The CalMac ferry terminal at Mallaig is the Gateway to Skye. We left the campsite at Arisaig and arrived at Mallaig well before check-in time, and so we drove round to East Bay where there were plenty of campervan sized parking places. Mallaig is a busy little place, and a coach loads of tourists were exploring. There was a fairly large Co-op so we stocked up on essentials for the cupboards - biscuits, crips, stuff like that. Then it was time to go back to the van and get in line for the ferry. Unloading the previous shipload and getting us on board was as efficient as it had been for the previous ferry crossings we'd made in Scotland and we were soon ready to cross the sea to Skye.
The trip over to Armadale was only about 40 minutes which gave us time to grab a coffee and buy some playing cards in the onboard shop. On deck it was so windy that the froth was blown from my cappuccino and splattered on a bulkhead, narrowly missing the woman behind me. But the views were spectacular, certainly better than any you get crossing the channel by ferry.
On Skye there was a definite island feel to the place, and as we climbed inland the cloud descended and the wind picked up. Our campsite had claimed to have a "nearby swimming pool' so we drove straight past the site entrance into the village of Kyleakin. I popped into Saucy Mary's coffee shop and found friendly staff who guided me across the bridge back to the mainland where the pool was in Kyle of Lochalsh. It seemed a bit of a cheat to leave the island so soon, and by bridge, but Jack and Edward fancied a swim and the weather wasn't up to much else so off we went.
The carpark at the pool was just big enough for us - I managed to get turned round and then occupied four bays with the campervan. The pool was smaller than the one in Oban, but me, Jack and Edward enjoyed our dip while Lucy sat this one out and read a few chapters of her book. When we were done the weather had brightened up and we went into the playground outside the pool which had just reopened after a big refurbishment. Edward was in love with the pirate ship, and I managed to remember some of what I'd learned from Mr Poole during PE lessons as me and Jack monopolised the basketball hoop.
When we went back to the campsite we found no sign of the owner, but a notice with our name on it was next to one of the pitches, so that was where we parked up. Ashaig campsite was the most basic we stayed at, but it was also the cheapest. Everything was clean and well organised and all the campers seemed happy. We broke out the cards we'd bought on the ferry and taught Jack how to play pontoon, using the Connect 4 counters as chips. He really enjoyed that.
The next morning we drove up to Portree, stopping when I found a puddle of signal on O2 to call the Torvaig campsite where we booked in for the night ahead. This was just a mile beyond Portree so we went straight to the site and staked a claim on a pitch with a bit of a view. This campsite was beautifully maintained and was quite different to the one as Ashaig. Again we got a friendly welcome and good value. We walked into Portree, coaxing a tired Jack down the hill into town. Portree is a busy town with lots of shops and cafes, a big school and a harbour. In Tobermory most of the activity was on the harbour front, but in Portree the main drag was above the harbour, which was much quieter with just a few seafood restaurants at the waterside. We bought lunch at the chaotically busy Stuart's fish and chips shop, and dined on the picnic tables outside. There were a lot of shops in Portree, but they seemed expensive and served the international tourist trade, including a cruise ship that was in the bay when we arrived. We added a couple of DVDs to our small collection. The TV aerial on the campervan was totally useless and although we had a variety of iDevices and my trusty Apple Dock to AV connector we were getting ready for a change of viewing.
The campsite was packed when we returned, and Edward made another friend from the Netherlands. The next morning was gloomy with low cloud and drizzle hanging in the air. We drove down into Portree and had coffee and waffles at Cafe Arriba which is clearly where the trendy young things hang out in Portree. Obviously we felt right at home.
This was the closest we had to a wasted day on holiday. It was only forty minutes to the next campsite at Staffin, and we arrived there early hopeful that the day would clear up. But the weather was set and the day remained dark and dank. The warden described Staffin as a village with four churches and no pubs, so it didn't seem worth getting drenched to go and explore its charms. We spent the afternoon playing Uno, Connect 4 and card games and were glad to have the extra couple of DVDs we'd got the day before in Portree.
It was a windy night and I lay awake for much of it wondering just how string the wind has to be to roll a campervan over. We rocked quite hard on the suspension but survived in tact. At one point I peeked out of the curtain and saw lights on in lots of the tents; it must have been a really uncomfortable night under canvass.
But the wind blew the clouds away and when we emerged the following morning there was a view of mountains and the sea that we'd never expected after the previous day. So after breakfast we drove down another narrow road to Staffin Bay where we found rockpools, a pier that seemed much to big fir the single boat tied up to it and stunning views across to the mainland where we could see some dramatically steep mountains.
