Durness to Ardamair

It's been quite a day! The road from Durness to Ullapool is utterly dramatic; you travel through scenery so ancient that it is both intimidating and compelling. Although I tried to keep my eyes on the road, it became more and more difficult!

 

En route to Ullapool

 

Along the way

The campsite at Ardmair Point is very beautiful and peaceful. The view from the beach is breathtaking...

The view from the beach, feet away from my van

I marked my pitch, and then went in to Ullapool to pick up ferry tickets. It is a lovely little village (not a town I am told) with the inevitable Edinburgh Woollen Mill shops. Why are there so few genuine local mill shops now?

Ullapool

Back to the campsite, and disaster! The recently installed alarm on the van went off and wouldn't stop! It was deeply embarrassing. Eventually I rang the RAC who sent out a local garage mechanic. There seemed to be no solution, but to take the siren out. I am just hoping that it won't affect the operation of the rest of the locking system. We shall see.

The sun is out and vans are arriving by the minute... looks as if it will be a good bank holiday for the folk here. But I am glad to be sailing to the Western Isles tomorrow. If Flossy behaves!

 

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Still at Durness

Wind and rain and hail and blizzards promised, meant a delayed departure to Ullapool. There have been a very few breaks in the weather. So confined to Flossy for most of the day.

The view from Flossy this morning

 

A small friend

 

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Evening Post

Wow, it's been a social whirl... I met an interesting older lady in the laundry (good place for conversations) who is camping in her car! She's touring and parking up anywhere. No curtains or insulation, so it must be freezing at night. I think she volunteers for organisations such as the RSPB.

Later, my neighbours invited me in for coffee. They have a caravan, and the husband has told the wife that she needs a special licence to tow the van. Of course she doesn't and was mad when she found that out. Now she is secretly going on a towing course! Sensible, given that one day, she might need to take over the driving/towing.

Two hours later, I came back to find I'd missed the Archers.. I'm hoping I can catch up online. Don't want to miss any denouement over Matt and Lillian. Apologies for that reference to my non-Archers Addict friends.

Wet and windy again after some lovely sunshine, and hail and thunder forecast for tomorrow. I've dropped my travel radio again, and can't get a decent signal now, so am unable to hear a forecast.

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Rocking at Sango

Very blustery here. The van swaying from side to side! Have kept the lid down, so thank goodness that it is liveable in without raising it.

This is the view from my window. I haven't found a way down to the beach yet, but the weather has not been dry enough to risk it.

Excitement this morning, when a man was trying to get into the shower room I was using! I said "Go away", and he retorted that he was attempting to get into the men's loo. Afterwards I heard him say that a foreign woman had told him to go away, and that they (foreigners) were bloody animals and all over here! As Readers Digest used to say 'All human life is here'...

Then, to brighten my day, I met a charming young German guy who sorted out the washing machine I was using in the laundry. He has been travelling by motorbike around the UK for a month or so. He told me that he has five bikes at home, and has to keep one of them in his living room because there is no more room in the garage.

 

Flossy on her pitch.

 

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Shivering at Sango Sands

Woke very early and was showered and ready to go by eight. The early start gave me the opportunity to take a detour on the journey to my next stop at Durness.

Travelling along the A836 to Altnaharra, I went onto the B873 to Bettyhill. This took me past the site of an old clearance village. And a memorial to Donald Macleod, who witnessed the destruction of the village.

I carried on through some amazing scenery through Tongue to Durness and Sango Sands Campsite. Sorry about the poor quality of the photo; it was pretty gloomy.

 

 

The road near Tongue.

The campsite overlooks the beach and there is a very chilly wind. In spite of that, there are a surprising number of tent campers who have come on bicycles, motorbikes and cars. Braver than me, that's for sure.

 

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Another day at Dingwall

Dingwall is a bit of a sad town; when I was looking for the High Street, one of the locals said 'it's that wide street you came through with no one in it'! However, there are one or two interesting independent shops, and an absolutely enormous 24 hour Tesco!!

The campsite is a bit sad too. It really needs an update; the place was pretty full, and there were only two showers for the women with a separate unheated hut that had a shower and loo. No idea what provision there was for the men. Not a site I would rush to visit again.

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Ding dong Dingwall (sorry!)

 

Arrived at Dingwall just at the wrong moment; the local footie stadium is on the same small lane as the campsite. I waited an hour to get in as the fans streamed out, plus police, ambulances, coaches and, it seemed, like the entire population of the north Highlands. But, BUT the sun (remember the sun?) came out as I waited, and it is now a lovely pleasant evening.

Hugger-mugger at Dingwall; the view through my van window.

It is a fairly compact site and quite full. I am besieged on all sides with cars and vans and noisy Scots in reunions. As I arrived a woman camper accosted me, asked my name and said 'are you a loner?'. I was a bit taken aback at the familiarity of it. But then she realised that I wasn't the member of the 'Loaner's Club' she thought I was!

