Outer Hebrides part two - Uist

The ferry arrived at Bernera and we trundled our way down North Uist to the RSPB reserve at Balranald, as recommended by Dave and Lorna. We parked in the car park by the visitor centre and walked down to the beach, on the way back to the ‘van we saw some young kids (no older than 11 or 12) razzing a Peugeot 205 down the farm tracks! While we were there 2 ladies walked past with their dog, one waved and told us she lived in a cottage just up the hill, she was really friendly and said if there was anything we needed we should go and knock, what a great welcome to Uist!

We moved onto a campsite the next night, just so that we could put stuff on charge, our mobiles, the laptop, GPS etc were all flat, so we needed electric hookup! On the way we had a brief stop at a smokehouse where we had a look at the exhibition and shop, it smelt of fish and smoke though, so we didn’t stop long! The campsite was at Liniclate with a nearby beach, and we quickly put everything possible on charge before giving the ‘van and Tonks a quick wash to get all the saltwater off after the ferry journey.


We found out that there was a dentist down the road so we walked down to see if he could fit Linda in sometime (for her broken tooth) he said he could do it straight away, put a temporary cap on and she was out in about 10 mins, great! Tonks’ Mot had ran out the day before, so we then went to the local garage, and they could fit us in later on! We moved the ‘van a few miles down the road to a wild camping spot next to a beach at Cill Amhlaidh (as recommended by Dave and Lorna), it was a lovely spot on the beach with a view out to sea. We set up and took the dogs on the beach where we met a local man who was collecting in his lobster pots, he said he used to do commercial fishing here but now just has the lobster pots as a hobby, he was taking them away for the winter, but they’ll come out again next year!
While we were waiting for Tonks’ MOT we took the dogs for a 4 mile walk to the beach, on the way we spotted the RBS cinema lorry set up in a hotel car park so later on that evening we came back to watch a film, we were amazed with how big and loud it was inside! Tonks failed the MOT due to low tread depth on the front tyres, but we were expecting it and the next day he got new tyres and we were on our way again!

We went out for a walk next morning just east of Gramasdail, it was a walk that we had got from a little walking book Linda had bought, and it said that at low tide ‘you will see seals’! Following the instructions we set out on the farm track, past the abandoned car and the sign pointing out which way to the Seals, but alas when we got there all we saw was a lot of pretty coloured sea weed and a few seagulls! Still, Linda did take the opportunity to sit on an abandoned tractor on the way back and pretend she was doing a bit of ploughing!
Later on we moved the ‘van again to an excellent beachside spot further south at Gearraidh ma Monadh, again recommended by Dave and Lorna (thanks!). When we arrived there was already 2 motorhomes set up. We pitched up, making sure that we were out of everyone’s way and went out for a walk along the massive beach in front of the ‘van. We walked for just over a mile and over a causeway onto a little grassy island where there is a jetty used by a couple of fishing boats, we watched one of the boats come in from its mooring to unload before carrying on back to the ‘van. Had a brew sat outside in the sun, and two more campervans showed up, it was like a caravan site! Later on a local man drove up the track in his car. Not one to turn down a chat, Phil went over and passed the time with him. He had lived on the island all his life and did a bit of fishin, farmin and taxi drivin. We talked about the weather and a dislike of cities before he carried on his drive along the rough track!

We left the ‘van where it was the next day, and drove over the causeway to Eriskay, the southernmost island of Uist. We parked by Am Politician pub and did a 2.5 mile walk which was in the guide book Linda had bought. It took us over a lovely beach and up to the ferry port where we saw a ferry come in and unload. We then headed up onto the moor where we spotted a couple of the “Famous” Eriskay ponies (as it said in our book). Walking back to the car, we had a great view of the village of Bhalla, which because of its multicoloured roofs and moorland situation looked just like a scene from Iceland. Once back in the village we put the dogs in the car and went in the pub where we had our lunch looking out to sea. Am Politicean is so named because a ship of the same was wrecked nearby in the 2nd world war. Its cargo was Whisky and there were many stories of the locals plundering the spoils and having many a merry day! The pub still has some of the original bottles from the wreck, one of which is still full of Whisky!