We explored the rock pools and enjoyed the clear skies before heading off again to circumnavigate Skye's most northern point. It was more miles on a single track road, and we were surprised to find our journey disrupted by roadworks. You expect cones and delays on the motorway, but not out here. Because of the long wait at the lights we found ourselves in quite a convoy of traffic, but this thinned out as we made our way around the north of the island.
From this road around the northern shores of Skye you could look across to the Outer Hebrides, which are a just one tempting ferry crossing away from Uig. But we resisted that temptation, and made for the Skye Camping and Caravanning Club Site near Edinbane, where we were booked in for the next two nights. It was two o'clock by the time we were checked in and we were ready for a late lunch. The Warden suggested we go to Dunvegan and look out for the Dunvegan Bakery on the right past the Post Office.
This was a good tip. Dunvegan has a small but campervan friendly carpark with a view over the narrow end of the loch (Loch Dunvegan, obv) where a heron was posing for photographers with longer lenses than mine. We walked up the little street to the Bakery where we had lunch (sausage sandwiches for me and Ed, prawn sandwich for Lucy and the ubiquitous portion of chips for Jack) in their cosy cafe. Lunch was delicious and as the shop hadn't sold out when we'd finished we bought some bread rolls, scones and sausage rolls to take back to the campervan which formed the basis of breakfast and snacks the next couple of days. Across the road there was a village store so we picked up some more supplies there and then went down the road to Dunvegan Castle. Or at least their car park.
We'd been told at the campsite to walk down the road past the castle and follow it along the lochside where we'd be able to spot seals. We weren't sure at first if we'd found the right road, but it wound down to the shore past a beautiful little cottage to reveal a view back to the castle and out onto the loch where there were several small islands dotted in the water. It was easy to see where the seals were living because a succession of boats made trips out from the castle to get up close and personal with them, but we enjoyed the early evening walk and looking out across the water to see family groups of seals lazing on the rocks. Dunvegan was definitely my favourite place on Skye. It's little street of hotels and shops, the fabulous bakery, and the lochside walk all came together to give it an atmosphere that I hadn't felt elsewhere. It was also very peaceful, when Jack and Edward weren't making a racket.
The next morning we followed our noses onto the Waternish peninsula. Stein looked like an interesting coastal village, but we drove around the end of the peninsula at Trumpan first where again we found some amazing views and narrow roads. Coming back into Stein we drove down the road and parked at the end of the village by the slipway. We put on our coats and went onto the rocks at the waters edge where we had a chance to interact with the wildlife.
There were two scallops just sitting on the rocks, waiting for the tide to come back in and rescue them. Stein is home to two seafood restaurants, which have fresh ingredients right on their doorsteps! We'd planned to go to one of these restaurants for lunch, but the Stein Inn had a notice on its door which informed us that they were closed to allow them to prepare for a wedding reception they were hosting that night.
So we went next door to the gallery at Dandelion Designs where we enjoyed looking at some of the works on show and bought some pressies for the folks back home. The very nice lady behind the counter suggested we go across to Glendale where there are a couple of cafes and a toy museum, so we went back to the van and pottered off to Glendale, which was a bit further that we thought. Everything on Skye is further away than you think, and takes longer to get there than you expect, but we were on holiday and it didn't really matter.
We wanted to go to the Red Roof Cafe at Glendale which we'd seen advertised and had heard good things about. But the car park was full and there was nowhere nearby to park the campervan so we turned round and headed back to the junction where we'd seen another cafe with an unfathomable Gaelic name: Ceiteag's. Katie's was a proper old fashioned tea room where we had a beautiful lunch.
And Lucy had cheesecake. She needed a doggy bag because although it was the best cheesecake ever it was also a massive slice. After lunch we walked up to the toy museum. The rain was coming straight into our faces, so when we arrived our fronts were wet through, but our backs were bone dry. The Glendale Toy Museum occupies the front two rooms of a large house. The room to your left as you enter is home to the older exhibits and the room to the right houses the newer ones. The hallway is a small, low pressure, shop. Terry and Paddy who own the museum are retiring next year, which means you've got to go there before the end of the season in 2012. Then find them eBay where they'll be holding a rather large auction. Terry has a great line in patter and knows everything there is to know about toys. It's a very hands on museum with children, and grown ups, encouraged to play woth lots of the toys. The closure of the museum will have an impact on the cafes and other small businesses in this small community which support each other, but hopefully they'll all have had time to adapt their plans to cope with the change. Glendale was lovely, and certainly worth the effort of getting to, with or without the toy museum.
