Just returned home from our expedition to Scotland had a smashing time the weather was generally good particularly when we were on Mull, it started to deteriorate the day before we left Skye and at Glencoe it was very windy and unsettled.Everything went according to the plan really, all those dark winter days spent planning the timetable and sorting the bookings was all worth it. Didn’t have any real problems with the single track roads though occasionally I thought well its lucky that truck/bus didn’t come along 10 seconds earlier! Mull is really such a peaceful place, got a good pitch at Shielings, found everyone so friendly and willing to stop and have a chat. They have a good alternative to speed cameras up there ie bumpy, twisty single track roads.Whilst on Mull we went on the boat trip to Staffa, the sea was so flat conditions were really perfect so got a good view of the cave, called at

Isle Of Iona With The Abbey In The Background

Iona on the way back. An excellent day. Went on the ‘Discover Mull’ Landrover trip with Pam and Arthur Brown (www.discovermull.co.uk) and would really recommend this, it is an eight hour excursion with coffee breaks and lunch included. They know all the places to visit, the list of wildlife we saw is too long to mention but we saw at close range several golden eagles and otters. Also they gave us an easy to understand explanation of the island geology plus lots more tales.The weather was so clear we could see the snowcapped Ben Nevis (40 miles) from the campsite.We didn’t get time to go to any of the castles, we normally save those for rainy days but didn’t get any.The spring wild flowers were also such a good show, in fact another week or two the wild iris’s will be on display mainly around the shoreline. One interesting item, we saw was the Waverley (last remaining seagoing steamship) cruising by

The Calmac Ferry Departs For Oban At Craignure Isle Of Mull

Craignure. It was particularly interesting to us as we sailed on her last year from Ilfracombe (Devon) to Lundy island. If ever you get a chance to have a trip I can recommend it. We were really sad to leave Mull, but full of anticipation of what the Ardnamurchan peninsula had in store for us. The drive from Lochaline

Lochaline To Strontain Road

to Resipole was very scenic; the final stretch from Strontian would have been quite a challenge had we met any trucks etc.We managed a meal at the Resipole Farm Restaurant and both enjoyed it and would thoroughly recommend the place. Our first trip out was to the Ardnamurchan lighthouse and the Sanna beaches,

Ardnamurchan Lighthouse

Beaches At Sanna Bay

the scenery is stunning. We read in the Scottish Daily Mail whilst away that Sanna had been added to the list of suitable beaches for naturists. I would have thought it a bit chilly up there for that sort of thing!! Followed by a trip to Mallaig again those fantastic beaches, have you ever tried any of those campsites around Morar? We drove back through Glenfinnan and along A861 which takes you by the shoreline of Loch Eil and gives some wonderful close up views of Ben Nevis, also the drive through Glen Tarbert is worth doing.We then had a couple of damp days (first of the trip), but ventured out to the area north of Strontian to Polloch and takes you through the Pine forest next Loch Doilet, there is a good walk from Polloch to the shore of Loch Shiel. We were hampered by low cloud but on a clear day the views from top of the hill must be quite something. Time to go to Skye, the weather had cleared up and the crossing was calm and under a blue sky. Got a good waterside pitch at Kinloch campsite. Since weather was clear we decided to have a run down to Elgol to view the Cullins. What a wonderful day out we had the weather was absolutely perfect and the views perhaps the best of the entire trip. One thing we noticed whilst away was the difference in price of food, petrol etc and its only to be expected due to the remoteness. However we stopped at a café in Elgol and the price of a slice of Madiera cake was £2, needless to say we didn’t sample it. Just out of interest we currently pay 80P/litre, the highest I paid whilst away was 95.9p on Mull, yet I also paid 83p on Mull, diesel was over a pound. The other major trip we went on was a circular tour to Portree on the B885, area where eagles can be seen.

Portree Harbour

Staffin From The Quiraings

From Portree A855 to Staffin and Clachan(Flora MacDonald Museum) to Uig and back to Dunvegan. Some of the scenery is quite stunning. If you have not been on this route and at sometime in the future wish to, bear in mind that the best views are by taking the anticlockwise route. Another very scenic place is the Waternish area, we went to this area as we were told that Sea eagles could be seen and there are some cliffs at a small place called Gillen that’s worth driving to, saw the eagles but not at close range, it’s a very quite spot. The day before we left the weather changed but managed a final trip to the Neist lighthouse.

Neist Point Lighthouse Isle Of Skye

Steps Down To The Lighthouse Walk

Again the scenery is good but its so bleak out there. We managed to walk to the lighthouse but needed the rest of the day to recover from climbing those steps! The drive from Dunvegan to Glencoe should have been very scenic but was marred by low cloud and rain. I don’t think we saw any sun whilst at Glencoe

Glencoe With Buachaille Etive Mor

or even the hilltops come to that. However the site was good, if you ever need one in that area, its next to the Glencoe visitor centre. The journey onto Moffat was not a lot better; we decided to go via Callander and Cumbernauld as it looked a better transit through Glasgow to avoid the Cup final at Hampdon Park. We never had any holdups. We had a pleasant couple of days at Moffat, weather improved. Had a good journey home,in total we completed 2200miles. We really enjoyed the trip, I guess we were very lucky with the weather as it was only the final few days that turned unsettled. Another thing the air in the highlands is so good it almost felt like we were breathing pure oxygen. I can see why people want to go and live up there but it must be quite difficult in the winter, I guess it hardly gets daylight in winter since we noticed that it didn’t get properly dark at night and its not midsummer yet. We’ve already started thinking about next years Scotland trip, I’m sure it will become an annual event. In all the years we’ve been camping/caravanning it has taken us 30 years to discover Scotland, now we can’t keep away. I’ve rambled on a bit but hope some of the recollections are of interest. Like you, I normally take the digital camera away but this time I borrowed my sons camcorder. After a shaky start most of the footage looks surprisingly good. My next task is to edit it onto a DVD before I forget where the shots have been taken. If you need any further info on any of the trips don’t hesitate to ask. I nearly forgot to mention we had no problems with midgeseven in the relative heat of Mull.

Regards

Don