Out walking on the beach the next day we thought we saw basking sharks. We ran down to the end with the binoculars and saw lots of triangles poking up out of the sea, they turned out not to be sharks, but a pack of nosey seals! An old chap came wandering up in a suit jacket and wellies, said hello and started telling us all sorts of interesting stuff. He lived in a house just up the way, which he pointed to, they don’t get sharks here very often, but lots of seals, porpoise and dolphins, the guy who runs the old seaweed processing plant is a bit of a rogue, the locals campaigned for a road to the beach and built the picnic area we are staying on to force the council to build the road and now some of the locals are complaining about the campervans using it! There used to be a graveyard near where we were stood and a human skeleton was found not long ago! He once found a metal cylinder washed up which turned out to be a bomb, bomb disposal had to come and remove it! We also asked him why there were so many abandoned houses on the islands, including old crofters houses, he said some people build new houses and just leave the old ones to fall to ruin, and the shrinking population on the island doesn't help either. After a while another couple bounded up and the man announced that they had just moved into the area from Greenwich in London, he told us about the seals and announced that he was now a local before finally wandering off! We carried on our chat with the old guy for a bit and then his mate came and said hello so we left them to it.. We hitched up the ‘van and headed off towards Loch Druidibeag where we had seen a car park on the map. The lane was very narrow and when we got to the car park 2 motorhomes were already there and we had no chance of turning round, we said hello to the wild ponies that were wandering around there before deciding to risk carrying on in the hope of finding a turning spot. At the bottom there was thankfully a house with a drive big enough to back the ‘van into, so we trundled back along the lane. On the way we passed a young couple of backpackers who we had seen on the way down, and he stuck his thumb out hoping for a lift, we didn’t have room because of all the stuff on the passenger seats, then Phil said “what about the ‘van?!”. Linda opened the ‘van up and settled them in on the sofas, and we continued our way up the road! They got out at the end of the road and said it was dead comfy, especially after their night in a bothy! We then carried on up the main road to Lochmaddy, where we decided to stay at the port. We found a spot on the car park and booked our slot on tomorrows ferry back to Skye. We took the dogs up with us into the ferry this time rather than leave them in the car, and we sat in the lounge reading a newspaper for the trip. Once we landed in Uig we drove down to the site at Portree where we had stayed before.

Back over on Skye we had our first visitors for months! Jane and Neil were on holiday in the area and we arranged to meet up. First Phil went over to Sligachan with his bike. Once the heavy rain stopped the sun poked through and Phil set off on a 9 mile out and back route took him between the Black and Red Cullins mountain range over some great rocky terrain. Jane and Neil (and Floss and Nell the collies) had called at the ‘van in the meantime so we all had a cuppa and scones while we caught up on each others news. They then went off to the Talisker distillery and we arranged to meet up later in Portree. After a walk with the dogs, in peat bog and rain, we dried out and set out to meet up with Jane and Neil. First we went into The Isle, a great pub in the centre of Portree we had a couple of pints in there while the locals were getting ready to watch the Man U v Rangers game in 3D, they all looked like Eric Morecambe in their 3D glasses! As it got noisier and noisier, we headed off to find somewhere to eat. We went to the licenced café up the road and had a delicious meal. We had a lovely time and it was really good to have visitors, we reluctantly said bye and headed back to the ‘van, ready to move on to Morvich the next day.

Outer Hebrides part one - Harris and Lewis

This was to be our first proper experience of wild camping (albeit with the luxury of a caravan!), there aren’t many caravan sites on the Hebrides so we decided we would mostly stay wherever we found enough space to park! The first attempt proved to be a failure as we drove in to a narrow parking area (marked with a “P” sign) only to find there was no way out. We had to reverse car and ‘van out into the main road in order to carry on, Yikes! Eventually we settled on a drive through layby with a lovely view looking out onto Loch Eireasort We awoke to a glorious sunny morning, with no clouds in sight! Phil was up and out of the van taking photos while the sun was out! The view from the layby we were in had transformed from wet dreary sight to gorgeous blue skies reflecting off the greeny/blue loch.