And that was the end of our last full day on Skye. Well, almost. Our neighbours on the campsite the night before had told us about the Coral Beach which we'd find right at the end of the road along Loch Dunvegan where we'd been seal spotting the night before. So we took the van down and found a car park which we partially blocked. But it was only another campervan we were obstructing, so I wasn't too bothered. It was still lashing down with rain, and the signs indicated a mile's walk to get there. Jack and Edward weren't keen. I thought I'd better stay with the van in case I needed to move it to let the other one out. So Lucy set off alone to find the Coral Beach, while we played Connect 4 in the warm and dry. By all accounts the beach was amazing. The black rocky shore suddenly gave way to a pinkish-white beach made up of tiny shell fragments.
The next day we left Skye over the bridge, stopping briefly at the playground in Kyle of Lochalsh, and returned to the campsite at Tyndrum where we'd stayed on the second night of our holiday. It was a good stopover on the way home, but most importantly it gave us a chance to return to the Real Food Cafe. This time we ate in, rather than having a takeaway and sat under the awning on what must have been the forecourt of the former Little Chef. I had a rather nice homes made scots pie which came with with a generous jug of meaty gravy. Everyone else had fish and chips and me and Lucy shared a bottle of Chardonnay, which was nice.
On our final day we drove down the shore of Loch Lomond to Glasgow and picked up the M74 to head south to the border and home. Overall we covered a little over a thousand miles in the fortnight, which wasn't overdoing it given that we did more than 200 miles on both the first and last days. The photos are all here, and the first two parts of the the holiday blog are here and here.
We had a great holiday and I can only recommend Scotland and campervans.
Tuesday 30 August 2011
Friday 19 August 2011
Scottish holiday part 2: Mull and Ardnamurchan
On Thursday morning we drove down the coast from Invercoe to Oban, and went straight to the ferry terminal. There we were guided into a lane for the Mull ferry and having parked the van we went inside to collect our tickets. The journey we'd booked was made up of three crossings, Oban to Craignure on Mull, Tobermory to Kilchoan back on the mainland and Mallaig to Armadale on Skye. We'd be leaving Skye via the new road bridge. For each crossing there were five tickets, one for each of us and one for the van, so it was quite a long strip of card that was printed off for us. As we had about forty minutes to kill before the crossing we hoped to find a coffee shop in the terminal, but there was just a huddle of vending machines in an alcove dispensing hot and cold drinks and a few snacks. Still, we got a drink to take back to the van and went to wait for the ferry.
When it arrived the MV Isle of Mull was quickly unloaded and we were guided on and into place on the car deck. We were on the 14:00 crossing, and although we'd had a late breakfast it was definitely lunch time, so as the ferry slipped out of the harbour we went to the onboard restaurant. The food was surprisingly good. Jack and Ed's chicken nuggets were cooked to order and the caesar salads that me and Lucy had were fresh. It all came in generous portions and wasn't too expensive, all together a better value and better quality meal than I'd expected.
Once we'd eaten there was time to venture out on deck and take in the views of Mull as we approached the land-fall. Duart Castle loomed out of the mist at us, looking like a location for an episode of Scooby Doo. Edward loves ships and was very excited, and very bossy. He was quite disappointed that the stairs leading up the bridge were behind a keypad-locked gate and he wasn't going to get to meet the captain.
Soon the tannoy blew the news that we should return to our vehicles, so we went back down to the car deck and settled back into the van. From Craigbure it was only seven miles to Fishnish where we'd booked into Balmeanach Park for the night. This was a much smaller campsite than we'd come across before, but the welcome was just as warm as any we'd received before. The facilities were a little more basic, but everything was clean and tidy. This was the first place where we saw lots of midges. There had been a few at Tyndrum, especially near the stream, but we'd not got many bites. By the time I'd hooked up the power my legs were covered in little black specks so I changed my shorts for jeans and we made sure everyone had lots of insect repellent on.
