To boldly go where the caravan hasn’t been before .. Scotland!
Yes, we are off to the Highlands of Scotland, the first time we’ve been to Scotland in the ‘van. Fort William is the choice of destination this time. I chose this for a few reasons, one it is by Ben Nevis, so will provide a few walks! Next, it is the base for the Jacobite train journey, the best train journey in the world apparently! More still, Glenfinnan and it’s Harry Potter viaduct. Then all the Lochs and beautiful scenery, this place has a lot to offer.
The journey on Saturday began early, we picked up the ‘van and headed North – this time our usual service station breaks would not be in use, we had to find new ones! The North stretch of the A1 provides little in the way of breaks, I opted for the lay by on the England/Scotland border. This provided adequate space and the possibility of some food from the snack van. Alas, the snack van was not open, but we at least managed to park and had refreshments from the rear of the car! Ploughing on, we headed further North to Stirling, where we made our second stop at Stirling Services. This offered a good space for caravans and lorries, although it got quite full whilst we were there. No breakfast menu here either, so coffee only it was, shocking! This place is a firm favourite with the Scottish wasps, so be warned, a lot of Scottish dancing was going on because of them!
Chewing the A routes from there to Fort William was very pleasant I have to say. The roads are very twisty and narrow in places, but the scenery is simply stunning. We eventually found the campsite without any problems and booked in. This must be the first campsite we’ve been to without booking, you have go simply ‘turn up’, as all the small amount of pre-bookable pitches were all taken, we had to take a chance that there would be room on the ‘un-bookable pitches’. Indeed there was, and we were given free choice of the pitches that were available. We eventually chose pitch T16 in the ‘Thistle’ area. This was a nice area away from the toilet block and provided a stunning view of the mountains. A quick reverse on and we were level, usual duties followed along with the awning and we were set for the week. The first surprise was that the fridge had lost its top hinge, where could it be? We couldn’t find it, so we made do with a wobbly fridge door! No TV signal here so the satellite was deployed, and within minutes we were enjoying some of the Olympics! Food and drink for the rest of the night and that was Saturday done!
Sunday:
Good weather, so we had breakfast and then headed out for the mighty peak of Ben Nevis! Well, we only planned to do a little of it, as Cath wouldn’t make it all – being 4 hours up and 3 hours down. Even then, this small trip provided us with some stunning views, breathtaking! It was quite noticeable the amount of tourists present, we counted a good 7 or 8 different languages whilst we were there, very popular is good ol’ Ben. We returned to the site and relaxed for the rest of the day. The attack of the Scottish Midgie had begun though without me realising, Cath noticed a lump on my leg. Fairly small today, but that was going to change!
Monday:
A trip on the Jacobite was planned, so we headed off early into Fort William. There’s adequate parking at the station, so we were soon parked and then joined the queue in the station for the train. I couldn’t book the tickets beforehand due to demand, but apparently there are some seats bookable on the day, so fingers crossed! Alas, our luck had run out and there were no seats left. But, we did manage to book seats for Tuesday morning, I’ll be back! Following this we had a wander around the town itself. Plenty of little shops along with a large Morrisons, we proved useful as we decided to pick up some BBQ and cooked breakfast items. Heading back to base I decided to try and solve the fridge mystery. Apparently it has been known for the door pin to work loose and hide itself in the control box, is there where it went? So after prying off the oval panel, removing the two screws, I took the panel off and lo and behold, there it was! So now it was a simple matter of screwing the pin back in and putting the control panel back on, job done 10 mins. I’ve no doubt that this pin will work loose again, but at least I know where to look for it now! Midge blister bigger today 🙁
Tuesday:
So on the cards today was the ‘Jacobite’ journey. We arrived at the station a little more relaxed today, knowing that we had our ‘golden ticket’. Plenty of time for photos and looking in the gift shop in carriage ‘D’- which just happened to be our carriage as well. When departure time came, we headed for our seats only to find other people there. A pleasant couple insisted we were wrong, so I went to ‘check’ with the guard. He swiftly sorted the carriage out and we had our seats. The other four seats were occupied by a German family, who spoke very good English and were Harry Potter fans! The Jacobite journey has been voted as the best train journey in the world – and I can see why. The scenery is simply stunning, the Lochs, the trees, the viaducts, the sea – everything is just beautiful. Plenty of inspiration here for my model layout!
We stopped at Glenfinnan for 15 mins or so, not enough time to view the viaduct but there is a museum and signal box to be viewed, so a pleasant stop. The next stop was Mallaig itself, the end of the line. This is a small port serving ferries to the smaller islands and the isle of Skye, as well as plenty of fishing. Fish and chips were the order of the day now and we found a very strange one behind a main restaurant. This place was tiny and people queued one at a time as you went in, you placed your order and then went back outside to wait for your order. Ours took about 15 minutes – at least it was fresh! We headed for the pier to enjoy them, but were pressured by some seagulls to leave, as they were not shy in coming forward for a free lunch!
The return journey was just as good and on arriving back at Fort William, I decided to head back to Glenfinnan viaduct to get some good photographs of it. This was only a 25 minute journey so we soon arrived. Weather still glorious, I left Cath by the main path as her hip was playing up. I then made haste for the top of the viaduct where I got the shots I wanted, very happy! We returned back to base and relaxed for the rest of the day. A great day out! Midge blister even bigger, time to look online and make sure it’s nothing serious!
Wednesday:
Nothing planned now for the last two days, just relax and enjoy the campsite. A quick wash of the ‘van was in order so I did this first thing. We had planned on having a cooked breakfast this morning, but with the weather so hot, we decided to postpone until late. Finally saw a midge on my leg today, they are very discreet and could hardly be felt. Other bite sites are showing on my legs and arms, but the itching is bearable! We took a trip to the campsite shop to have a nosy around, quite a well stocked shop. We made a small purchase of beer and ice-cream.
Thursday:
A bit cooler today, so we managed a cooked breakfast. We relaxed for the rest of the day, enjoying our final day in the Highlands.
Friday:
Time to pack up and go. Whilst taking the awning down I caught the blister and burst it, time to get the first aid kit, as this left a large open and angry section of flesh. I soon patched it up and carried on. The return trip was just as smooth as the inbound one, although the winds were picking up. We stopped at Stirling services again, a lot busier this time although we did manage to find a space. The stop at the A1 lay by following this saw us use the caravan toilet, which is a first for us whilst en-route. Traffic was very busy on the A1 due to roadworks and rush-hour, but we eventually got back to storage, only to find the jerry can leaking a little on its side, so a little cleanup was in order. A superb week, it really felt like a mini France trip, what with the weather, change of scenery and the amount of foreigners. Scotland, we will be back!
- Date: 13th August 2016
- Nights: 6
- Pitch #: T16
- GPS: 56.804561, -5.074204
- A82 > C1162