After breakfast we hitched up the ‘van and drove up towards Stornoway hoping to find another layby to leave the ‘van in and explore the area. A series of impatient drivers and a lack of signposted laybys saw us drive straight past Stornoway and out onto the moor on the other side. As we continued over the moor with no stops in sight Phil was getting anxious and we had to change our plan, so we drove up the A857 up to the top of the Hebrides as far as it goes. At the end we reached Port of Ness where there is a harbour and just enough room to turn a caravan around. Linda went into a local café and ask if there is anywhere nearby we could pitch for the night, the very friendly girl in there said we could go down to the harbour and pitch there next to the beach.. After checking it out we drove down the steep narrow track and found we had the perfect spot right next to the beach overlooking the boats in the harbour. We set up and then spent the afternoon on the beach, it was so warm that before long we were both in the (very cold) sea! Later on we went for a walk on the headland out towards the Butt of Lewis (the most northerly point of the Hebrides). Back at the ‘van we got chatting to a couple who had come for a walk on the beach, she was an internet secretary, and had lived on the island for 2 years, she lived in Devon and one day decided to move here, so sold her house and bought one on Lewis before ever having set foot on the island!

Today we moved from Port of Ness to Callanish, and found a little pitch down a dead end road which lead to another tiny harbour wall. It was just beyond the car park for the standing stones visitor centre! We went into the visitor centre and art exhibition where there were lots of info boards showing how/when the stones were erected. We went up to the stones which were quite busy with tourists and also a “new age pilgrim” who lived by the site in a shanty style tent. After that we went on to the Black House Village at Carlabhagh which was very interesting, one of the houses was still set up as it was left in 1974, other houses had an exhibition on the houses and a film on the making of tweed and cutting peat. Some of the houses had been modernised and are now holiday lets and one of them is now a hostel which we sneaked in and had a look at the bunks and the kitchen. Then on to Uig bay, an enormous expanse of white sand, so big we couldn’t see where the sea was! We had a run around and managed to find the sea to get our feet wet in (the sand was really squidgy in places and bubbled when we trod on it, who knows what was living in there, eewwww!) We stopped on the way back to the van to admire a huge sculpture of a Viking norseman which is a replica of a chess piece found in a former settlement on the island. Back at the van we went back up to the stones to watch the sun setting, it was very busy with other people doing the same thing, and also busy with midges!

The next day we moved to Stornoway and parked up in a layby on the causeway which had toilets and fresh water available, we got chatting to a local lady who recommended we move to Pabail instead as it would be much quieter and away from the main road. First we went into Stornoway for a wander round, a nice little town but with loads of boy racers going backwards and forwards, we saw the same ones lots of times! There were 2 huge cruise ships sat in the harbour, one from Florida (not sure where the other was from) so there was loads of Americans wandering around the town. We went for a walk up to the Lewis war memorial sat on the hill, a huge tower with a great panoramic view, it also has a circle of stones with all the names of those who died in the wars etched onto them. The walk took us via Lews (not Lewis this time) Castle grounds along the river and back via the golf course (with golf balls literally flying over our heads!). We showered in the local leisure centre again before moving the ‘van to the Pier at Pabail. When we got there some kids were having a party on ‘our’ pitch so we parked on some hardstanding and had a chat with a woman whose husband was out fishing, at the same time a couple with an identical dog to Prince called JJ (who was a bit nutty) turned up, the man insisted on petting Prince while JJ was going nuts and then Prince snapped at the man, missed though, phew! Some canoeists arrived and got set up to go out to sea, Phil asked how far and one said not far tonight, just around the headland. Once set up we went for a walk down the harbour with some locals who told us you could sometimes see whales and dolphins, by this time another load of kids arrived and set up for a party, our new friends said they would call the police if it got too noisy! The canoeists arrived back well after dark and luckily they seemed to scare off the kids who had now set fire to all the wood they could find.. Time to go to bed, but we still heard 2 loud cars coming into the car park later on.. So much for a quiet spot!

Had a play on the beach and met 2 locals who had got a Labrador and a retriever, the chap had retired onto Lewis from Suffolk and found the pace of life here much slower, he recommended a car park at Luskentyre for our next stop,so that’s where we headed! Once we got there we left the van in a lay by and went to check it out first (before dragging the ‘van down the lane), it wasn’t as good as we hoped so we found a layby on the Leverburgh road, which had a huge beach right next to the van. Phil went out on his bike over the Bealach pass which was a great ride and only 9 miles, a bit boggy in places but getting used to hike-a-bike now! Linda stayed with the dogs and played Frisbee with Prince in the sea. When Phil got back he ran into the freezing cold Loch for a wash, hoping no cars would see him in the nuddy!