I got the bikes down off the rack and went with Jack to explore the area, while Lucy and Ed had a bit of a rest. We pedalled down the quiet road to Fishnish. There was a ferry due and we were passed by several commuters dashing to meet the ferry and leave the island for the day. By the slipway was a little hut, which was home to the Secret Kitchen Cafe, which has seating inside and out. We got a small tub of Orkney ice cream each and loafed around as a few more cars arrived. When we spotted the ferry half way across the sound we rod around the bay to get a view of it landing and Jack was fascinated at how the ramp unfolded from the bow (or maybe stern) of the MV Loch Fyne. Once the ferry had unloaded and the waiting vehicles had driven on we rode back up the hill to the campsite and Jack was ready to join the others vegging out for a while. We needed to restock the cupboard so I got back on my bike and went back down to Craignure in search of a shop. It was a great ride, bombing downhill on the quiet road which followed the coast back to the little ferry port. The Spar at Craignure was open, and I picked up most of the things on my list and improvised most of the rest. I even managed to cram it all into my panniers. I wasn't really looking forward to returning to the campsite as it was mostly uphill, the mist was turning to drizzle and I haven't ridden much recently so I'm not as fit as I perhaps should be. Having said all that I was back in the van sooner than I expected and was rewarded with a cold beer and being let off cooking.
The next morning was brighter and we drove up to Tobermory. Our hosts at the campsite warned us that most of the roads on Mull were single track, and told us the best place to park the campervan once we'd arrived in town. Jack and Edward were excited to be arriving in Balamory and we all thought the brightly coloured houses along the harbour front looked amazing.
We mooched around the various shops, buying postcards and Balamory goodies in the Tobermory Corner Shop and enjoying the variety of goods from power tools to telescopes and toys to whisky in Brown's.
By now we'd worked up an appetite (theme of the holiday?) and browsed the various options available on the main street, opting in the end for the MacDonald Arms Hotel, which wasn't the most salubrious prospect. But we were welcomed in and although the menu wasn't spectacular the food was good. Me and Ed had eggs and chips, each getting three runny eggs on a mountain of chips. An owd feller at the bar was having a pile of macaroni cheese and chips, and everyone's plates went back to the kitchen empty.
My legs were getting really itchy now, and I'd been bitten quite badly by the midges. It's not painful, just uncomfortable. When I was up and about I was distracted enough not to be bothered, but when I was trying to sleep it was most bother. Also it was quite annoying that I was the only one in the family to get bitten...
We spent two nights at the Tobermory Campsite (use the top gate to avoid the narrow bridge in your long campervan...) where Edward made friends with Jenning, who was camping in a tent with his family on holiday from the Netherlands. They didn't have a word of language in common but seemed happy in each other's company.
On Saturday we walked the mile or so in to Tobermory with a basket of washing which we left in the machines at the marina before exploring the top of the town where we found a playgound. The slides weren't very slidey and the boys weren't going fast enough down them until Edward improvised a helter-skelter style mat out of his coat and acieved escape velocity at the bottom of the smaller slide. There was also a playing field where I kicked a footy around with Jack. On the way back down to the main drag we spotted the hotel that had been Josie Jump's yellow house, now a more earthy orange but clearly recognisable with its tower.
The next morning, Sunday, we were due to leave Mull and planned to get the one o'clock ferry from the slipway at Tobermory. But we'd been told by a couple of people that we should go to Calgary Bay, so we turned left as we pulled out of the campsite and followed the narrow, windy road through Dervaig towards the west coast. It was a spectacular drive, and I'd later be glad of the warm-up, and took the best part of an hour to cover the twelve miles to Calgary. We parked at the art gallery and tea room, where it seemed rude not to have a cappuccino and hot chocolates. Behind the gallery was a workshop where a wood-cutter made sculptures and other pieces of art, many of which were displayed along the walk through the woods to the beach.
It was definitely worth the drive, the walk through the woods and inevitably getting the later ferry because the beach at Calgary is amazing. Fine white sand, shallow clear water with a hint of blue, green fields sloping down to form the cove and a couple of beautiful white houses which must have the most sunning views. We all took off our shoes, rolled up our trousers and had a good paddle. I was a lovely morning and Edward enjoyed running in the waves while Jack collected shells. Me and Lucy walked the length of the beach, which Ed thought must've been "very romantic."
There was a little green two-masted sailing boat called "Ruddled" moored in the bay. Edward was fascinated and desperate to wade out and climb aboard. Once he'd been talked out of that he tried to persuade us that we should buy a boat just like it. Reluctantly we went back to the campervan and wound our way back to Tobermory and the ferry. Once we'd parked at the top of the slipway I just had time to nip out to the harbour and get us fish and chips from the van on the pie, which bore a Les Routiers badge and had also been recommended to us. I just managed to run back in time to drive onto the ferry before they raised the ramp. The ticket collector let us take our lunch into the lounge and so we ate our late lunch as we crossed to Kilchoan back on the mainland.
