That's it!

In the morning it didn’t know whether to rain or not. We put on wellies and waterproof trousers and walked a little further along from the end of the road. There was water everywhere but the emerging view to Jura and Scarba and also up the coast was beautiful.

There are so many islands and inlets that a map is needed to work out what is where. We never did see the Paps of Jura due to cloud but we could see over to Luing and Seil, where we were due to visit someone later in the day.

The marshy land off the end of the car park was full of standing water. As it drained over the edge, down the rocks and into the sea, it formed a great temporary cascade.

Below us, at a holiday cottage I assume, a few small children were crabbing off a small pier. They’d obviously caught something big because it was the squeals of excitement that first attracted our attention and binoculars that explained what was happening.

Moving up the coast towards Oban we turned to go to Seil. There’s the most amazing bridge and a convenient place to park, opposite the inn which is closed due to CoVID19.

We visited a friend from the LR4x4 forum at his house on Seil. It’s a sign of these CoVID19 times that he normally drives 30-40K miles annually as he moves up and down the west coast for work and yet this year he’s hardly driven at all. He’s managing forestry operations from the dining room table!

Later we drove to the end of another road, on the south side of Loch Etive, not far inland. Yet again it was a prime quiet spot. No waves, just a slow rise and fall of the water with the tide. Dawn spotted otters swimming past, just before dusk. That is a first and so a holiday bonus 😀

The drip came back but this time I was ready with a temporary countermeasure. The proper solution of sealant will have to wait.

We decided to drive home the next morning. The scenery is stunning in Autumn and we stopped for a photo, drove over ‘Rest and be Thankful’ then had coffee at Loch Lomond.

There we came across two intrepid Mums with kids 😱

Also we spoke to a guy acting as support for his adult son and two others. They had just arrived on road bicycles and were wolfing down porridge. They are on the last leg of the three peaks but cycling in between the mountains. Wow. ‘Way to go’ as they say in the USA. 

So that’s it. A trip in the cool season which lasted ten nights and it worked!

We will come back and we won’t wait ten years next time. 

Rain and more rain

It really was a beautiful overnight spot and with great timing, the rain stopped and we walked along the road for a couple of miles. One or two vehicles passed and as is normal here, everyone waved. The coastline is rock and sand with steep slopes just inland from the road. Copious rain meant water everywhere and new streams tried to get over or under the road whichever way they could.

We posted a card in the loveliest letter box too, saw some highland cattle and then admired the view from our spot.

I really wanted to try a drive across at the peninsula on the other side, from there to a point further round the coast. However it’s only a track and a sign clearly said “No” at the point where we would have turned to it.

We stopped for picnic lunch at Tayvallich, well actually the west side which is Carsaig. Tayvallich is a fantastic natural harbour on Loch Sween whereas Carsaig is on the Jura side. It’s only half a mile between them.

A local lady, of pretty much four score and ten, was interested in our Land Rover but also pointed out the sights - mainly the island of Scarba.

We talked about CoVID19 and she asked me where we are from. When I said the Peak District, she hesitated and then asked for confirmation that “That’s in England isn’t it?”

continuing innocently, “Were there any checks when you crossed the border?”.

So we continued to a promising overnight stop, shown on Park4night I think. Again we turned off the primary road and followed a smaller one past cottages and houses, plus a very big boatyard and marina. The road got narrower until a gate signpost pointed to the car park. This really was at the end of the road and what a spot it is.

No sooner had we arrived than the rain started again. The humidity was off the scale inside the Landy and we could hardly work out if the wet inside was leaks or condensation!

However. as ‘wild camping’ spots go, this is about the best. At the end of the road, no lights and no one else interested in coming to stay.

Then it rained!

Sunday in Machrihanish was quiet. A few golfers were on the course and we walked past some nice ‘links’ houses to the beach around the corner.

There we disturbed a herd of wild goats who put on a fence jumping display, with the coolest of the lot ambling along and effortlessly clearing the bar.

I found plenty of washed up rope for my collection of ‘useful bits’ and we loved the mix of rocks and deep sand.

Later we walked for two miles north along the main beach, which is alongside the dunes separating it from the airport, although nothing seems to happen there in these sad CoVID19 times.

Someone has already been here...

All good things come to an end and as predicted by the Met Office app a few days ago, it started to rain in Machrihanish on Sunday night.

We had already decided that rain or shine, we would move north. However very wet rain is troublesome and we had to do as much prep as possible the night before. Actually ‘moving off’ with our setup only takes about 30 minutes but you can get very wet in that time.

The bbq was packed away in its grab bag, one of two that I took to Japan in 1991 (that’s detail for Mark Moore 🇯🇵), the firewood box was inside too and nothing left to make a wet start more difficult than necessary.

At it happened there was a dry slot around 9am and we ventured out to the showers and got packed away in the dry.

We visited Tarbert on the way north and had a coffee and bun in a harbour side café. It’s a very picturesque place. Apparently it was handed to the Norwegian King Magnus Barefoot in 1098 after he managed to ‘sail’ around an island of his choice.

