Glenbrittle, Invermoriston, Fort Augustus – Highlands, Scotland
On our second last day in Scotland we leave the Isle of Skye and make our way down to Inverness. First stop: Invermoriston and its gorgeous bridge, about 6 miles north of Fort Augustus. It’s a Thomas Telford monument built in 1813 to cross the spectacular Moriston Falls.
In the car park we have an *almost meet* with 2 other campers but only one of them returns while we’re still there. He’s from the Isle of Skye [yay] and having spent the week in England he’s on his way back home. We compare notes on DIY camper conversions, T4s v T5s, curtain rails [what else ^_^] and long wheel bases [ours is, his isn’t] before going our separate ways.
At lunchtime we manage to find a gorgeous & secluded place in the middle of a massive forest and park up for some more rest, some quick food & a well deserved cuppa.
One more stop before we bed down near Inverness: Fort Augustus and its locks on the Caledonian canal. We spend the majority of our time in the one and only internet cafe there trying to get a decent enough WiFi connection to find our final campsite. Which wasn’t great. But more about that next time ^_^
Glenbrittle, Isle of Skye, Highlands – Scotland
This is the only way in. And out. Of Glenbrittle.
8 miles down a narrow single track. The drive alone is epic and at the end of it we find our reward: our Cool Camping Scotland stop for the day:
With a gorgeous sandy beach [where you can pick your own mussels!] and a mountain view to die for this place is a definite *must go* should you ever come to the Isle of Skye.
The pitches are massive. And beautiful. The more beautiful ones don’t have a hook up so we decide to go without and don’t regret it! The feeling you get from pitching up in an amazingly beautiful spot that overlooks some impressive mountains and is a stone’s throw away from the sea is simply……well, priceless! ^-^
There’s a shop on site that sells basic provisions and useful hiking gear and the facilities are faultless. We find out the site is owned by the McLeod family (the very same that owns Dunvegan castle) and that visitors to Glenbrittle automatically qualify for a 10% discount when visiting the castle. So don’t do what we did (castle first, then Glenbrittle) but pitch up first, then go to the castle.
We make some burgers and throw them on the barbie, add some nice cheese and stick ‘em in a bun, then wash it all down with some Buds.
Tomorrow we’re leaving the Isle of Skye and begin our journey home. As for now, life in the van is fab!
The verdict:
Glenbrittle campsite, £14 without EHU, dogs £1/each.
This one’s easy: 5/5, straight up! Gorgeous site. Large, clean & very attractive pitches. Facilities are excellent. Scenery’s out of this world. I wish we had had nicer weather (after all, we went in August!) but genuinely can’t fault it. Along with everything else we came across on the Isle of Skye: loves it!!!!
Happy New Year from North Wales
Well. We ate a lot. Drank a lot. Met up with friends – a lot. Had lots of walks and also rested – a lot. We had lots of fun – without the van – and are already looking forward to a lot of trips planned for 2013.
So. From us to you. Happy New Year to you all <3
Carbost –> Glenbrittle, Isle of Skye [Scotland]
We decide to head off to Carbost to take a look at the Talisker Whiskey Distillery but after setting off are curious to see why there’s a queue outside the village bakery. Turns out to be the oldest bakery on Skye, happy campers!
Like the good little Brits we are we promptly join the queue and are positively surprised by the smell and the smoke coming from inside the bakery. The loaves of bread look delish! And smell divine! The freshly baked cakes look irresistible and the breakfast melts on offer are truly scrumptious! We walk away with one of their fresh, big & inviting loaves and a bacon & cheese turnover for Mr. B’s brekkie.
The drive to Carbost is dotted with view points that are most definitely worth more than just one stop:
The last stretch of road is covered in pretty inventive scare crows. We think it’s something to do with the upcoming annual scarecrow festival and appreciate the effort that’s gone into making them [but if anybody knows what they were really all about please feel free to educate us ^_^].
As for the distillery… well, here at vanplusfour.com we know nothing about Whiskey and so perhaps the entire experience is a little lost on us…[oops]. But we went. Had a good look around. And carried on.
Up the road we find a little Oyster Farm and a very passionate oyster farmer showing us his wares inside his little oyster shack.
