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Canals and Camper Vans

September - October 2023
A 33-day adventure by Terry And Randy Read more
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  • TravelerCanals and Camper Vans
    2
    Day 10

    Edinburgh

    September 16, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    We were off the boat and on the bus to Preston by 10 am. The bus dropped us off at the bus station in Preston, and it was a ten minute walk to the train station. We were able to get tickets on the fast train to Edinburgh. I used my navionics app on my phone to figure out we were traveling 98 miles an hour. The scenery, especially in the southern Lakes District, was very dramatic. The train was moving so quickly we couldn't get any good pictures. It took around two and a half hours to get to Haymarket Station in Edinburgh. Our hotel was a 20-minute bus ride from the train station. Public transportation is very accessible here, which is a good thing since the hotel I booked is a lot further from the city center than I thought. After we checked in, we took a bus to Princess Street to start exploring. Edinburgh is such a beautiful city, and there are so many sites to take in. Earlier this year, I met a family from Edinburgh while I was in Barbados. One of the sons told me I should check out the pub he worked at, the Pipers Rest, so that was our first destination. We loved the pub and ended up spending a few hours there. Laughlin was very surprised to see me. Everyone was so friendly and they had great live music. We booked a walking tour on Sunday, and we had a wonderful tour guide. For 2 and a half hours, we wandered around Old Town while she shared history, stories, and fun facts. After that, we wandered around on our own until the rain and sore feet had us looking for a spot for dinner. Loved this city, and our pictures don't do it justice, but two days in a city is more than enough for us. We pick up the camper van on Monday and start on our Highland adventures.Read more

  • TravelerCanals and Camper Vans
    1
    Day 12

    Campervan Yet to be Named

    September 18, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    We took the bus from in front of our hotel to pick up the campervan Monday afternoon. It started raining Sunday afternoon, and there was a steady down pour all night and part of the morning. The thought of dragging our duffle bag for the 8 minute walk from the bus stop to Bunk Campers was not appealing, but luck was with us, and the rain stopped for a few hours. We arrived at the pick-up point about 30 minutes before our scheduled time, hoping we may be able to get on the road a little early. Nope, not even close. We were supposed to leave by 3, but it was almost 7 when we pulled out of the parking lot. They had 25 units leaving, and we were lucky number 25. We only had a 30-minute drive to our first stop, but we quickly learned we need to double whatever time google says. Also, we needed a few things, so we had to make a pit stop at Aldi. Trying to find our parking spot in the dark after the park had closed in the rain was not ideal. We made it, though, and only had to turn around twice. It was pouring once we settled into our spot for the night but quite cozy in our little camper. I really like the layout. It's a bit big for these roads, but it is comfy. There are not many pictures today. Way too much sitting around waiting for our camper.Read more

  • TravelerCanals and Camper Vans
    Day 13

    Maybe My Agenda Is A Little Aggressive

    September 19, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    We woke up in a very pretty community park with a few other campers. We checked in with staff explaining we arrived late and let ourselves in. They were very friendly and gave us all kinds of information on places to visit nearby. When they heard our plans for the day, they just smiled. Well, I understand why now. We only made it halfway to where we'd planned. Firstly, the camper is not very well outfitted, so I had a long list of supplies we needed. Finding the stores we needed was a little challenging. Google Maps had us in a couple of unbelievable places. Randy kept his cool even when we ended up in a service area at the top of a shopping center in downtown Perth. Also, once we left the motorways, the roads were very narrow and twisty. 40 miles an hour felt like 80. We adjusted our plans, and I found us a place to park near Loch Ness. The scenery was amazing even before we made it to the Higlands. We made a quick pit stop at Dalwynnie distillery and at Fort Augustus and pulled into the campground around 4. Fort Augustus was pretty cool. We watched a group of boats go through the locks to get into Loch Ness. There are tons of tour buses and visitors. After we parked, we set off for a walk down to Lock Ness to see Urquhart Castle. We were too late to get tickets to walk the grounds, and it was raining, so we walked the two miles and viewed from afar. We are parked at an equestrian center and working farm, so beautiful horses and tons of sheep close by. While we were walking, we ran into a German couple we met at Bunk Campers. They were number 22 to leave and couldn't make it to the park they had reservations at. They ended up in a parking lot in some random neighborhood. After our walk, they joined us in the camper for a drink. There are so many people in tents, and it just won't stop raining. We chatted to a couple of young guys who were having a beer together from their individual tents. When we questioned what they were doing, they laughed and said we were the ones who were out in the rain. Good point. We'll if we waited for the rain to stop, we'd never get outside. We did a load of laundry, had a late dinner, played a few games of cards then off to bed to listen to the rain.Read more

