mean that all restaurants have to close at six p.m. which is a pity because Oban has a few decent restaurants. Takeaways are still allowed to open, so we found a chip shop. Diane was boring and had cod and chips, which you can get in any chip shop anywhere. I had white pudding supper. I haven’t had one for about forty years.
Also while we were waiting for our chips we saw a most magnificent sunset.
Today was apparently not supposed to have been the way it turned out. We were supposed to have a leisurely breakfast, followed by a coach trip to Fort William to catch the Jacobite steam train to Mallaig. From there we were to catch the ferry to Skye.
Our little friend Covid-19 put paid to that. The Jacobite, in order to ensure adequate distancing, had to reduce the numbers of people on the train. Our tour was bumped.
Instead of a leisurely breakfast, the alarm went off at five thirty, for a continental breakfast at six fifteen. The coach left while it was still dark. I know that the road from Oban to Fort William is quite scenic. The road follows the coast and has views across Loch Lhinnie to Ardgour and Morven. We would have to see it on the way home.
We made it to Fort William in time for the regular 08:30 service to Mallaig. It should be said that the scenery is exactly the same whether you are sitting in a seat on the 08:30 ScotRail service or first class on a steam drawn special. In fact, it could be argued that you actually see it better, because it is not obscured by clouds of steam and the carriage windows are not covered with the crud that a steam engine kicks out. Also, from a (retired) professional point of view I think that boilers that are older than I am are potential bombs. Some people were disappointed that our steam train trip was cancelled, but not me. The only thing I did miss was the scent that you get when steam and lubricating oil come together. It takes me back to my days at sea.
The line from Fort William to Mallaig is rightly celebrated as the most scenic in the United Kingdom, it is up there with anything in the world. The line crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct, made famous by the Harry Potter films
We arrived in Mallaig about ten o’clock. As we had a bit of time to kill before catching the ferry we had a wander round the town. We found a baker’s shop and bought a couple of sausage rolls to supplement our rather meagre breakfast. We were also found by a friendly labrador who smelt our sausage rolls and decided that they were his.
After that it was “Speed Bonny Boat” time, except that the MV Loch Fyne is neither bonny, nor is she speedy. She is a very functional vessel whose design owes a lot to World War II landing craft.
M.V. Loch Fyne
She got us “Over the Sea to Skye”.
Some images from the crossing
A visit to Armadale Castle (Home of Clan Donald) was next on the itenery. A bus had been laid on to take us there, but as it is only about a kilometer from the ferry terminal, and it wasn’t raining, we decided to walk.
The castle gardens are very attractive, with views over the Sound of Sleat. The castle itself is a ruin. It was abandoned by the MacDonald family in 1925 and has since fallen into disrepair. There is also a museum in the grounds, tracing the history of the Hebrides, through the history of Clan Donald. This is not as self-centred as it might appear. For a long period, during the middle ages, the MacDonalds ruled as Lords of the Isles. So to a certain extent the story of the Western Isles is the story of Clan Donald.
By the time we had seen round the museum, wandered around the grounds, and eaten our lunch it was time to head back to the terminal to get the ferry back to Mallaig.
The castle and it’s grounds
Back on the mainland, our journey back to Oban continued by coach. Partly to give us a slightly different view of the scenery and partly to allow us to stop at Glenfinnan to view the viaduct from a different angle.
On the way south we caught up with the Jacobite steam train. This caused a certain amount of excitement among some (mainly older male) members of our party. I feel that I should point out that while I love trains, it is travelling by train that I love, rather than the means of propulsion. Other people do feel diferently. Our driver knew of a place a few miles ahead where she thought that we would be able to get a good photo of the train exiting a tunnel. We then had a high speed race to get to the favoured spot before the train. I have never before experienced a coach taking a corner on two (three?) wheels.
We made it in time to see the train, but my photos were essentially a cloud of steam. We headed south to Glenfinnan, where we stopped get photos of the train crossing the viaduct.
Harry Potter on his way home.
An aside: I have just realised that there is a flaw in the Harry Potter story line. If you are going to cross the Glenfinnan Viaduct you need to catch a train from Euston and not from Kings Cross.
Also at Glenfinnan is the Memorial to the failed 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. Charles Stuart (aka Bonnie Prince Charlie) unfurled his banner here and laid claim to the crown of the United Kingdom. In 1815, after the Jacobite cause was no longer seen as a threat a local laird erected the monument.