This crossing brings you to Ardnamurchan, one of the most remote parts of mainland Britain. And we took a diversion to Ardnamurchan Point, where it's even more remote and six miles west of Lands End. The drive out to the point was interesting, along miles of single-track road with some tight bends. The last couple of hundred yards is a twisty section rocky outcrops on one side and a low stone wall to keep you out of the sea on the other. I was worried at one point that I might get the van stuck, but we got through and found space to turn around and park at the end.
Apart from the breathtaking views - keep a close eye on your children by the cliff tops - there is a surprising amount to do at Ardnamurchan Point. There's a gift shop where Jack bought a small tub of fart putty, not that he needs help making noises like that, and we got coffees and tickets for the museum and tour of the lighthouse. Or maybe that should be tour up the lighthouse?
The museum was interesting, informative and had plenty of interest for grown-ups and children. It told us some of the history of the local area, and the story of the lighthouse. The tour allowed us to spiral right to the top of the lighthouse (36 metres above ground and 52 metres above sea-level). Our guide was the former lighthouse keeper who used to climb the steps at least four times a day. He knew everything there was to know about the lighthouse, and explained how it's now all controlled and monitored remotely from Edinburgh. He was happy to answer questions and gave us plenty of time to take pictures and soak in the view.
We'd been on the 4:30 tour, the last of the day, and had quite a way to go to get to our campsite at Arisaig. We retraced our steps to Kilchoan and then pottered on to Salen where we found the A road where we thought we'd be able to get a move on was still a single-track road. The only hairy moment was when we met an articulated lorry coming the other way and had to reverse to let it thought. Most of the time people got out of our way, but this time we had to give way.
We were obviously going to be late arrivals at the campsite, but neither of us had any signal on our phones to ring ahead and warn them. Never mind, it was the most spectacular drive along the shore of lochs and twisting over passes between the hills. Eventually Lucy got through and then we hit the main road between Fort William and Mallaig which runs along the Atlantic coast, sharing space with the railway so you twist under arched bridges several times. Eventually we arrived at Sunnyside Croft, bought potato cakes from the shop for breakfast and relaxed with a well earned drink. We'd spent longer on the road than we'd planned 24 hours before, but getting to Calgary Bay and Ardnamurchan Point had more than made up for it, as had the views we'd seen during the drive.
The next day was Monday, which promised a 7 mile hop up the coast to Mallaig and a trip over the sea to Skye.
Once we'd eaten there was time to venture out on deck and take in the views of Mull as we approached the land-fall. Duart Castle loomed out of the mist at us, looking like a location for an episode of Scooby Doo. Edward loves ships and was very excited, and very bossy. He was quite disappointed that the stairs leading up the bridge were behind a keypad-locked gate and he wasn't going to get to meet the captain.
Soon the tannoy blew the news that we should return to our vehicles, so we went back down to the car deck and settled back into the van. From Craigbure it was only seven miles to Fishnish where we'd booked into Balmeanach Park for the night. This was a much smaller campsite than we'd come across before, but the welcome was just as warm as any we'd received before. The facilities were a little more basic, but everything was clean and tidy. This was the first place where we saw lots of midges. There had been a few at Tyndrum, especially near the stream, but we'd not got many bites. By the time I'd hooked up the power my legs were covered in little black specks so I changed my shorts for jeans and we made sure everyone had lots of insect repellent on.
I got the bikes down off the rack and went with Jack to explore the area, while Lucy and Ed had a bit of a rest. We pedalled down the quiet road to Fishnish. There was a ferry due and we were passed by several commuters dashing to meet the ferry and leave the island for the day. By the slipway was a little hut, which was home to the Secret Kitchen Cafe, which has seating inside and out. We got a small tub of Orkney ice cream each and loafed around as a few more cars arrived. When we spotted the ferry half way across the sound we rod around the bay to get a view of it landing and Jack was fascinated at how the ramp unfolded from the bow (or maybe stern) of the MV Loch Fyne. Once the ferry had unloaded and the waiting vehicles had driven on we rode back up the hill to the campsite and Jack was ready to join the others vegging out for a while. We needed to restock the cupboard so I got back on my bike and went back down to Craignure in search of a shop. It was a great ride, bombing downhill on the quiet road which followed the coast back to the little ferry port. The Spar at Craignure was open, and I picked up most of the things on my list and improvised most of the rest. I even managed to cram it all into my panniers. I wasn't really looking forward to returning to the campsite as it was mostly uphill, the mist was turning to drizzle and I haven't ridden much recently so I'm not as fit as I perhaps should be. Having said all that I was back in the van sooner than I expected and was rewarded with a cold beer and being let off cooking.
