On the way to the Isles

Wednesday 9th September

After a good drive up to Glasgow on Sunday we picked up the van from Atlas and set off slightly earlier than we hoped. We headed up by Loch Lomond and through Glencoe finally reaching Cuil Bay south of Ballahulish at about 6.30pm. This camping spot had been our Plan A but everything depended on the progress we made. It always takes a bit of time to adjust to the size and width of a campervan and, in this case, a different type of automatic gear box to the one I am used to.

Unfortunately the day was cloudy but we got some views of the mountains which Michael used to walk and winter climb on!

We found Cuil Bay on one of the camping apps I have downloaded. There is space for up to about 10 campervans along the shoreline and it would appear that the locals are friendly to wild campers as long as nothing but footprints are left behind. There were three other vans there all well spaced. It then took us sometime to unpack and organise ourselves for our first night. Our dinner was a quick to reheat chicken  casserole I had  frozen in advance, after the first G&T of course!

310 miles driven from home 

The next morning (Monday 7th) we drove 176 miles to Ardmair just north of Ullapool where we were booked into a campsite for two nights. I had the windscreen wipers on most of the day and the mist was right down so we  didn't get the views we would have liked.  We took the 'pretty route' via Dornie and Achnasheen stopping for a quick photo of the Eilean Donan castle (?sp) then turning off into Dornie for a few things from the village shop and to make our lunch. Despite being on A roads all of the time some of them were single track with passing places and the drive took 5 hours plus stops.

The campsite was a welcome sight and we were soon set up again with a pitch looking out towards the sea. Ardmair campsite is one of a few sites which has all its facilities open. They are well organised within the Covid regulations. Consequently it is very busy and I had been unable to book a pitch with an electric hookup so we have now done three nights using the gas and the battery, and all seems to be working well. 

Our problem is the fresh water tank, we ran out of water on the way to Ardmair. Michael went underneath the van and tightened the fresh water tank drain tap. We filled up when we got to the campsite but were rather perturbed to see the info screen only registering 75% full and soon reducing down the scale despite us being careful with our usage. A call to Atlas on Tuesday morning was made, and John, the manager, explained about filling up so that the tank doesn't overflow and siphon off, and that the tank we have is 60-70 litres rather than 85 litres on the vehicle information when booking........this makes a difference!

We have been surprised how many Motorhomes and caravans are on the move up here, obviously our idea was not unique!! The NC500 is responsible for a huge increase in traffic and tourism. We drove into Ullapool yesterday ( Tuesday) morning and I was very concerned by a notice at the ferry terminal saying that visitors to the islands must have accommodation or camp site bookings. An email and a phone call has secured us a second night booking on Lewis and we will take it from there. I spent some time trawling through the ferry routes to check that there is capacity to get us off the islands,  and there is!  Our plan is to gradually move south through the islands and sail back to Oban, but plans might have to change!!

In the afternoon we set off for a walk in full waterproofs as rain was forecast and black clouds loomed, however we got away with it until the last few minutes!  The only choice for a walk, apart from a short stroll on a stony beach, was the road, but after a mile we ventured down a lane leading to a few houses and the bay. In total  3 miles walk with  traffic zooming passed us very frequently, think it will be quieter when we get to Lewis! Despite the grey clouds we had some lovely views across the small bays

I think we are now nicely organised in the van, which is compact! As anyone who has done this sort of thing will know, all activities need to be thought through and  general living takes a lot longer than normal. The bed is very comfortable and we are able to leave it up as there is a separate table and seating at the front. Leaving it  up also means that we have room to store boxes and bags underneath. I will probably do a 'van tour' later in the trip!

So! We are now on the ferry to Stornaway, crossing the Minch. Last night was very wet and windy and Michael (who is very easily travel sick) was understandably nervous. While I checked us in he he took a quick walk to Boots for some travel pills to augment his sea bands.  We are well out to sea now and it is not as rough as he feared!  The man at check in advised that we could always lie on the floor, that way we couldn't fall over!!!  no doubt good advice if it is really rough!