1745 Monument
After that it was back to Oban. We did get to appreciate the views across to Ardgour and Morven on the way home.
Over dinner we found out via our waiter that the hotel is apparently haunted. We shall keep an open mind.
Despite the five-thirty start it turned out to be a good day.
We started with a suitably Covid-19 compliant breakfast, which wasn’t too bad. Sausage in a proper Scottish morning roll along with the normal cereal and toast. Perhaps they could have managed a slice of Lorne sausage instead of normal sausages, but it was fine.
As our bags were being transported on to Oban we decided to walk up to Queen Street to catch the train. We bought some salads and sandwiches on the way up to the station. We noted the mounted statues of Glasgow were decked out in their traditional head gear.
Traditional Headgear for Mounted Statues in Glasgow.
On to the train to Oban. It is about one hundred miles and takes about three hours. HS2 will not do anything to change that. Actually, because once we were out of the suburbs of Glasgow, the scenery is very attractive, I wouldn’t have wanted the train to go any faster. The trees are turning It all looked picture postcard perfect. Well not quite, because it was a grey and misty day, but I think that the rain and the mist bring their own kind of beauty to the Highlands.
We arrived in Oban about two o’clock, having eaten our sandwiches on the train, we didn’t need lunch, and, as we couldn’t check into our hotel until later we went for a walk.
We found a seal watching trip. There were supposed to be nine people including us but the other seven failed to show so we had our own exclusive cruise. We didn’t see any seals, but we did have an excellent trip down the Sound of Kerrera.
The trip took about an hour and cost £12, I would recommend it. We arrived back in Oban about four o’clock, by which time we could check into our hotel.
McCaig’s Tower (or Folly)
After we checked in, we unpacked, Diane obtained a pre-dinner Gin and Tonic. After dinner we went to bed, because we had to be up at stupid o’clock the following morning.
This holiday started off as a Rhine Cruise with a a side trip up the Jungfrau by rail. That was cancelled due to Covid-19. The next option was a rail tour entitled “The Treasures of Tuscany”, which sounded a decent alternative. We might have needed to isolate on our return but as I am now retired, that would have been an inconvenience, but not much more. That was also cancelled. At this point Diane called the tour company to find what tours might actually run. Which is how we have ended up on a five-day tour of Oban, Skye and Mull.
Last week Nicola Sturgeon announced new and stricter lock down measures for Scotland. We thought that this holiday would also end up being cancelled as well. On Friday we received a phone call assuring us that the holiday was going ahead.
The new restrictions might make it a bit different from holidays we have had in the past. But then life is different from what we have known in the past. In the Central Belt all pubs are closed, cafes and restaurants have to close at six p.m. They also have other restrictions. Outside the central belt, where we are headed, the restrictions are (slightly) less severe. Hotels are allowed to serve evening meals, but not alcohol to residents. At least we can eat. (I think we are allowed to drink if we sit outside, in Oban, in October.)
The trip up to Glasgow, was fine as far as it went. Sitting in a train, wearing a mask, for five hours isn’t great, but I can put up with it. There was no catering on the train, but we were prepared, with a flask of coffee, sandwiches, and what our grandson Jack, describes as “snacks”.
The first three hours of the journey are fairly unremarkable. Some parts are attractive enough, but a lot of the time the line runs through industrial areas in varying states of decline. However the last two hours, from Lancaster, north to Glasgow are very attractive. The line passes though the Lake District and the Western Borders.
A lake,or possibly a loch.
Lake District fells
After we arrived in Glasgow we checked into our hotel (Holiday Inn Express) and decided to go for a walk, partly in search of alcohol, which the hotel is no longer allowed to serve.
Glasgow , at least down by the river, proved to be more photogenic than I remembered it.
Dinner was OK. Especially considering that the hotel probably doesn’t have a proper kitchen. we went to bed early. It had been a fairly long day.
More lockdown easing. Today we went to Painshill Park. A c18th landscape garden set between the A3 and the M25. Neither of which existed at the time of it’s creation. Actually the A3 probably did, but it would have run through the centre of Cobham rather than bypassing it. And it would have be known as the Portsmouth Road. Considering that I have lived in this area for 35 years this was the first time I had visited. Surprisingly t was also the first time that Diane had visited as well, and she has lived (almost) all her life in the area.