Unfortunately we cannot cook lobster in the van or stomach oysters [what’s wrong with us????] but happily buy some beech smoked Scottish salmon from him which we have on our gorgeous freshly baked bread [from the oldest bakery] for lunch during a road side picnic [and yes, don’t judge me *BUT* I did make Mr. B try and find the perfect roadside picnic stop despite the fuel gauge lighting up amber…]
Refreshed we carry on to Glenbrittle, our Cool Campsite Scotland stop for the day. More about that soon ^_^
[PS: and look at Big H and his silly ramp; finally on the road to recovery, yay!]
Kinloch campsite, Dunvegan, Isle of Skye [Scotland]
On arrival, the charismatic owner greets us and promptly impresses by nonchalantly stating the fact he knows the teeny weeny Welsh village we come from. We travelled all the way up to the middle of nowhere to find the ONE person who’s heard of our home village……this never happens! We like him instantly ^-^
I think the feeling is somewhat mutual as after we reject the hardstanding he initially offers us (although very nice right by the ocean not quite so suitable for our injured dog who needs to rest his sore joints on soft grass) and so he gets us an extra long cable and with the longest hook up EVER puts us on soft grass overlooking most of the other motorhomes on this side of the camp site. We love him even more now!
The camp site is stunning! And quite rightly deserves to be featured in Cool Camping! It’s extremely windy (which means no midges, yay) but I don’t think anything can dampen our spirits now that Big H seems to be on the mend. Happy campers ^-^
The views are spectacular.
Facilities on site are excellent, by far the best we’ve come across in a while and most definitely the best on this trip and so it easily scores 5/5 [in fact, vanplusfour HQ would go as far as to make this one a *must stay*]. The charismatic owner is not there when it’s time to check out and hand back the extra long cable, which is a shame as we would have loved to talk to him more about his fabulous site.
Still, a good enough reason to come back I suppose ^-^
Kinloch Campsite, Dunvegan, Isle of Skye, IV55 8WY, £18 with EHU, dogs are free
PS: most of these shots were taken with a broken wide angle lens and aren’t as clear as they should be which is a shame but not a good enough reason to remain unseen in my picture archive ^_^
Seal spotting nr Dunvegan Castle – Coral Beach, Isle of Skye [Scotland]
We’re off for a bit of seal spotting ^_^
The little island they inhabit is too far away to see with the naked eye but my spotter genius husband
Big H is slightly better but still on full rest so we take only Maisie for a little stroll around the gorgeous island. If I said she was missing him I’d probably be lying…….she is definitely making the most of her quality time alone with us it seems.
Walkies isn’t the same with just the one of them ……. but the views are absolutely outstanding!!!
We head on to Coral Beach, a mile or so down a track from the car park. Although you might think otherwise, it’s not actually coral that makes up the creamy pink tinged sand, but fragments of red macroalgae (or Maerl which is dried, calcified seaweed) and lots of shells too. The Coral Beaches are an amazing sight, they are beautiful whatever the weather but look like a tropical paradise on a clear day; white beaches against a backdrop of aquamarine waters.
We suddenly hear what sounds like a plane and when we can finally see it it appears to be a low flying fighter jet. We read in the papers the day after that Sir Chris Hoy swapped his wheels for wings to take a flight on an RAF Typhoon fighter jet so we’re convinced it was him ^_^
We take a gentle stroll back to let Big H out of the van to stretch his sore leg and to have a car park picnic before heading out to the camp site we’ve chosen for the night.
Dunvegan Castle, Isle of Skye, Highlands [Scotland]
When we wake up in Uig the sun is out. And so are the midges. Then when we start packing up it starts to rain…..the weather on Skye is crazy. One minute it’s sunny and you get that proper holiday feeling. Next thing you know the heavens open up and it’s just like at home in Wales ^-^
We head off just down the road to Dunvegan Castle. It’s perhaps a little uninspiring at first glance [a) you can’t see it from the road and b) it’s kinda grey. Very grey!] and it’s also kinda expensive to get in, £9.50 each. You can’t even walk about the whole castle as the gang of the 30th Chief of the Macleod clan still lives on site.
But it’s easy to see why the clan still lives here and I must admit – we fell TOTALLY in love with it ^_^ It’s majestic. Serene. It has AMAZING gardens and you can actually spot seals from it = what’s not to like?!
