Peelies travels

Before leaving the coast we had lunch at St Abbs harbour (crayfish baguettes) and looked more closely at Coldingham beach with the lovely huts. As we drove away, we looked-in on Eyemouth, just to the south. The tide was out and the beach looked inviting but we were stirred by the second 'memorial' that we have seen, to an awful fishing disaster that occurred in 1881. One hundred and twenty nine fishermen and twenty boats were lost in a storm. Seventy-eight widows and one hundred and eighty-two children were left behind to mourn the loss. 'Widows & Bairns' is an amazing bronze sculpture, with the women looking out to sea, clearly showing their terrible distress. It is quite moving. There's another smaller one at St. Abbs, specifically showing the wives and children of the three men from there who were lost. Charles Purves, and James & William Thorburn. Before leaving Eyemouth we walked around to the harbour, which was surprisingly full of active fishing boats...

As Covid19 continues to hold a grip on foreign travel, campsite space is limited and we turned to the Caravan Club, now re-branded as the Caravan and Motorhome Club. They have a range of Certified Locations which are non-tent, five pitch sites for Caravans or Motorhomes. We paid our annual fee (joining fee waived apparently) and then had access to their online site search etc. and found a CL at Coldingham. Bee Edge CL is a mile inland (uphill) from Coldingham Beach and is ideally placed near a pub serving food. We drove there from Killin, skirting Edinburgh, making full use of the Roamerdrive (overdrive), which reduces the engine revs and consequent noise in the Land Rover, to the level where you know the other person is saying something. This is more new ground for us and we have no knowledge of the Scottish Borders and the next few days would be a pleasant surprise. The Bee Edge CL is quite new and although it is just the requisite five pitches, the owner has spent time and money cre...

Making our escape from damp Mull, we drove east along Ardnamurchan and the northern side of Loch Sunart, for about 50 miles. There were some fabulous views such as this bay, far below the road. It's actually quite a difficult drive as the narrow road twists and turns, rising and falling through woodland and you are constantly looking ahead to the next passing place. In fact the driving style in all these parts, requires you to be ready to stop fairly promptly at that next passing place, as a vehicle might be just out of sight. It was surprisingly 'busy', although we had forgotten what busy is! At the Corran Ferry you can take a sneaky trip across Loch Linnie and before we knew it, we were amongst the towering mountains, driving south through Glencoe.  Unfortunately the rain there was even wetter than on Mull and that epic drive was not quite as spectacular as we had hoped. Still, we did stop halfway up, to reminisce about a family walk up to Bidean nam Bian. I don't rea...

Before we left home on this trip, I bought a Powerbank for our phones. It isn't something that I've ever used but the OS maps app tends to sap phone power, as does the NHS Test and Trace app, which needs bluetooth to properly work. So I bought one of these... I chose this one as it has a USB Type-C connection which is bi-directional and can handle higher charging current. This means that the Powerbank can be re-charged more quickly and itself can charge an attached phone more quickly too, using a USB Type-C to Lightning cable (not shown). It can also charge my MacBook Air using a Type-C to Type C cable.The unexpected benefit of one of these isn't the ability to put it in your rucsac for when you are walking but that it allows 'cordless' charging at base too, so the phone never needs to be out of your hand.  😆  Covid-19 security seems to be all over the place as we move around and visit establishments such as cafes and campsites. Some sites have their facilities clo...

That was the end of our slightly curtailed trip to Mull, with a few things missed off the list. There has been virtually no sitting out in warm sunshine, fewer views of mountains than hoped for and no boat trip to Staffa to see Fingal’s cave and puffins because of wind. The trips were still running but we didn’t fancy a few hours on a choppy sea. To cap it all, my boots leak. They are the Keen brand and I only bought them last year. They have been looked after, treated with the correct waterproofer but now I’m getting wet feet whenever I get into squelchy ground. I wish I’d brought my big Meindl Borneo ones but they can often be an overkill. At least they don’t leak. The plan was always to go to Ardnamurchan and from Mull it’s easy as the ferry leaves from there. Tobermory to Kilchoan only takes 45’ and on Sunday at 11:00 there were just three vehicles. The view was just as limited as on the Oban ferry but at least we were first off The Ardnamurchan peninsular is a long way west of any...

The word ‘community’ crops-up a lot in these parts and there’s something nice about it. Community gardens are common, even produce sold at a side of the road stall can be labelled “community produce”. These new, timber clad houses we being built “for local occupation”, on a hillside on the west coast. I wanted to get out and walk around but it felt intrusive and I was content with a photograph. A lady was tending the community garden just above too . The pub in the village of Dervaig looked inviting. There was a certain bustle around at the end of the afternoon and we tried to manoeuvre into the small car park. We were hoping that we could align in a private sort of way to enable us to stay for the night. We didn’t know if the pub allowed this but anyway there was no ‘private alignment’ as we found that we were overlooking houses and the back entrance to the pub. So sadly, we turned on the windscreen wipers again and drove up the hill and back into the swirling mists and very very wet ...

  That evening was another 'inside' one, as the rain came in squalls and the wind didn't relent. It's our fault for camping at such a superb spot. If it were warmer, the wind wouldn't matter. If it wasn't so windy the cool wouldn't matter. At least there are no midges at Fidden. However we decided that all good campsites need to come to an end when you are on a road trip with no advance plans and it was time to drive north. This being the Ross of Mull, you first have to drive a long way east, on the road that serves as an artery here. The mist was low as the northern shore of Loch Scridain got nearer and then we turned left around the head of the loch and took notice of the sign warning us of otters crossing for six miles. This road is narrow, uneven and skirts the southern flanks of Ben More, the highest mountain on the island (966m). Unfortunately the skies were grey and so views upwards were limited. It's certainly dramatic and the crags tower over th...