Went into Tarbert for a look round, and met a couple called Dave and Lorna who are wild camping in their campervan, they had seen us a few times on the island and recognised us from the dent in our ‘van! They kindly bought us coffee and cake while we chatted in the café and marked some suggested sites on our map, giving us lots of helpful tips and websites on wild camping. Went back to the ’van for lunch and the dogs had a run before going back to Tarbert for showers (which were available in the public loos!).

The next day we revisited the Luskentyre tweed man who was recommended by Rose and Ivan but unfortunately he was still closed, so we went back to Tarbert to the Tweed Warehouse where Linda bought a metre of tweed. Phil took a t-shirt back to the tourist info he had bought the day before (it was too tight – too much beer methinks). Hitched up and set off for Leverburgh for the ferry over to Uist

Isle of Skye

First trip on Skye was to the Talisker whisky distillery! The distillery isn’t in Talisker but in the neighbouring village of Carbost. We had a look around the small visitor centre before going into the shop where Phil bought a wee bottle to try later. We then drove over the glen into Talisker itself where we’d seen a small beach marked on the map. Parking up at the end of the road, the beach is a mile walk away, on the way we passed lots of people heading the other way, this meant when we got there we had the place to ourselves. Talisker Bay is a lovely spot with the beach hugged by high cliffs, one of which has a waterfall falling straight into the sea.

The next day was bright and sunny, so we did some boring jobs like laundry and Phil gave his bike a clean with the mobi wash (a 12v pressure washer we won in a competition – it’s brilliant!). In the afternoon we went for a wander round Portree, the ‘capital’ of Skye. It’s a lovely, pretty little town with lots of busy shops and hotels. The town hugs the hillside and at the bottom of the hill is a lovely little harbour with a line of multicoloured buildings that looked fantastic in the summer sun. We popped into the only bike shop in Skye, a tiny shop with more fishing gear than bike gear, and Phil bought an extortionately priced tin of degreaser! We drove a bit further down the road back to the Aros centre, which is mainly a shop and a café, but there is also a sea eagle exhibition, a gallery and a lovely little theatre/cinema which we sneaked into and had a sit in the comfy seats in the dark!
We drove back around to North West Skye to Waternish where Stella McCartney is rumoured to be looking to buy a 30 acre estate. The Skye Skyns tannery in Waternish is one of only 3 remaining tanneries in Britain, and Linda went in and had a lovely chat to the girl working in there. Not necessarily about the leathers and sheepskin rugs they had on offer, but more about our trip and her story of being made redundant and coming to Sky for a 2 week holiday only to end up staying for 20 years! After this we drove down to the Stein Inn, the oldest Inn on Skye. We got the dogs out and Prince got wet in the sea while we found a bench at the front of the pub and had a pint. That evening we went for an Indian in Portree, not recommended, expensive and not that good!

The next morning a couple from Dundee arrived next to us who are touring around for a little while and heading over to Lewis tomorrow, we were booked on the same ferry! We wanted to see north Skye today, so first we headed to Uig, there was a ferry on it’s way in so we walked out onto the rocky beach to have lunch and watch it sail in. Unfortunately Linda broke her tooth on the incredibly hard butties we were eating, and after feeling faint had to lie down while the ferry sailed past.. From there we headed North up to Flora Macdonald’s memorial, who saved Bonnie Prince Charlie from certain death after the battle of Culloden by hiding him on Skye before he sailed for France. A bit further round we passed the ruin of Duntulm Castle, and got out for a walk further on where there is a viewpoint of the castle ruin from a distance. Where we parked there was a film crew filming some crazy dude on a bike riding over a red telephone box with the aid of a ramp made of peat, very entertaining! We stopped again on the way around at a viewpoint over the Sound of Raasay, which also had a great view of the Old Man of Storr, a freestanding column of rock at the end of the Storr Cliffs. Back at the van we had a drink sat outside chatting to our new neighbours, Nigel and Anne, before it got a bit too cool and we headed in.

