109 THe high Highlands

Saturday 9th June
This morning we struck camp from the goldfish bowl and set off for Tarbert and the ferry back to the mainland.We had a lot of time to kill as the ferry was not due till 8pm.
We arrived at the port intending to take in the sights. We noticed a local bazaar in the town hall and decided to have a mosey around. We had a good snifter around the bazaar and after what seemed like an eternity but in reality was about 30 seconds we came out having seen everything, yawning into our hands. I am not really into knitting, mini cakes or funny wooden objects that have a purpose in life that is not immediately obvious.
We desperately needed something to do for the next 6 hours so we decided to take a drive west in search of some wildlife. We got to the end of the road and found this.

Thats Karen sitting down in the foregtound.

A beautiful little spot at a village called Hisinis. Worth the 1 hour and 14 mile trip. On the way back we stopped off at an Eagle bird observatory which incurred a 30 minute hike up a valley only to find that the wind was too strong for any Eagles to fly on our side of the mountain so all in all, we only saw a couple of deer in the long distance. Another hike back down the valley and back in Gromit and off to Tarbert in time for a quick pint before the arrival of the ferry. Once in the queue we were informed that the ferry was going to be late which was nice as we had booked into a campsite which we knew closed their gates at 11pm.
The ferry set off about 40 minutes late and we arrived at Uig on Skye at about 10:30. We then had a mad dash to the campsite and we arrived there at exactly 11pm and managed to get on site. This was a bonus considering we had paid for it.

Sunday 10th June

We spent all day relaxing and watching bike racing & F1 on TV.

Monday 11th June

An early start sees us leaving Skye and heading up to a favorite spot of ours called Applecross. The road over to it is pretty scary going from sea level to over 2000 feet in only about 2 miles.

Karen at 100% concentration negotiating the next hairpin.

The view back to sea level.

We bought some more gas and then stopped for grub at the Applecross Inn. Applecross was put on our interest radar by a man called Monty Halls who went to see if he could survive living on a small self sufficient croft and made a TV program about it, which Ray and I really enjoyed

We then drove towards Gairloch and on the way came across the hut that TV presenter Monty Halls lived in during his desert island style stay.

Some of the views from this area are simply breathtaking.

On arrival at Gairloch we decided to have a stay in a hotel as a break from the tent and as a rest from the long, slow, winding single track road and the wind.  We had also decided to do a whale sight seeing trip by boat, the following day, but unfortunately it was booked up.

Tuesday 12th June
On advice from the hotel manager we found a very nice campsite on the beach near Gairloch.
After booking in and setting up the blue pod tent we drove to the harbour and booked the boat trip for the next day to try and see some dolphins and whales.
The wind was still an ever present problem and it was really starting to get us down, having been blowing hard from the north for most of our recent journey. On top of that it was very cold and these two together were really getting on our nerves.

Wednesday 13th June

After an early rise we went back to the harbour for our trip. The boat was a 12 passenger rib with 2 x 225 horsepower engines. ..Nice.
The trip however was marred by the complete and utter lack of any life form with fins. We saw seals but they have flippers ! We lost interest in the trip when the skipper took us inshore to look for sharks -yeah right ! - and then claimed to see an otter which turned out to be another seal. The last hour of the trip was spent killing time and wasting our money.
This seems to be following a theme. (following last years similar waste of money). I am convinced that there is a great boat adventure out there waiting for me.  Something about kissing a lot of frogs to get the prince!!!!

Thursday 14th June
On the move again, this time towards Ullapool. En route Leon became ill again so we stopped regularly for him to be sick. One thing he does when he needs to vomit is eat grass. Karen helped somewhat and almost lifted him onto a bank to do so. Leon decided that with my help he didn't need to put as much effort in and just sat in my hand.  I was not converting him into a lollypop as the picture below seems to suggest.

Leon in a compromising position

On arrival at Ullapool we did the obligatory, 'lets drag Ray into Tescos' and then popped into a cafe for errr...coffee!
It was then back on the road again down another small winding single track to our next wildcamp site. The site turned out to be a bit unfriendly...