The park was laid out by an Anglo-Irishman the Hon. Charles Hamilton. He started in about 1738 and ran out of money 1773 and was forced to sell. In the meantime, inspired by two Grand Tours and his art collection he laid out a spectacular landscape garden populated by follies.
I was highly impressed by it. Entry at £9.00 for adults isn’t particularly expensive.
Probably the best way to give a flavour of the place is to post some of the pictures I took.
I can’t really comment on their catering as the facilities were only partially open, but I had a good mascarpone ice cream before we started our walk and we finished off with a cup of tea and a scone under the trees.
I’m not really sure whether we are still in lockdown or not. But we are off for a break in the BGB.
Taken earlier.
We have come down to the Caravan and Camping club’s site at Normans Bay on the Sussex coast for three nights. We decided on three nights because at the time we booked it was unclear whether the toilets and showers would be open. We thought that we could manage three days washing in the sink and using the PortaPotty. As it turned out all the facilities, except the shop were open. There were a few restrictions on their use, but none that made a huge difference.
By the way Normans Bay is so named because it is the place that William the Conqueror landed to start his invasion of England in 1066.
It was a beautiful sunny day, so we decided to cycle into Bexhill to find some lunch. On the way to Bexhill, we passed a pub called The Star, which was serving food. We checked to find out if they were open in the evening as well. As they were we booked a table for dinner, then carried on to Bexhill.
Bexhill has some happy/sad memories for me. After Grace died, it was one of the first places that I managed to take myself off to on my own. I’m not sure why I chose Bexhill, I think I wanted to see the De la Warr Pavilion. I took the train from East Croydon and had a good day. I had lunch at the pavilion, a meander along the sea front and round the town, then caught the train back home.
Beers on the seafront
These thoughts were going through my head as Diane, Brian and I cycled into town. We found a baker’s shop and bought pasties for lunch. We went down to the seafront to eat them where we also found a bar, so we had a beer to go along with them.
I also took a few pictures of the De la Warr Pavilion.
We cycled back the way we had come, arriving back at the van about three thirty.
We walked along to the Star for dinner. Because they were operating under social distancing rules, their menu was quite limited and the service was different. Food and drink was placed on a side table from which you passed it to the other people on the table. However, the cheese bacon burger and chips that I had was fine. Every one else said their food was fine as well. The puddings were large.
In a previous life, I might have said that the food was adequate at best, but to be honest after 106 days it was lovely to sit down to a meal that someone else had cooked for me and where someone else was going to do the washing up. Critical faculties are currently suspended.
Day 107 Wednesday 08/07/2020
When we woke up today, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. I had been woken up by the rain during the night, so it must have been fairly heavy. Bacon sandwiches for breakfast were needed.
We were booked to go to Pevensey Castle in the afternoon. We decided to visit Hastings for lunch first.
A hopeful seagull
Hastings
We found a cafe for lunch and wandered back to the BGB along the foreshore. Hastings doesn’t have a harbour, even though it has a fair sized fishing fleet. T he boats are winched up the beach. They are launched (I think) by pushing then down the shingle using an old Caterpillar.
We had booked a slot at 3pm for Pevensey Castle, so we didn’t have a lot of time to look around Hastings.
The castle is an interesting site. Unusual in that it has been used as a fortification from Roman times right up to WWII. (There were gaps when it wasn’t in use). The Romans built it to protect Pevensey Harbour. The sea used to come right up to the walls of the castle. The Roman walls are still visible right round the site. After the Romans left, the Saxons used it. It was William the Conqueror’s base after he landed his army at Norman’s Bay in 1066. It was an important castle all through the Middle Ages, but gradually fell into run. In 1940, with The United Kingdom facing the prospect of invasion the castle was returned to use. For more information click here.
Pevensey Castle
We went back to the van and made cup of tea, while Diane tried and failed to get a photo of some cute, but uncooperative piglets.
Supper was cooked in the van.
Day 108 Thursday 09/07/2020
We woke up on Thursday morning to find out grey and damp. We had thought of going to Battle to visit the battlefield, but wandering around in the rain looking for the spot where King Harold got an arrow on the eye didn’t appeal. We packed up and headed home.
It was good to be able to finally get out after one hundred and eight days.