The next morning Phil took the dogs up to The Old Man of Storr. There is a walk which rises steeply from the road and goes up to the Old Man before heading back down. The car park was quite busy, and we passed about 4 sets of people on the way up. Luckily when we got to the Old Man there was no-one about and we managed to enjoy the views in peace before making our way back down. We took the dodgy route down, very steep with lots of loose rocks, but once on the main path it became like a motorway, passing loads of people and constantly saying “hello!”. While Phil was out Linda went on her bike into Portree, downhill all the way with the wind in her hair going “Weeeeeeee!”, meant uphill all the way back, and not enough gears on the bike! We packed up the ‘van (and left the awning, unicycle, oven and Linda’s bike at the site, as we’ll be back here after visiting the Hebrides) before heading off for Uig for the ferry. It was a big ferry and driving on was easy-peasy, Nigel and Anne were on the ferry too so after we had a look around we joined them for a drink in the lounge and passed the journey chatting, this meant the journey went so quick we were sad to wave them bye!

Durness to Skye

The drive to our next site in Durness was lovely, and once we were past the Dounreay Nuclear Power Plant other traffic was rare (Dounreay is being decommissioned, and we drove passed just as the shift had finished, we know this because loads of cars were whizzing out of there with all the drivers and passengers glowing bright yellow!). We then started over the mountains and the A road got narrower until it was just a single track road, the sight of other cars became rare and the views became Big. The site has a lovely beach and on arrival we saw a nosey seal about 100yds out to sea who was poking his head up to see what we were up to!

We’ve been down the road to Smoo Cave. A huge cathedral size sea-cave is the entrance that greets you, and once you go in there is a small walkway that takes you further into the cave where a small river is emerging. We ventured in and were taken aback by the amount of spray coming from the huge waterfall in there, after all the rain we had the night before it turned what is normally a stream into a torrent and we both ended up soaked just from the spray! We walked around to the top of the cave and had a look down where the river plunges from the land into the cave, this was just before a coach load of foreign tourists turned up, so we hot footed it back to Tonks and carried on up the road to the Balnakeil Craft Village. This surreal little place is a series of concrete buildings that used to be a WW2 early warning centre, after the war was over it was sold to a bunch of artists who turned it into studios and houses. We saw paintings, potteries, ceramics, embroidering, enamelling, chocolate making and even a bookshop. After leaving them to it we found ourselves on Balnakeil Bay, a beautiful white sandy beach just to the east of Cape Wrath surrounded by huge sand dunes and cliffs.

We wanted to visit Cape Wrath while we were here, so we got up early and made our way to the car park where the passenger ferry takes you across. It’s a tiny boat that carries passengers the short trip across the Kyle of Durness, and from there is a minibus that takes you on the 11 mile journey out to the lighthouse. The car park was full when we got there, but we squeezed in and wandered down to the ferry landing. It was very busy and there were people waiting on both sides to get across, it was too busy for us which was quite a relief as they wanted £15 each for the trip! Instead we drove back through Durness to a beach on the other side called Traigh Allt Chailgeag. We went there for a play on the massive sand dunes that ran up the cove between the cliff faces. We ran up to the top (or staggered, by the time we were half way – it was really steep!) and the dogs charged up after us, the run down was obviously easier, with the dogs going so fast their legs couldn’t keep up!
Back at the ‘van we sat outside in the sun watching the new campers arrive. This is one of the more unusual campsites we have stayed in due to the fact everyone is so transient. In the evening loads of campervans and tents arrive to the point where the site is bursting, then by mid morning the next day nearly all of them have packed up and gone leaving the site feeling empty, then later the next lot arrive! It’s also the first place on our trip where we have felt more like foreigners than Brits, with the majority of people here being from the continent; French, Italians, Germans, Dutch, we don’t know whether to say ‘hello’ to people or ‘bonjour’ or ‘gudentaag’!