The next morning was brighter and we drove up to Tobermory. Our hosts at the campsite warned us that most of the roads on Mull were single track, and told us the best place to park the campervan once we'd arrived in town. Jack and Edward were excited to be arriving in Balamory and we all thought the brightly coloured houses along the harbour front looked amazing.
We mooched around the various shops, buying postcards and Balamory goodies in the Tobermory Corner Shop and enjoying the variety of goods from power tools to telescopes and toys to whisky in Brown's.
By now we'd worked up an appetite (theme of the holiday?) and browsed the various options available on the main street, opting in the end for the MacDonald Arms Hotel, which wasn't the most salubrious prospect. But we were welcomed in and although the menu wasn't spectacular the food was good. Me and Ed had eggs and chips, each getting three runny eggs on a mountain of chips. An owd feller at the bar was having a pile of macaroni cheese and chips, and everyone's plates went back to the kitchen empty.
My legs were getting really itchy now, and I'd been bitten quite badly by the midges. It's not painful, just uncomfortable. When I was up and about I was distracted enough not to be bothered, but when I was trying to sleep it was most bother. Also it was quite annoying that I was the only one in the family to get bitten...
We spent two nights at the Tobermory Campsite (use the top gate to avoid the narrow bridge in your long campervan...) where Edward made friends with Jenning, who was camping in a tent with his family on holiday from the Netherlands. They didn't have a word of language in common but seemed happy in each other's company.
On Saturday we walked the mile or so in to Tobermory with a basket of washing which we left in the machines at the marina before exploring the top of the town where we found a playgound. The slides weren't very slidey and the boys weren't going fast enough down them until Edward improvised a helter-skelter style mat out of his coat and acieved escape velocity at the bottom of the smaller slide. There was also a playing field where I kicked a footy around with Jack. On the way back down to the main drag we spotted the hotel that had been Josie Jump's yellow house, now a more earthy orange but clearly recognisable with its tower.
The next morning, Sunday, we were due to leave Mull and planned to get the one o'clock ferry from the slipway at Tobermory. But we'd been told by a couple of people that we should go to Calgary Bay, so we turned left as we pulled out of the campsite and followed the narrow, windy road through Dervaig towards the west coast. It was a spectacular drive, and I'd later be glad of the warm-up, and took the best part of an hour to cover the twelve miles to Calgary. We parked at the art gallery and tea room, where it seemed rude not to have a cappuccino and hot chocolates. Behind the gallery was a workshop where a wood-cutter made sculptures and other pieces of art, many of which were displayed along the walk through the woods to the beach.
It was definitely worth the drive, the walk through the woods and inevitably getting the later ferry because the beach at Calgary is amazing. Fine white sand, shallow clear water with a hint of blue, green fields sloping down to form the cove and a couple of beautiful white houses which must have the most sunning views. We all took off our shoes, rolled up our trousers and had a good paddle. I was a lovely morning and Edward enjoyed running in the waves while Jack collected shells. Me and Lucy walked the length of the beach, which Ed thought must've been "very romantic."
There was a little green two-masted sailing boat called "Ruddled" moored in the bay. Edward was fascinated and desperate to wade out and climb aboard. Once he'd been talked out of that he tried to persuade us that we should buy a boat just like it. Reluctantly we went back to the campervan and wound our way back to Tobermory and the ferry. Once we'd parked at the top of the slipway I just had time to nip out to the harbour and get us fish and chips from the van on the pie, which bore a Les Routiers badge and had also been recommended to us. I just managed to run back in time to drive onto the ferry before they raised the ramp. The ticket collector let us take our lunch into the lounge and so we ate our late lunch as we crossed to Kilchoan back on the mainland.
This crossing brings you to Ardnamurchan, one of the most remote parts of mainland Britain. And we took a diversion to Ardnamurchan Point, where it's even more remote and six miles west of Lands End. The drive out to the point was interesting, along miles of single-track road with some tight bends. The last couple of hundred yards is a twisty section rocky outcrops on one side and a low stone wall to keep you out of the sea on the other. I was worried at one point that I might get the van stuck, but we got through and found space to turn around and park at the end.