The tour guides in each of the room are super efficient and really know their stuff and are more than happy to share some personal stories. The lady in the room where I managed to get a photo from [it is not allowed to take pictures inside the castle, for privacy reasons] used to live in Mold, only 15 or so miles from where we live now! She seemed genuinely interested in finding out about where we’re staying and what we’re doing and I overhear her share or own personal journey with another visitor. The word *spiritual* can be heard often. It captures the spirit of this beautiful island perfectly I think.
She tells us about a beautiful beach not far away and we decide to make that one our next stop.
Uig Bay Campsite, Uig, Isle of Skye [Scotland]
We arrive at the camp site around 6pm, just as the battery on my camera runs out [bummer!]. It’s disappointing at first [mainly because all you can see is some unattractive hard standings] but once we manage to secure a nice pitch on the grass we happily put some sausages on the barbie and have it with a [spicy hot] Indian dressing potato salad [weird but nice] while watching our international neighbours [most of them German would you believe ^-^].
Big H is still not great but a lot better than he was in the morning so we decide not to put the bed up but to sleep on our L shaped *sofa* to give him more room to move his sore joints around. At 1:15hrs in the morning we are rudely awoken by some very drunk and very loud American ladies but luckily we’ve not forgotten that once upon a time we used to be party animals too and so after a quick toilet *break* we fall back into bed and return to dreamland ^_^
The verdict
Uig Bay Campsite, £15 with EHU
It’s a well documented fact that we prefer the rough’n ready ones over clean lines. First impression: hardstandings, no thanks…….however: this one grew on us ^_^ The vistas are dreamy, the air is as sharp as a knife, the site has a nice family *we’re all on an adventure* vibe about it and the wind’s blowing = no midgies, hey presto! The facilities are great and there’s great emphasis on recycling [they even provide buckets for plastic bottle tops, EXTRA buckets!]. WiFi’s optional [if a little expensive] and when it’s time to leave we’re defo in *would happily return* camp ^_^ It’s a 5/5. How can it not be. In Uig. On Skye. In the Highlands!
The Isle of Skye [Scotland]
On the third day of our Scotland trip we finally arrive on the Isle of Skye. As expected, the island is impressive. Beautiful. Spiritual. Epic. And majestic. All rolled into one.
It is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland and has a colourful history, including a time of Norse rule and a long period of domination by Clan MacLeod and Clan Donald. Skye is part of the Highland Council local government area and can be accessed by ferry or road bridge.
We had initially hoped to be able to have time for a spot of island hopping across the Inner Hebrides but had to admit defeat in the end and settled on visiting just the largest one: Skye.
We spent most of the day travelling and are keen to get out of the van and chill on the next camp site; Big H is also still unable to walk properly and no doubt even keener than us to stretch his injured limbs.
Next stop: Uig Camping & Caravan Park
Heading towards the Isle of Skye [Scotland]
Disaster strikes in the morning. While quickly packing up the van (remember: midgies!!!) I try to keep the dogs happy by throwing the ball. Something we’ve done billions of times before. Somehow, this morning ends in total disaster……………I throw it downhill, the dogs run to fetch it, then all I can hear is Big H screaming and his back legs ceasing up making him run with his front legs only, his back legs collapsed, dragging his back downhill, unable to stop. Somehow we’re next to him throwing him on his back trying to stop his back legs from ceasing up and realising life as we know it is over.
We manage to keep calm and carry on. With the dog trying to overcome the shock we drive down to the village by the Loch, then head off to Fort Williams again to stock up on provisions for the day. The memory card in the Nikon is broke and we manage to pick up an 8 GB one for £12, bargain! The drive to the Isle of Skye is long. And full of unspoken words.
We stop off at the Commando Memorial to take some pictures (last time we came we never had the Nikon so it’s nice to be able to remember the fallen with some half decent pics).
We stop off for lunch @ Allt Na Criche, a nice picnic area in the woods. Big H is no longer in shock although still shaken and so he has some food in the van while I take Maisie Lea for a lonely walk through the woodlands.
Our next little stop is at Dundreggan Dam where I spot some kayakers going down the river; unlucky for us the fun’s over by the time we manage to park up and walk back.
Last stop before crossing the bridge onto the Isle of Skye is Eilean Donan castle which was apparently featured in the film Highlander [1986] and Bond – The World Is Not Enough [1999].
van plus 4 