The next day was move day, but we hadn’t got our next site booked as we planned to just find a lay-by to stop in (you can legally do this in Scotland). We drove a few miles down the road, and parked up in a lay by in Rhiconich, we left the van here because we wanted to head to a spot down a narrow B road; Sandwood Bay is a beach just the other side of the village of Kinlochbervie, and is only accessible by a 4.5 mile walk through peat bog and over rocky ground. We parked Tonks at the head of the track and Phil set off on his bike and Linda walked the dogs, she didn’t want to walk all the way to the beach, but there was a loch half way which she walked to instead. Phil made it to the beach after passing a lot of walkers and a couple of other bikers and once he got there spotted that there was already quite a few people on the beach. After a few photos he headed back and met Linda on the track who was also surprised at the number of people she met on the way, so much for being isolated!
Back at the ‘van we re-hiched and set off on our way to find a lay-by to wild camp in.. We drove several miles down the A894 (this is the main road up here, and is mainly single track road with passing places!) and reached the tiny village of Scourie where we spotted a mobile Royal Bank of Scotland van parked in a lay-by. Linda had a cheque to pay in so we pulled over and she approached the van which looked like an armour plated mobile chip shop! Anyway, she handed her cheque over and hopefully they haven’t used the dosh to buy batter! We found a lay-by just a bit further on from Scourie which was perfect, it had a lovely view over Loch Duartmore with the forest and mountains behind it. After settling in we had a few heavy showers which brought out the midges.. boy, did it bring out the midges! Literally millions of the things were surrounding the ‘van and they were swarming around the windows! Every now and then a car would stop and the occupants would get out to take a photo of the lovely view, they weren’t there long, and we took great pleasure in watching as they flung their arms up and slapped their faces before jumping back in their cars and roaring off! Eventually the sun went down and as night came we thought the midges would be gone and it would be safe to let the dogs out, just in case Phil put on his mosquito hood and jumper before venturing out. It was hell, they were inside the hood in about 30 seconds after I stepped out and hands and face were covered in the bitey little blighters, I rushed back in the ‘van and closing the door but wasn’t quick enough, there were now hundreds inside the ‘van.. Panic ensued, with both of us flinging our arms around and Linda using newspaper to kill as many as possible, this went on for about half an hour and was probably pay back for all those people we laughed at!


No midges the next morning thank goodness. While we were packing up, another caravan drove past and gave us a beep and to our surprise it was Mike and Dot who we met on the other side of Scotland at Dornoch. They were on their way home, so we invited them in for a brew and we caught up on each others travels, surprised at the coincidence of bumping into each other again!
The drive through this part of Scotland is nothing short of spectacular, the views change with every corner and brow of every hill, Lochs, beaches, islands and huge mountains are in abundance, and a great lack of human habitation. We were lucky to be driving this section on such a clear day.
Mike and Dot recommended having a look at Corrieshalloch Gorge, so on the way past we parked up and went for a walk. They weren’t wrong, the gorge was huge. A massive deep hole in the landscape which was formed back when glaciers used to roam these parts, and now the small river tumbles down the gap they left to create the impressive Falls of Messach. The National Trust look after the area, and there is a suspension footbridge (built by the designer of the Forth Bridge), right over the point where the river falls hundreds of feet below, as you stand on the bridge and look down it wobbles slightly and made us both feel a bit funny! Further down, a metal viewing platform has been built hanging out over the gorge, this proved to be another very impressive way to view the falls and the bridge. Once we got back to the car we found that we’d been blocked in by coaches, Phil had a rant at the Spanish driver and finally he moved!
Eventually we arrived at a very busy Poolewe Camping and Caravan Club site and by now the wind had picked up to gale force, luckily they had a space and we set about settling in. The wardens were really helpful and even pulled our ‘van onto levelling blocks using their little tractor as the ground was too soft for Tonks!


There was a sponsored event on in the village today called the West Highland Challenge, the main event is a 25mile run over the mountain ranges, but there was also a 13mile run and a 7mile walk, so after we had breakfast and packed lunch we decided to set out on the 7 mile walk. We popped to the registration hall where there was a sign saying no entries on the day, but not to be put off, we set off anyway, following the others! It was a lovely walk that took us into the NTS owned Invercauld estate and around Loch Kernsary, the first half being on a narrow path and the return route on a land rover track. It was great fun and took us just over 2hrs, at the finish we sat at the edge of the loch for lunch and to let our aching feet recover!

It rained all night, and the next day it rained constantly! So we moped about in the ‘van all day reading and doing not much at all. It was great!

Linda has been for a look round Inverewe Gardens. The gardens are owned by the National Trust and have a huge variety of native and exotic plants, proving that Scotland does sometimes have warm weather! I really enjoyed all of the 54 acres but my favourite was the walled garden which mixed small plots of veg with flower plots and fruit trees in the lawned paths down the middle, it looked very productive. Phil went off in the rain on his bike. An exhausting 14 mile ride took him over the Tollie Path, a mountain pass with great views of Loch Maree and the mountain of Slioch, the only trouble with the views was being unable to stop and enjoy them due to the very real fear of being eaten by midgies!