In this case it was the entire peninsula, around which he ‘sailed’. His men had managed to pull him across the narrow bit of land at Tarbert, from Loch Fyne to West Loch Tarbert, whilst he remained at the helm of his ship!

Back in the 110, we turned off the main road and headed west along the northern side of West Loch Tarbert and then around to the north into Knapdale and Loch Caolisport.

We headed for a pull-in overnight spot as indicated by one of our ‘apps’ that are good for this sort of thing. We found it, although it was rather soggy, right next to a rocky beach and miles from anyone else. The ground would cut up easily if I were to spin the wheels on exit but we decided it was worth a try.

The rain was relentless and we couldn’t go outside at all. The heater was on and we carried on regardless. Chores take time and simply dealing with wet stuff, as well as eating and chatting, fills the time.

Unfortunately a tiny water leak manifest itself and it became a ‘serious’ problem. A modified plastic milk container acted as a bucket to catch a steady drip from a specific place. It was more than half full when I checked it in the early hours.

In the morning it seemed a little less stressful and anyway, it wasn’t a bad place to stop.

Mull of Kintyre

Just waking up twice at Skipness to this sight makes the trip worthwhile and as happens frequently, it’s a wrench to leave.

However, a favourable weather forecast helped the decision and we headed for The Mull of Kintyre. There are just two roads and we stayed on the eastern B road which is mainly single track but with copious passing places.

It’s quite a drive, with lots to see, including the west coast of Arran and the odd timber lorry. These trucks, hauling cut forests, are far bigger than you expect to see on these roads and the drivers do expect you to see them, as they don’t stop. Logging is a huge industry and eventually you do get used to huge swathes of land having been cleared, with the stumps still showing. It appears that the replanting is done in between these rough remains. Maybe the idea is that in twenty years or however long it’s been, the stumps will have rotted down.

Along the way we see plenty of houses and farms, some of the houses are really special; very Scottish is how I can describe them. 

In Campbeltown we did our shopping in the CO-OP and walked around a little. It was dry but somehow felt very cold even though it was about 10C. For those who know it, it’s the same feeling as you get at Harpur Hill. ⛄️ 

Eventually we dived into a café for broccoli soup, a fruit scone and tea.

Then we went to ‘The Mull’. What a great day we chose. The sea was flat calm and Northern Island, only twelve miles away, looked so close. The road is narrow, steep and single track but it wasn’t busy. There were two cars at the end where there’s a small car park and turning space.

The lighthouse is on the rocks way down a very steep road. We walked halfway before stepping onto heather in order to visit the monument to a Chinook helicopter crash.

We were startled to see that this was in 1994. It seems so much more recent. What a terrible crash with so many lives lost.

These huge helicopters are still in service and they fly low, past our house every few days.

Here’s the lighthouse and the NI coast beyond. 

For many years Dawn has talked of a childhood visit here but can only remember that the telegraph poles were short and stumpy. Well we located the very same poles, although they are no longer in use. They are still very short and stumpy!

Turning around to retrace our steps towards Campbeltown we had a view of the distant Ailsa Craig (think golf at Turnberry) with Sanda Island in the foreground. There’s a crazily located lighthouse there, visible through binoculars at the far right. 

This isn’t my photo through binoculars!

Skipness

If our toilet were bigger I think we’d still be at Skipness. It’s obviously a popular spot for camper vans and ‘mohos’ as they call themselves on the Scottish Motorhome Campervan Adventures fb group. There were five of us strung out along the one mile stretch and judging by the fire marks and stone rings there had been many more over the summer.

Skipness is a tiny hamlet just behind the beach, with a mix of dwelling types ranging from the older detached stone houses, one or two simple rendered bungalows to some lovely terraced cottages. A nice modern build looked very nice too.

The surprise of the day came after we continued the walk out of the hamlet and turned into the drive along to the castle.

It turns out that Skipness castle is an amazing 13th C wonder, that is well maintained in a ruinous sort of way. We were happy to wander freely around, looking at features such as ‘water pipe into kitchen’ and ‘latrine chute’, which were fortunately on opposite sides of the fortification.

We then walked on another mile to the chapel and cemetery, again positioned beautifully next to the beach. 

In a special place in the cemetery, I was rather moved by the words on a significant memorial stone written by a grieving widow, which includes:

“... where four surviving children passed the happy days of infancy under his paternal care. A once cheerful home now connected with so many painful recollections.”

A little further is yet another beautiful beach. No one is here and there’s no scorch marks on the grass.

Near the castle is a smokery that didn’t look like it welcomed visitors at the moment and a ‘café’ that did. Skipness Seafood Cabin is a little bit posher than its name suggests.

We really should have had a seafood platter or oysters maybe but it was only 11:00 so we opted for a shared crab sandwich. Well we didn’t want to spoil our lunch did we?

On the walk back we spotted a pod of dolphins. They were swimming alongside the rocks but in the same direction as us. We couldn’t walk quickly enough to fully appreciate them but it was a fine spectacle, as there were so many of them. They kept popping up in different places like cars on the motorway, all hugging their own lane...

Later we built a fire and enjoyed the view again. Ours was on the beach pebbles and not on the grass verge. 😡