Nice friendly locals.

So we turned back towards a good spot we had seen and immediately saw this.

A courting couple

We found our spot. It was brilliant and had some protection from the biting wind.

Rustling up some grub

How bad is this for a wildcamp

Practicing my Budda routine

Friday 15th June
Today it was the final drive to the top of Scotland at Durness (John o' Groats does not interest us, having previously been there, done that).
The trip up was as the rest of the western coast, beautiful. Again we picked the smallest, windiest roads.

On arrival in Durness we found an inn and decided to have a coffee and some lunch. We both had the same, steak pie, chips and beans. It was the worst meal we have eaten in ages. It contained about 1/3 of the moisture it should have. Not being ones to send our food back (we do not like chefs spit) we ate what we could and then I fruitlessly complained as a parting gesture.

The top of Scotland having now been visited, we decided to run away from the wind and head South. We set off for a place called Dingwall, near Inverness.  Again, the scenery was incredible.

We stopped of at a small hamlet called Crask Inn and stopped in for a beer in The Crask Inn.

It was a pleasant little pub with only 1 other house for company. It was like going back to the 1950s.
We arrived at the campsite at Dingwall and booked in for 3 nights. It is a pleasant place on the edge of town beside 'Ross County' football stadium. And no, it is not at all like camping beside Tottenham Hotspur.  However it is a campsite for the silver travelers.  Ray and I are the youngest people here by a long shot.  It started raining tonight, the first we have had in the last couple of weeks.....but, no wind..yippee

Saturday 16th June.
We failed to appreciate that the football season had finished and there was some car park works going on around the ground so at 7am we were rudely awoken by the sound of heavy plant machinery and lorries reversing with the insidious beep - beep - beep that they make when reversing. This was swiftly followed by angle grinders cutting through steel. Luverly.  (Do you get the impression that Ray is turning into a grumpy old man too?).  Still raining.

Sunday 17th June.
This has been our day of catching up with the washing, Ray has had phone calls from the girls wishing him happy fathers day and after a couple of pints at the local pub, we have chilled out ready for our next installment. Still raining.

108 Continuing the Islands

Continuing with the end of Tuesday 5th, we had decided to book our next ferries as turning up ad hoc had not proved too fruitful.  That said, we are up at five in the morning for the 7.15am ferry to Harris.


Just as a distraction, here's a photo we forgot to put in. We thought it was nice and the blog is for us to remember too. It is on the road towards Oban.

The road bridge at Connel. Only 150 miles away from where we are now.

Wednesday 6th June.
Harris is as wild and beautiful again and Ray says it is very similar to the Falkland Islands including the peat farming. The whole of the Outer Hebrides is made up of either peat, rock or sand. As a result the islanders farm the peat for winter fire fuel. They have a patch allocated to them and simply remove the top layer of heather and then cut strips of the peat underneath and stand them up to dry. They then collect them up and store them at their houses. The original removed heather is replaced behind them to reinstate the landscape.

Peat slices stood up to dry. Apparently it stinks when burned.

We came across a group of 'tree huggers' (people out on a wildlife field trip). We decided to be nosy and see what they were looking at and found a group of small lakes joined with stepping stones so needless to say we had to test them out.  When Ray says tree huggers he wasn't joking as we over heard one man, who was on his knees with his nose in the grass shouting "who wants to see some mongi fungi?"  It takes all sorts I suppose.

Tiptoe through the stepping stones......

We found a campsite (a real one) next to a beach and parked up. This site was just outside Uig on Lewis whhich had no electric, but did have showers and water so it was just a step up from wild camping. The wind was a usual feature and this is Karen rubbing her hands together, not praying for better weather as it looks.  

I don't understand, it's really sunny and I am freezing.

 We walked the length of the almost deserted beach and on the way back the temperature actually rose and the wind started to die down. (Perhaps she was praying after all ??). The campsite can be seen in the distance.

Barbados minus about 30 degrees.

 We had bought a book on the walks of Harris and Lewis and decided on a couple for the next couple of days.