Apart from the breathtaking views - keep a close eye on your children by the cliff tops - there is a surprising amount to do at Ardnamurchan Point. There's a gift shop where Jack bought a small tub of fart putty, not that he needs help making noises like that, and we got coffees and tickets for the museum and tour of the lighthouse. Or maybe that should be tour up the lighthouse?
The museum was interesting, informative and had plenty of interest for grown-ups and children. It told us some of the history of the local area, and the story of the lighthouse. The tour allowed us to spiral right to the top of the lighthouse (36 metres above ground and 52 metres above sea-level). Our guide was the former lighthouse keeper who used to climb the steps at least four times a day. He knew everything there was to know about the lighthouse, and explained how it's now all controlled and monitored remotely from Edinburgh. He was happy to answer questions and gave us plenty of time to take pictures and soak in the view.
We'd been on the 4:30 tour, the last of the day, and had quite a way to go to get to our campsite at Arisaig. We retraced our steps to Kilchoan and then pottered on to Salen where we found the A road where we thought we'd be able to get a move on was still a single-track road. The only hairy moment was when we met an articulated lorry coming the other way and had to reverse to let it thought. Most of the time people got out of our way, but this time we had to give way.
We were obviously going to be late arrivals at the campsite, but neither of us had any signal on our phones to ring ahead and warn them. Never mind, it was the most spectacular drive along the shore of lochs and twisting over passes between the hills. Eventually Lucy got through and then we hit the main road between Fort William and Mallaig which runs along the Atlantic coast, sharing space with the railway so you twist under arched bridges several times. Eventually we arrived at Sunnyside Croft, bought potato cakes from the shop for breakfast and relaxed with a well earned drink. We'd spent longer on the road than we'd planned 24 hours before, but getting to Calgary Bay and Ardnamurchan Point had more than made up for it, as had the views we'd seen during the drive.
The next day was Monday, which promised a 7 mile hop up the coast to Mallaig and a trip over the sea to Skye.
Tuesday 16 August 2011
Scottish holiday part 1; Stirling to Invercoe
The first day was all about getting as far north as we comfortably could. We picked up the motorhome from Busby Stoop garage on Monday and took it home to load up, then set off at about 12:30. Our route took us across the A66 and up the M6 into Scotland. We'd booked into the Witches Craig campsite near Stirling, which had been recommended by a friend of Lucy's who'd recently stayed there. On arrival we were directed to our pitch and given a key to the washrooms, and more importantly the key to the free wifi that was available all around the site.
The welcome at Witches Craig was really warm, and at reception I was also able to order milk and bread rolls for the morning. I also picked up a Visit Scotland map showing almost 300 campsites around the country, and a brochure for the ferry company Caledonian MacBrayne.
Feeling pleased that we'd managed to get to the campsite without crashing the van and had successfully got power connected we poured a drink, looked at the map and booked a site for the next night, not too far away at Tyndrum.
That night we learned that the success to happy camping was not to make the children go to bed as early as usual, but to let them stay up late and sleep in longer in the morning.
On Tuesday we had a relaxed start to the day and after packing up hit the road again for Tyndrum. After the luxury of wide motorway lanes and not many single carriageway roads the van felt wide and long, but wasn't actually too tricky to drive. We had a coffee stop at the Trossachs Woollen Mill where they served Costa coffee and a good slice of home made caramel shortbread.
We were in Tyndrum soon and after topping up the diesel at the garage we checked into the Pinetrees campsite and received another key for free wifi. With phones, an iPad and iPod Touch to support this was looking promising. We took the bikes off the rack and made our way up the village to find lunch. The Green Welly Stop where we'd refueled the van looked promising, and we got sandwiches at the Snack Stop there.
Back at the campsite Jack and Ed explored the playground and paddled in the stream. There were lots of children for then to make friends with as the campsite was busy with lots of walkers on the West Highland Way as well as caravanners and campervans like ourselves, We made plans to head into Oban the next day to visit the Calmac office and book some ferry tickets. We also booked our campsite for the next day on the shores of Loch Leven.
Jack had spotted the Real Food Cafe while we were out earlier, and we rode up to get take-away fish and chips for tea. The atmosphere in the renovated Little Chef was buzzing with families eating at the long tables while the queue to order snaked around them. The food was good too. We had collie which was cooked to order like everything else on the menu.
The car park in Oban was by the leisure centre. Seeing this made Jack and Edward decide we should go swimming, so we went swimming. The swim session currently running was full, so we had 20 minutes to kill before we could get in the pool. Just time for a quick Starbucks from the cafe at the pool, then.
