GrannyLiz Travel Blog

Friday 24th September  The ferry queue is proving useful time to write my blog! We are now waiting for the ferry back to Oban where we will drive on to Tyndrum for the night.  From there it should be about an hour and half drive to the Glasgow depot on Saturday morning.  The view is beautiful looking across to the Glen Coe mountains however there is a strong north wind and white horses on the sea so we could be in for a choppy sailing.  Yesterday we had an epic drive out to the west. First of all we had a look at the old pier at Salen, a very old pier! There were shags and gulls sitting on each of the posts.  I loved this tractor which was parked nearby.  Then we set off to go to Calgary Bay. Through moorland by lochs through woodland. The windswept trees looked as though they had been clipped into shape! We made coffee at Kilchronan campground  on Loch Na Keal We called at the Ulva ferry which is not running due to the restrictions, Michael had been q...

Wednesday 23rd September We arrived on Mull at Craignure on Monday teatime leaving Oban slightly earlier than planned. The Shielings Campsite is within sight of the ferry pier so was very easy to find.  We were very disappointed to be given one of the worst pitches on the site looking at the loo block one way and the gas bottle cage and their very large waste bins the other way. What a contrast from all our previous sites! After a little think I walked round to the reception and politely asked if they could put us in a nicer spot the next day, we were booked in for 4 nights, however the options she offered were not much better. We sat down with a drink and, using the hotspot on Michael’s phone, began to search to find other places we could go even though we had paid in full for four nights! Then there was a knock on the door!  The girl from reception explained that a van which had been given a shore front pitch had put up an awning which is prohibited on those pitches so..... ...

Monday 21st September  Another queue another ferry, to Mull this time. We wild camped at Cuil Bay again last night after successfully tracking down an lpg pump at Tralee Bay caravan park on the way.  There were a lot of vans and cars parked but fortunately some of them were day visitors and we were able to get a space The jeep in front of us had a tent box on the roof and we were amazed to see two adults and two cocker spaniel size dogs go up into it to settle down at around 8.0pm!! They weren’t very level either. However they survived until this morning and left early.  We woke to dark grey cloud but it was dry!  We have pootled around today. First of all to Port Appin where we indulged in coffee and a scone which we shared. It was yummy! Doesn’t that look good!  Watched the little ferry sail to and fro to Lismore Island where apparently 160 people live. Walkers and cyclists were going over. We suspect that the residents have one car on the island and one on th...

Sunday 20th September  I am writing this on the ferry, leaving Barra heading for Oban. The sailing is 4 hrs 45 mins and fortunately the sea is like a mill pond So, I will continue with the Barra and Vatersay story. I am writing this blog on my phone because I have not had enough internet to transfer the pics onto the iPad. It is a bit tricky!  After a lazy start on Friday (doing the laundry etc) we drove to the island of Vatersay which is the southernmost inhabited island in the Outer Hebrides.  Our plan was to do a walk around the southern part of the island as detailed in the Bradt  guide. There is no footpath shown on the OS map so we were following the sketch map and the description in the book.  The walk set off at the end of another stunning beach.  We were trying to follow waymarker posts but many of them had succumbed to the elements so that the direction arrows had been obliterated! The terrain was tussocky moorland up and down with inevitable bogg...

Saturday 19th September.  I feel as though we have been here forever yet it is only 4 nights! We stayed two nights at the Scurrival campsite on the northern tip of the island. This was a grass site and we couldn’t get quite level despite the owner trying to make some wood levelling chocks  for us. The facilities were not open, but we were prepared for that. The views were lovely looking across two small islands to the south west coast of S Uist in the background. The beach was a short walk away.  The first day we explored the island, making our first trip to Castlebay where we had coffee in the tearoom attached to the Post Office. We found a large (for these islands) Coop  which was well stocked. Both Kisimul Castle and the Heritage Centre were closed however the Castlebay Hotel was open and we had our lunch there. The menu was limited so we both went for the scampi and chips. Excellent scampi but pale soggy chips!  Barra airport was on the way home and we stopp...