Following yesterday’s excitement (seeing the twins for the first time) it was back to more mundane matters today. Some charity shops have reopened. We have been doing a bit of sorting out during lockdown, and had a reasonable amount of stuff to re-cycle. We took the BGB, to Rayne’s Park — we did have a fair amount of stuff- to find a charity shop, and do some shopping.
Diane came back with two cappuccinos and a slice of chocolate cake to share. As of the moment cafes are only open for take-away, but we had our own private socially isolated cafe with us.
Our own little socially isolated cafe
After lunch, we went up to the allotment I decided to attack the brambles and the bind weed. I should have taken before and after photos, but forgot. It looks a lot better, but the brambles took their revenge on my hands and arms.
Day 99 To 104 29/06/2020 to 05/07/2020
I managed to miss the momentous 100th day in lock-down. We probably should have thrown a socially distanced street party, or something like that. On day 103 (Saturday 4th) however the pubs, and hairdressers were allowed to re-open. It went surprising smoothly. The predicted mayhem did not occur. Though there were apparently a couple of localized incidents, some over hair appointments.
Sunday (Day 104) was spent getting The BGB ready for our first trip of the year, because not only are the pubs allowed to reopen, so are campsites. I checked that everything was working, filled the fresh water tank and the fridge with beer and wine (and some food). Just to be clear the water tank only has water in it. We packed about twice what we would need for three nights. I put the van on electric hook-up overnight to make sure that the electrics were OK, and to ensure that the leisure battery was fully charged. We went to bed quite excited about our first trip in almost a year.
Practising for the trip.
Day 105 Monday 06/07/2020
The big day dawned , bright, clear and sunny. The BGB was packed and ready. the bikes were on the bike rack. We set off about an hour and a half later than planned. The idea was to travel to the campsite at Norman`s Bay via Liphook, to see Finn and Sol (and Tilda, Aimee and Andrew)
Sort of defeats the object of having a Brompton, but we need a rack for Diane’s e-bike
Finn and Sol were of course lovely. As was Tilda, though I think she is finding sharing her mum and dad slightly difficult. Everything was going smoothly until we had lunch and I discovered that I had left my spare insulin at home. To be honest it wasn’t much further to go from Liphook to Norman’s Bay via New Malden than it would have been to go the way we had planned. Or at least that is what I told myself.
We arrived about five thirty. Diane’s cousin was on the next pitch to us (planned), so we had a drink with them. We had a walk on the beach before we made dinner. It was a beautiful evening.
Today was the day when I had to head south with a purpose.
Day 1 to An Gearisdan (Fort William)
There is no direct road due south (unless you want to walk) so I set off in the direction of Loch Maree and Torridon.
Loch Maree
The weather was a bit overcast and drizzly, which made heading home a little bit easier. It also meant that the photographs were a bit on the grey side.
As I arrived into Torridon (an area where mobile phone signals exist) I received a text from my bike shop telling me that my Brompton (which should have been there in plenty of time for my trip) had finally arrived, and would I like to come and collect it. If I had had the bike it would have enhanced my trip, but I couldn’t really say that not having it spoiled my trip. It meant that I went for a walk where I would have gone for a ride.
Torridon
Torridon
Torridon
From Torridon the Starlight Express and I headed on along the southern shore of Loch Torridon until we reached Sheildaig where a decision had to be made. The coastal route via Applecross and the Bealach na Bá (Pass of the Cattle) is supposed to be spectacular. It is also on a narrow single track road which climbs to a height of around five hundred and fifty metres with hairpin bends and a few unguarded drop offs. The cloud base was about three hundred metres so I would be driving the trickiest bit of the road in the clouds with next to no visibility. So, no views and the chance of accidentally driving of the edge of a cliff; I chickened out and decided to take the valley road. Next time if the weather is clear we will take it.
The valley road to Lochcarron was attractive enough though.
I stopped in Lochcarron for lunch at the Waterside Cafe. Like all the places I ate at during my trip it did simple things really well. Excellent soup and a sandwich to go with it.
Moving on after lunch I didn’t get very far. There were major road works on the other side of the loch. I think there had been a landslip. This necessitated a convoy system, which was complicated by the fact that the road was diverted onto the railway for about a quarter of a mile. Naturally the trains had priority.
