Scotland in 14 nights (1 Viewer)

[Puddleduck]

now he is back into fishing mode, he (allegedly) fishes regularly, so every single piece of water we see I get full on what rod, line, bait how far he would cast, what size fish he would catch etc etc et fUUUUcking cetera
[/QUOTE]

We should introduce him to my Brother-in-law and then make a quiet yet hasty retreat.

 

[DavidG58]

rang to book ferry crossing to Tarbert this morning and were told we have the last bit of space, apparently it is very popular at the moment, hope not too busy with MH's when we get there

Yesterdays travels didn't seem too bad in terms of company, not sure if I have now got used to it or managed to ignore him, today was like I had gone through a weekly reset, back to normal service

firstly the radios, every time I start my engine the radio squawks, every bloody time he picks it up calls MIL to ask what she wants, despite every time me reminding him it always does that

his latest idea is to make radio contact to say what we have just passed, totally useless and probably rather frustrating to the recipient who invariably had either missed it anyway or was distracted by the radio at the critical time when they might have seen it anyway

most radio attempts still end up very one sided, with the rare interaction which invariably says, 'cant hear you. over'

waving - I had to tell him to make his wave more friendly, or at least less like a hitler salute, (that is the final last reference to hitler, oops done it again )

now he waves to everybody, literally but at least it is slightly more like a wave

met another funster today, got bibbed and waved at very enthusiastically, then they set off chasing us at this stage we didn't know they we funsters, pulled into a garage on Skye and they followed us in had a quick chat then went our ways, but we can't for the life of us recall their names real or forum

Now I need some help to recall their names, they went to Misterton, it was their first rally, they have an autotrail, they were parked next to me at misterton, which I think was also next to @Debs and in front of @peterc10 they were a lovely couple and we shared an evening some wine and peanuts, not really sure the last bit will help to pin them down . If we don't sort it out here I might need to go back to the misterton thread and PM any possible party They are now on Skye for a week, so we might even see them again on our way back over

Tonight we are looking to 'wild / free' camp on one the Harris Trust options

http://www.westharristrust.org/camping-2/camping/

a good idea on their part and I hope all those that use pay the small fee requested

Hoping to follow on with some photos tomorrow when there, although internet may be iffy and weather even worse

 

[Debs]

@DavidG58 ..... I think you mean the very nice couple that are @colmorangie David

They liked our van after having a quick look in in

Glad you have another trip sorted after this one.....hope it's as funny x

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[laird of Dunstan]

Just in case you and never are missing hone ,you will be happy to know that it is peeing down right now

 

[wigster]

@DavidG58 think we saw you leaving Broadford fuel station about 1.30 this afternoon on Skye,recognized Terrys van. You were leaving as we had just parked up in the car park.

 

[ColinandDawn]

not sure if I have now got used to it or managed to ignore him

David, is he becoming your favourite father in law?

Regards,

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DavidG58]

just found a tiny bit of data on my phone and have managed to tether it

the location we found last night, just in time for the last bit of sunset is excellent, hopefully below I will have managed to post some photos

I think I have previously made it obvious enough that I really like Scotland, a lot, but I also say to anybody that will listen and or read in the case of my posts, that Harris out does the rest of Scotland so many times over, I truly love it here

further good news, the billions of midges that were hanging around outside the MH first thing this morning, waiting for Lola or me and my camera to emerge, have now done one with the gentle breeze that has now developed to go with the full sun

 

[Debs]

@DavidG58 looks magical David x

 

[DavidG58]

more from last night, then this morning

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DavidG58]

@wigster sorry to have missed a meet up, next time hopefully

 

[Stagman]

Not done Harris. Wheres the best or maybe only place to cross to there and how much was it? Ours is 7.5m with bike rack.
Thanks

 

[Puddleduck]

Not done Harris. Wheres the best or maybe only place to cross to there and how much was it? Ours is 7.5m with bike rack.
Thanks

Best check with CalMac for times, routes and prices.

https://www.calmac.co.uk/

I like the Uig (Skye) to Tarbet crossing out and then Stornoway to Ullapool back - but you will see there are all sorts of ways you can do it. There are Hopscotch tickets but check the cost of the combined single tickets before you buy it. Also you may need to book in advance on busy and popular sailings.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[CWH]

Not done Harris. Wheres the best or maybe only place to cross to there and how much was it? Ours is 7.5m with bike rack.
Thanks

Certainly you don't need to worry about 7.5 metres - I think they all cater for up to 10m motorhomes (& bigger other stuff) - check out the size of this lorry leaving the ferry at Uig after it came over from Tarbert last week

From today until 28 October the fare from Uig to Tarbert for a 7.5 metres motorhome : £45 single, plus £6.10 per person (driver NOT included in the motorhome fare). Return is £90 + £12.20 per person.

 

[Puddleduck]

7.5m is nothing.

I know that the bigger trucks use the ovenight freight ferry but you need to call them for that.

 

[peterc10]

@DavidG58 ..... I think you mean the very nice couple that are @colmorangie David

They liked our van after having a quick look in in

Glad you have another trip sorted after this one.....hope it's as funny x

@DavidG58 Debs is right - and yes they were a nice couple

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Stagman]

7.5m is nothing.

I know that the bigger trucks use the ovenight freight ferry but you need to call them for that.