 

 

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Killin and the Curate's Egg

 

Got to Killin after a long journey yesterday. It was wonderful to see the mountains again. A very helpful warden helped me choose a pitch, fairly close to the toilet block, washing up and service areas. What a nice change from the somewhat supercilious young warden at my last pit stop!

The old lady in the local pub! Preserved in whiskey by the look of it..

Lots of dogs on this site, which is interesting because there is no official dog walk; it's quite a distance away. So you see dog-shaped shadows creeping around the perimeter of the site late at night. My new neighbours have a Lhasa Apso cross Jack Russell with them, he looks a bit like my late dog, Boomer. Nice dog.

I got up late and decided on a leisurely breakfast. Put the grill on and the smoke alarm went off, I struggled to get it off the mountings and get the battery out. Then stumbled back and knocked over a two pint container of milk which flooded over the mats. So trying to rinse it out in my collapsible bucket, the bucket, yes, collapsed and drenched my feet socks and all. Luckily it is sort of sunny and quite breezy, so I hope the mats will dry out a bit before I move on. Ironically, the grill was as useless as the one in my Trident, and so I had scrambled eggs on barely warm dried out bread instead of crisp succulent toast!

Off to the village later, and lunch in the pub, maybe...

The excellent part of the 'egg' is that I've managed to get a reasonable signal for radio 4 long wave on my tiny radio. Makes a lot of difference in the morning to be able to swear at John Humphrys while supping my first cup of tea.

 

The path to the Macnab burial ground

 

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Killin tomorrow

Amazing bird life, in just 10 minutes I saw chaffinches, wrens, blue tits, great tits, wood pigeons, thrushes blackbirds and what I think was a blackcap. Unfortunately my bird book is on the shelf, at home...

Hope to wake early tomorrow and be on my way to Killin (pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable - which I find almost impossible). According to my sat nav it's a three and a half hour drive from here. But I shall stop at the wonderful Tebay services in Westmoreland to stock up with goodies and again before Glasgow to re-read the motorway map in case my said sat nav leads me astray once more.

Killin is some way north of Glasgow, and is the home of the Macnabs. There is a delightful burial ground there, on a small island, where the clan chiefs are buried.

The entrance to the Macnab burial ground.

If I remember rightly, there is no signal for O2 or my 3 mobile modem at Killin. When Flossy and I reach Dingwall (which is near Inverness) on Sunday, with any luck, we'll catch up again

 

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Why Flossy?

Just in case you were wondering why I called my van Flossy - she is named after my grandmother, who was quite a character! I remember her smelling of face powder, gin and tobacco. Flossy (Florence) was a land girl in WWI, and allegedly one of the first to drive a tractor.

I wonder how long it took to lace up those boots!

 

 

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Flossy hiding behind the bridge

 

 

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Problems with pictures

I don't seem able to post a picture from my camera, but will keep trying...

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Wet Thursday

It has rained, on and off, most of the day. I took a short walk along the river this morning, and was intrigued by the number of derelict industrial buildings on the site. There didn't seem to be anything about it at reception. Although I didn't look that hard! When I Googled it, I discovered that this was once the site of a large nineteenth century gunpowder works! It has a fascinating history, with lots of accidental explosions. Which reminds me, I must remember to turn off my calor gas before I leave. New van - new routine.

 

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First stop

Arrived at Kendal Caravan Club site after a three hour wet and windy drive on the M6. The HyLo wallows like a boat in the traffic; presumably due to its nautical antecedents.

The site is full of trees just coming into leaf. There are bluebells with the attendant wild garlic; I guess if I was adventurous I would use some to make a tasty recipe. But I'm not, so I won't. Probably against the site rules anyway.

The Caravan Club seems to be full of rules, and treats its members like small children. While I can understand the need for health and safety etc., it doesn't make for a warm welcome. Just hope that I have parked correctly to my peg...I wonder if the peg police will come in the small hours, and will 'write to' me if I've got it wrong. just as the Club reprimands those who need to cancel their bookings, however valid the reason.

Rant over! And the birds here make me feel happy again; they are everywhere, and singing their hearts out!

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Packing update...

Still trying to get things organised, but not helped by dropping marmalade on the floor! And it's very nice marmalade at that.

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Previous trip to Scotland

Last year, I visited friends on Westray.   This is a photograph of their home; an old manse.  The weather was glorious at the end of April.   My previous van 'Edward' can be seen to the right of the picture.    A VW T5.5, it carried me smoothly up to the northern isles and back.   Although I miss the 2 litre engine, I never found a comfortable place to sit in it!

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The New [old] Van

Tomorrow is the start of my first trip in the New Van [to me]. I am frantically packing and hoping that the weather will improve drastically before I set off.

Trying blogsy now to see if I can post while I am away.

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