We moved the next day down the road to the Caravan Club’s Kinlochewe site. We chose a pitch and set up and then to the delight of our neighbours Phil had a go on the unicycle with Linda as his able assistant, the warden stopped his lawn mowing and one chap even sat on the wall to watch!

The site is overlooked by Beinn Eighe which is the huge range of mountains which dominates the area surrounding Kinlochewe, the area is a national nature reserve. We had a look around the visitor centre and did a few walks in the area.
Phil’s been on his bike to do a ride recommended in a guide book, it turned out to be a 16 mile epic, the 10 mile climb up to Lochan Fada was tiring, but the views and the loch itself were stunning, at the loch I passed some wild campers, and I swear one of them had been skinny dipping, I shouted “Lovely Day!” as I pedalled past! The downhill was just as tough as the up, it was boggy, rocky and even spat me over the handlebars at one point! I arrived back at the ‘van exhausted, muddy and a bit bloody.

We got chatting to another neighbour, Tony who was leaving today, he’s from the Scottish Borders and was touring in his Eriba pop-top caravan, which he kindly showed us both inside after we told him we had a folding camper (it’s amazing what they can fit in these things!). Yet again, we had to wave off another new friend!

Phil and Prince did the 4 mile circular route called the Beinn Eighe Ridge that climbs 1,800 feet in 1.5 miles, it was a lovely day and the views of the surrounding mountains were breathtaking, I could even see the ‘van as a tiny dot in the village! Linda and Smudge didn’t fancy the steep scramble of the Ridge walk so they went and did the Pony Track walk, also at Beinn Eighe, this ended up being 6.5 miles with a climb of 1600 feet in 3 miles, so when she got back we had a debate about who worked the hardest!

Applecross had not only been recommended by Mike and Dot, but also featured in our Beautiful Britain book so that’s where we headed next. We set out down the main A Road (singletrack – with passing places!) until we got to the narrow unclassified road which takes you along the coast and around the mountains, we stopped on the way and had our picnic looking out over Loch Torridon and the mountains beyond. We could see a tiny white house on the base of the mountain with no obvious means of getting to it, and when I looked at the OS map the only access to it was by footpath! We carried on round, mistaking a salmon fishery out at sea for what we thought was a submarine, and eventually came to the little village of Applecross where we stopped for a pint in the Inn. On our way out a few of the people sat on the benches outside were looking through their binoculars at the same spot, we asked a couple what they had seen and they gave us their binoculars so that we could look at the Trident Submarine that had come into the Loch! (told you! – Linda). The 320ft nuclear submarine occasionally comes in to moor here when the Navy are doing testing in the area, and they use the small building we had seen earlier as a communications base!
The route back to the main road took us along another unclassified road which goes straight over the mountains on a twisty road called the Pass Of The Cattle, hairpin corners, steep gradient and the surrounding vertical mountains make you feel like you’re in the Alps, it was a lovely drive and we could see why we passed so many motorbikes on the way round. Our next destination was the tiny settlement of Coulags (about 2 houses!) where Linda dropped Phil with his bike so that he could ride over the mountain pass back to Annat (8 miles away) and be picked up from there. Just as Phil was getting changed a group of 5 mountainbikers pulled up who were going the same way, they asked if Phil wanted to join them and he jumped at the chance! They were from Elgin, but were staying over in Annat for the weekend and doing a few rides over here, they were a great bunch and we chatted for a while, but after a couple of stops to wait for the slower riders Phil decided to leave his new friends to it and go it alone (how fickle!). The downhill was awesome, no surprise it had been featured in MBR a couple of months before! On her way round the main road Linda stopped at the little village of Shieldag and then visited the countryside centre at Torridon, where she saw fields full of deer which were so friendly they even came over to the fence and said hello to the dogs!

The next day we upped sticks and moved to the Isle of Skye. Arriving at the Sligachan caravan site, there was no warden there, and a sign just said pitch up and the warden will see you later. After checking out the manky toilet block and the pitches so hard you wouldn’t get a rock peg in we decided against it and continued up the road to Portree. There we found the Torvaig Campsite which was much nicer, and the welcome from reception was lovely, so we found a nice pitch near the top and set the ‘van up, awning and all! (The pegs went in easy!)