Completely agree but it did stop us getting accross to Jura so thats why i checked

 

[Puddleduck]

Completely agree but it did stop us getting accross to Jura so thats why i checked

I went to Jura in a very small passenger boat. We landed on the (uninhabited) west coast to look at the beehive dwellings.

 

[colmorangie]

Hi David, yes it's us and the midges aren't too bad at Sligachan! Colin had a good walk today up a mountain and we are leaving here tomorrow, Monday, and going round the island anti clockwise, maybe we will see you again this week p. Have a good trip

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DavidG58]

struggling with internet, playing catch up on photos, (hopefully)

a favourite of mine from yesterday , taken next to the Sligochan hotel on Skye, before we had what can only be described as an average quality, slightly high priced meal with average to poor beer

 

[DavidG58]

next quite possibly the most photographed building in Scotland

Eilann Donan (I think)

 

[DavidG58]

more from last night, sunset first

then first thing this morning

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DavidG58]

today (Sunday) we left possibly one of the best evening / morning locations I have ever parked at, FIL says on way off car park, 'what is it you like about Harris?' I had to reply, if you really haven't just seen what I did there is not chance of you liking Harris

then we head off down a single track road, after a few miles he asks how much further? we are about half way I say, he replies it had better be worth this long journey. Well who knows what is worth it, but I think it was

However Bev was a quivering mess by the end of the road, she could just about cope with the road in but my MIL couldn't and her nerves rubbed off on Bev

Upshot was I took MIL back out, (but no FIL ) if she was nervous with Bev she must have been with me, but must have been struck dumb with fear, we had a near silent return journey

 

[lthoel2]

Really enjoying reading about your travels. We did 4 months travelling around Scotland last year. I'm really jealous of the fine weather you're having. It was persisting down when we went down to Huisinis and it was heavy mist on the way back. I'm sure your MIL would have really enjoyed that ride!!!!. I don't think we had a day on the whole Scottish trip that we didn't have some amount of rain. The locals were telling us that it was the worst summer they'd had in quite a number of years. Hoping to try it again next year but this time we will be dogless having just lost both of our dogs within a month of each other. Keep up the good work David, love seeing your piccys

 

[DavidG58]

moved on to a little site north of the Callanish standing stones £18 / night with electric, nothing special but nice and clean

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[lthoel2]

This was the weather we had when we were there. It was still nice though

 

[laird of Dunstan]

next quite possibly the most photographed building in Scotland

Eilann Donan (I think)

View attachment 121907

View attachment 121908

Yes it's called Eileen Donnan ,it's the home of clan Macrae also famous for the Highlander movie , I did a lot of scuba diving in that area

 

[DavidG58]

An interesting observation, well more of an observation really

Bev and her Dad both Fit Bits, which record steps taken each day amongst other useless things, well being as we do more or less the same each day the results should be similar, Bev is repeatedly recording 50% more than FIL, the only difference seems to be driving in the Terryvan or ours, it would appear a Mercedes chassis takes out more of the bumps

That is what they think anyway, I think it much more to do with the fact that she is driving dad is sat still, but I will leave them to the continued daily debate on that matter

We have woken up to another lovely day, had a little overnight rain, but now sunny again, slightly chilly at 14C but the day has promise and I would rather wear a jumper than a coat

Potentially very short day today, there are a few touristy things Bev wants to do today, Black House, Harris Tweed shops, craft places (yawn), my plan is to point out how hard it might be to park to MH's at these places, suggest they all toddle off in one together and me and Lola can head straight to the Butt of Lewis for our intended overnight, but we do need a shop first, running out of milk

Update on the midges, we came over here a day earlier than planned due to high midge forecasts for the mainland, they were bad first night on Harris, but a slight breeze has been around since mid morning yesterday, that is by far the best way to clear them, although I have also ehard that hot sun does the same, just that you never get hot sun in Scotland , so midges not really an issue

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DavidG58]

Not done Harris. Wheres the best or maybe only place to cross to there and how much was it? Ours is 7.5m with bike rack.
Thanks

Ours is 8m, the pricing goes up in pretty big bands, but 6m - 8m are all the same price, cost us £57 single, but the return fare is exactly double so no real point booking the return and IMO the multi crossing tickets do not offer enough value to bother with they are more or less the sum of all the crossing they include and they want you to more or less commit to crossing dates at time of booking

Options route wise, direct to Harris (Tarbert) either Ullapool or Uig (Skye) second is about half the crossing time at 1 hour 40 minutes and about 2/3 the price, it is also our preference

You can go from Oban on to the Uists then drive up, worth seeing the Uists when you are over, we are crossing down to them in a couple of days then returning to Uig from North Uist

It is not for everyone, but if you like big scenery and nature this is the place to come to

 

[irnbru]

David I think I put our Uist wilding spots in the Scotland Wildcamping thread. Two good ones they were too abd right by the beach.

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

Enjoying your blog. It's making us think of our trip up there last year and the year before! So much to see. We've been lucky and had no midges and lovely weather both times.
We're also heading up in the next couple of weeks for 17 days.
We can't wait, we're hoping we will drop lucky with the weather again.
I've got a Fitbit 1 , I don't know if Bevs and your dad have the same sort. If they have , and they are getting totally different mileages and steps , but doing roughly the same. It must be the settings.
Have they set their fitbits to their own pace ,walking , running length and is it correct.
If ones on the factory setting or ones been done to the wrong pace length that could be why.
Though I doubt you care one fig !
But it may stop one more niggling conversation disagreement on an evening.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}