So there I was, stuck. Anyhow as I said earlier, in a camper van you can always make a pot of coffee whenever you feel like it. So I decided to do that. As Sod’s law dictates, just as the coffee pot came to the boil the traffic decided to start moving. I manged to pour it into my travel mug while ignoring the toots from the cars behind me and set off with a mug of good coffee to keep me going.
The Starlight Express, or at least her sat-nav was making a case for diverting through the Isle of Skye. It would have been less distance, but any time saved would have been dependent on the ferry to Mallaig being exactly synchronised with my schedule. I decided to stick to the mainland route.
A few miles further on I stumbled across something that I wasn’t expecting; Eilean Donan Castle. I must admit that I didn’t really know exactly where it was. But having found it I thought it would have been rude not to stop and take a few photographs at least. (Besides I did need to go to the toilet)
Eilean Donan Castle
I don’t know very much about the history of the castle beyond the fact that it is a compulsory stop for every coach tour of the Highlands. but a click on the link will take you to an informative Wikipedia page. Feeling suitably relieved I pressed on to Fort William.
The weather was beginning to deteriorate and by the time I arrived at the foot of Ben Nevis it was blowing a full gale with horizontal rain.
There is supposed to be a good pub/restaurant about ten minutes walk from the campsite I was staying at, but I whether it is or not I still don’t know. I didn’t fancy arriving there looking and feeling like a drowned rat so I decided that it was a night for cooking in the van. Some pasta in a tomato and basil sauce washed down with a chilled red (the only place I could find to keep a half full bottle of wine upright was in the fridge) did the trick.
I also found a travelling companion today, Kylie the Campervan Coo.
Day 2 Back to England
The following day dawned grey, but not quite as wet and miserable as the night before. “Dreich” summed it up. The plan was to get as far south as I could, while remembering that I was still on holiday. The route more or less planned itself. Down Loch Linnie to Ballachulish, through Glencoe to Crianlarich, then down Loch Lomond to Glasgow where I would pick up the M74 for the dash south. Kylie thought the plan was OK as well, or at least she didn’t object.
The grey, dull misty weather didn’t make for great driving conditions, but It did lead to some very evocative photos, especially of Glencoe.
I didn’t have the time, and given the weather, the inclination, to do more than take a few photographs. Glencoe is a place of spectacular scenery and not a little history. The Glencoe massacre of 1692 is infamous.
Onwards and southwards, The Starlight Express, Kylie and I went, passing through Bridge of Orchy, Tyndrum and Crianlarich before arriving “By Yon Bonnie Banks” in time for morning coffee. The weather was still pretty miserable but the sun was making a vague attempt to find its way through the clouds.
Loch Lomond spat me out into the outskirts of Glasgow and traffic and dual-carriageway roads. Things that I had forgotten about in the last week or so. I coped, managed to find my way over the Erskine Bridge, onto the motorway network and eventually onto the M74 south. I stopped for lunch at a service station somewhere south of Glasgow and north of the border.
I also managed to find a bottle of raspberry wine for my friend Toby. We have a competition to see who can bring the most horrible local hooch back from holiday. There was no way that it was going to be as vile as the coffee flavoured ouzo that he brought me back from Greece. The important thing is the taking part not the winning. (It did turn out to be reasonably vile though, probably more strange than actually undrinkable.)
I crossed the border near Gretna Green. I was trying to work out how far south I could get before dark (it is easier to set the van up if it is daylight). Google said there was a campsite at Kendal, not far off the motorway, so I decided to stop there for the night.
I went for a walk into town to find something for dinner, but the only pub I found didn’t do food. I wandered back to the van. It was actually quite nice to cook one final dinner in the van.
Final dinner
Day 3 Home again
There isn’t that much to say about today. The Starlight Express’ Sat-Nav gave me a pleasant little tour around the foothills of the Cumbrian Fells because it thought that there was some kind of a hold up on the motorway. It eventually led me back on to the M6 somewhere around Morecombe and after that it was dive down the motorway to home. I stopped somewhere along the way for lunch and made one last pot of coffee.
I arrived home mid afternoon and I must admit the Starlight Express looked at home on the drive.
Day 4 Saying goodbye
I had to return the Starlight Express by ten o’clock, so I was up reasonably early and about nine I reluctantly set off for Forrest Hill to return her to Campervantastic. They asked me how the trip had gone, so I told them; “I enjoyed it so much that you may have lost a customer”