The swim was fun, and Edward plucked up the courage to have his first go on a water-slide. After much faffing around he found that it was actually really exciting and we had a hard time getting him off the slide when it was time to get out of the pool.
Oban was busy and we did the shopping we needed to do but didn't have time to get to the CalMac office before we had to head to Invercoe.
At the campsite we were led to a waterside pitch with a fantastic view of Loch Leven. We were just a hundred yards or so from a stone pier and slip way where people were paddling and playing in the loch. There were crabs and other sea creatures in the clear water and the tide rose quite quickly. Within a few hours the pier was submerged and a horde of children stood on it, knee deep in loch but surrounded by much deeper water.
It was a beautiful evening and as I tended the barbecue I rang CalMac to book an Island Hopscotch ticket that would get us to Mull and Skye.
The welcome at Witches Craig was really warm, and at reception I was also able to order milk and bread rolls for the morning. I also picked up a Visit Scotland map showing almost 300 campsites around the country, and a brochure for the ferry company Caledonian MacBrayne.
Feeling pleased that we'd managed to get to the campsite without crashing the van and had successfully got power connected we poured a drink, looked at the map and booked a site for the next night, not too far away at Tyndrum.
That night we learned that the success to happy camping was not to make the children go to bed as early as usual, but to let them stay up late and sleep in longer in the morning.
On Tuesday we had a relaxed start to the day and after packing up hit the road again for Tyndrum. After the luxury of wide motorway lanes and not many single carriageway roads the van felt wide and long, but wasn't actually too tricky to drive. We had a coffee stop at the Trossachs Woollen Mill where they served Costa coffee and a good slice of home made caramel shortbread.
We were in Tyndrum soon and after topping up the diesel at the garage we checked into the Pinetrees campsite and received another key for free wifi. With phones, an iPad and iPod Touch to support this was looking promising. We took the bikes off the rack and made our way up the village to find lunch. The Green Welly Stop where we'd refueled the van looked promising, and we got sandwiches at the Snack Stop there.
Back at the campsite Jack and Ed explored the playground and paddled in the stream. There were lots of children for then to make friends with as the campsite was busy with lots of walkers on the West Highland Way as well as caravanners and campervans like ourselves, We made plans to head into Oban the next day to visit the Calmac office and book some ferry tickets. We also booked our campsite for the next day on the shores of Loch Leven.
Jack had spotted the Real Food Cafe while we were out earlier, and we rode up to get take-away fish and chips for tea. The atmosphere in the renovated Little Chef was buzzing with families eating at the long tables while the queue to order snaked around them. The food was good too. We had collie which was cooked to order like everything else on the menu.
The car park in Oban was by the leisure centre. Seeing this made Jack and Edward decide we should go swimming, so we went swimming. The swim session currently running was full, so we had 20 minutes to kill before we could get in the pool. Just time for a quick Starbucks from the cafe at the pool, then.
The swim was fun, and Edward plucked up the courage to have his first go on a water-slide. After much faffing around he found that it was actually really exciting and we had a hard time getting him off the slide when it was time to get out of the pool.
Oban was busy and we did the shopping we needed to do but didn't have time to get to the CalMac office before we had to head to Invercoe.
At the campsite we were led to a waterside pitch with a fantastic view of Loch Leven. We were just a hundred yards or so from a stone pier and slip way where people were paddling and playing in the loch. There were crabs and other sea creatures in the clear water and the tide rose quite quickly. Within a few hours the pier was submerged and a horde of children stood on it, knee deep in loch but surrounded by much deeper water.
It was a beautiful evening and as I tended the barbecue I rang CalMac to book an Island Hopscotch ticket that would get us to Mull and Skye.
Monday 15 August 2011
Where've you been?
Scotland, actually.
I love Flickr, and have it set as the homepage in my browser. But the mapping is terrible. I've always wanted Flickr with a more Google Maps-ish looking map. And since some-one, probably on Twitter, linked to this how-to I've been having a look.
I think it works really well, and is a definite improvement on Flickr's implementation.
Oh, and there are more photos from Scotland to come.
View Larger Map
I love Flickr, and have it set as the homepage in my browser. But the mapping is terrible. I've always wanted Flickr with a more Google Maps-ish looking map. And since some-one, probably on Twitter, linked to this how-to I've been having a look.
I think it works really well, and is a definite improvement on Flickr's implementation.
Oh, and there are more photos from Scotland to come.
View Larger Map
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