Thursday 7th June.

This morning, the wind has died down totally, the sun is out and so are the shorts and t shirts for our first walk to visit an iron age home up in the hills.  We set off on a relatively level gradient and then Ray decided that maps are boring and we shot off up hill.  I also nose dived the ground and lost my left foot in a swamp, so that makes us one all on getting wet feet.  However all is forgiven as the views were wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed it, ....once it was over.....

A short break on our walk

The white house was about half way.

Home sweet home

We chased around for the next campsite and found one outside of Stornaway.  I spoke with my Mum on the phone and was telling her all about the good weather we were having and laughing about the amber alert on the mainland.  Big mistake, huge!  We put our little tent up, sat in it for about an hour, got very worried by the wind that was pulling it about and ended up taking it back down.  Didn't bother us for sleeping in the tent though. 

Friday 8th June.

Well, it is very gray today, seriously windy and cold.  We decided not to let it bother us too much though and went of to visit the Butt of Lewis. It really is called that.  We passed through lots more desolate countryside and finally reached our destination. We got out to have a better look and as can be seen from the way my hair is standing straight, the wind was fierce.

Who needs hairdryers

The lighthouse at the Butt of Lewis.

Leaning into the wind.

But the wind produced this beautiful scenery

We are at present sitting in the only pub in a forty mile radius and are thinking about heading to the Lewis version of Stonehenge.
Errrrrrr....

Decision made, we are off to the Standing Stones at Callanish. It is not known why these were built but they had several modifications (stones added) over the centuries leading up to the birth of Christ. In the center was a burial chamber but this was added about 2600 BC whereas the original stones were erected about 2900 BC.

The Standing Stones at Callanish. Better than the last set we saw above.

To give some idea of the size of these stones, Karen has graciously agreed to pose behind one.

She's there somewhere...

 Whilst impressive, they are not a patch on Stonehenge, but, you can at least get up close to these and have a proper look.

The center stone at the burial chamber.

The view from the Standing Stones.

The long and winding road.....To Stornoway.

When we eventually arrived back at our campsite after the usual dragging of Ray around Tescos and the obligatory pub stop to compensate for Tescos, we got back to the campsite to find that someone had stolen our pitch. On crying to the manager, he realized that he had made a cock up and we ended up being camped in the middle of the car park where the last electric point was. Karen was not amused but soon got over it. However, we are now the center of attention and I think like goldfish in a bowl. Karen thinks we are just an exhibit.
I am quite happy as we have been compensated with a nice bottle of wine, (I am cheap). Ray however is distraught as it is not his usual "Quality wine, Liebfraumilch".

107 A sad time and more Western Isles

Saturday 19th May
We packed up a bit sharpish in order to make the 1130 ferry to Kilchoan. Having plenty of time on arrival we decided to have a wander around the village of Tobermory. We then jumped into Gromit and drove to the slipway. It was deserted at 5 past 11 then sadly we saw that the ferry had left 5 minites ago. Karen, bless her cotton socks had read the winter timetable and we had to wait until 1pm. This of course did not phase Karen in the slightest. She was able to go shopping for another hour and a half !    
The ferry arrived and took us across to Kilchoan as per the summer timetable.

On arrival on the main land we set off intending to camp at Fort William. Not far from the ferry terminal we saw a small heard of deer on a ridge near the road.

Deer just looking at us

Bonnie prince Charlies Monument

Further along the road we came upon this. It is a statue of ‘Bonny Prince Charlie’, or Prince Charles Edward, at the spot where he first came ashore. He led the Jacobite uprising which ended in defeat at the battle of Culloden. Where incidentally my ancestors on my mothers side, namely 'Bowman', fought under the Farquarson Clan against the English and that is where I get my tartan from. They were in the center of the battlefield.

 The Loch leading to Fort William delighted us with this:

Serenity

As we approached Fort William we could see that the Ben Nevis range of mountains behind the town was still covered in recent snow.

