First night on Mull (6th July 2021)

Beggars can't be choosers and so it was for us standby travellers. Whilst the weather was perfect and the views of the Firth of Lorn and Sound of Mull were no doubt stupendous, on the ferry we were stuck behind an old VeeDub Transporter and couldn't see anything. Covid rules prohibited leaving the Landy and so we pretended we were on Le Shuttle on the way to France, except we were visiting Nicola's domain and not M. Macron's.

Less than an hour after leaving Oban, we pulled into the campsite next to the ferry 'terminal' at Craignure and were soon assessing the setting.

There was competition for pitches as Covid restrictions have reduced the capacity here. Just what the actual restrictions are, no-one seemed to know, as spacing between pitches varied. The midges came to visit; just enough to be irritating and to add a little 'worry' about what might lie in store.

A lovely motorhome pulled up in front of us and it was soon obvious that the family of four were Scousers. It was obvious because the tone and tune in their speech are very distinctive. No actual words need to be heard (or indeed understood), just the rise and fall as the sentences are delivered. 

Something about them seemed a little out of place but the evening was warm and dry and they were clearly enjoying the beautiful weather. Later the Mum called across to us, "We should have been in Vegas today" and we laughed. They were one of several holidaymakers, who we met in the course of the first few days, who were motorhome virgins. 

You only have to walk for a couple of minutes and can then see all the way up Loch Linnhe to Ben Nevis and mountains further south. Ben Nevis is the highest one on the left of the range. 

We walked south along the back of the beach and rocks, just a wander really along a little path. What would be a common sight are the purple rhododendrons and the yellow iris. 

At a beautiful house we turned back along an old railway track to get back to the site.

There we met a Dutch couple who live in Aviemore and were in a tiny caravan pulled by a 2008 Puma 110. Much was discussed as they have another 110 with Icarus roof (same as ours) which is currently parked in Windhoek, waiting for them to return.

They are on a mission to travel the world in 2-3 month chunks and they began this quest in 2015 in Johannesburg. Namibia is as far as they got before the Covid pandemic. Checkout Facebook #aroundtheworldin31years