Ben Nevis range still covered in snow

We booked into a campsite in the shadow of Ben Nevis and the good lady set about feeding us. We had a visit from the warden who complained about letting Leon run free and crapping all over the campsite. He was soon put in his place but it left us feeling a bit like we were not welcome. A chat with the campsite owner put us back on track.

A happy camper

Sunday 20^th May

Another lovely day with bright sunshine and little wind. We jumped on our push bikes and cycled the 2 miles or so into town. What a disappointment. Whilst we appreciate that it was a Sunday, more than half of the shops were either permanently closed or closing. The town was dying on its feet. We stayed around for a short while and did some window shopping (such as it was) and managed to fit in a couple of beers in the main street bars. We then had a sort of race back to the campsite, which was won by Karen but she did cheat somewhat. I had to visit the petrol station en-route and she rode on.

Monday 21^st May

We decided to have a chill day and whilst Karen read her Kindle and sunbathed, I cleaned and oiled the bikes. At about midday we had a phone call from Karen’s Mum to inform us that Karen’s uncle Sammy, who had been in hospital for some weeks had taken a turn for the worse. We immediately stuck camp and set off back to Dumfries.

On arrival at Dumfries hospital we got to see Sammy, unfortunately he passed away the next day. We stayed un Dumfries for the next 12 days to attend his funeral and help out where we could. RIP Sammy Henderson.

One of the lighter moments was watching the Red Squirrel at Mums bird feeder.

A small Red Squirrel, a UK native, being overrun by the more familiar American Grey Squirrel.

Saturday 2^nd June

Today we set off for the Outer Hebrides, a long group of islands off the North West coast of Scotland. Heading for Oban to catch the boat we came across this church called ‘St Conans Kirk’. In it is a bone fragment of ‘Robert the Bruce’. One of the kings of Scotland and recently bought back to light in the film ‘Braveheart’.

St Conans Kirk

A statue of Robert The Bruce

We wildcamped that night in a forest near Oban.

Sunday 3^rd June

At about 3:30 it was on the ferry for the 5 hour trip to Barra, the southernmost island in the Hebrides. On arrival, it was getting late and we needed to find somewhere to wildcamp as there were no campsites in the area. Whilst looking we came across this:

Beauty in the cold wind

This place is incredibly beautiful. We found a disused quarry and set up camp in the lee of the quarry out of the wind.

Monday 4^th June

We set off for a ride around the island (it is very small) and then for the ferry to the next one, South Uist. Unfortunately the ferry was full and we had to wait another 4 hours for the next one. More exploring and more pictures.

Gromit admiring the view

More white deserted beaches

A Beadlet anenome

Beaches, Islands, desolation.

We eventually got on the ferry and after the 40 minute trip we again went looking for cheap (i.e.free) digs. We found a spot by the beach in a small depression with a view of the sun setting on the Atlantic Ocean. The next piece of land West of us was Canada. We also set up the Satellite to watch Game of Thrones – do you think we may have too many toys ??

A hole in the ground out of the wind

The beach was white and gorgeous especially with a little ‘Ringed Plover’ playing in the surf.

Tuesday 5^th June

A sunlit but cold day. We headed North through South Uist, through Benbecula and then on through North Uist. We came across peat being farmed for heating fuel. The last time I saw this was 30 years ago in the Falkland Islands. They cut slices of peat, stand it up to dry in the sun and then stack it away for their winter fires. We stopped for some shopping, lunch and a pint at Lochmaddy. Here was the ferry office for another route but we decided to buy tickets and book crossings to eventually get us off the islands next week. We did not want to get caught with a full ferry again. Unfortunately, the only available crossing over to Harris, the next northern island was at 7:15 am ....eeek. we are normally still asleep then.

We set off for another terminal in Breneray in anticipation of an early start and came across a ‘circle of stones’, some sort of pagan ritual site and also an ancient house made solely of rocks.

I struggled to see the circle.

Again, beautiful but cold and windy

A stone house

We found another wildcamp site near the ferry terminal and again, on a beach. Again, beautiful but windy. Just like the Falklands. This was nearby:

Seals swimming and sun bathing in the bay.