  • TravelerCanals and Camper Vans
    Day 14

    The Beautiful Black Isle

    September 20, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    It's hard to believe, but it rained all night. LOL. We woke to low-lying clouds that partially obscured the hills around us. We took advantage of the showers and facilities to freshen up both us and the wee campervan. We then set off in search of toilet chemicals and the Black Isle. The first is very important when using a cassette toilet, and although I had included them in our rental agreement, Bunk Campers had run out. Not to worry, they said we will refund the cost when you return and you can find them anywhere. Oh dear, not the case. We tried a few places and had no luck. Randy had a great idea, and we approached a campervan in the parking lot of the Tesco Extra. Lovely couple who gave us some great advice but we decided to follow it after we visited Culloden. Finding a parking spot at the Culloden Battlefield was a challenge, but after 15 minutes, we found one, and Randy backed in like it was his job. Unfortunately, we were so close to the car beside us that the driver had a hard time getting in. He came back just after we parked, and Randy offered to pull the van out to make it easier, but he was a good sport. Nice couple from South Carolina. Walking around Cullonden was so interesting. Our ancestors, at least those who survived the battle, ended up in Canada as a direct result of the loss that day. We spent a few hours wandering around, taking it all in. We then headed for the store that the couple in the parking lot recommended earlier today. What are the odds, we missed the entrance to the shop and parked at the big box store beside it and pulled up right beside the couple we spoke to 4 hours earlier. Honestly, I'm not making this s@#@t up. What are the odds. Anyway, we had to have a nice long chat, and we are now Facebook friends. We found our toilet chemicals, and we were off to the Black Isles. Wow, so beautiful here. The campground we wanted to stay was full, so they recommended Cromarty, and they had room. We are parked by the Cromarty Firth, which leads to the North Sea. The weather has been the best today, only rained a bit. We chatted with a few people here; it's a very small campground, then headed out in search of a pub. Fishtown Inn was a nice spot, at times more dogs than people, and my new favorite beer. We split a fish and chips for a combo of lunch and dinner. Oh, and a wee dram of 12 year old Mc Cullam scotch. Randys is feeling a bit of a head cold coming on, so it was purely medicinal. It was nice we could walk from the camper, so no worries about drinking and driving. On the way back to the camper, it was windy and rainy but also low tide, so I made a quick detour to the beach to look for glass. Success I found a few pieces, and I'm sure there were more, but I was soaked so back to the camper. Tomorrow, we start the NC 500 proper, and if all goes to plan, we will be parked up on a beach facing the North Sea. OMG, it's almost 10 pm, and I just realized I had my shirt on backward all day. Guess appearances aren't a priority at this point, but I did shower today.Read more

  • TravelerCanals and Camper Vans
    1122
    Day 15

    This Is Wild Camping

    September 21, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    Although here in Scotland wild camping is really a term used only for tenting, I have to say spending the night at Dunnet Head lighthouse is as wild as I ever want to camp. We were parked on the edge of a cliff with a spectacular view all around. The Atlantic in front of us and the North Sea beside us. We also had a beautiful view of the Orkney Islands. There is a famous lighthouse here that was manned until the late 1960s. There is also a small Coast Guard installation and some bunkers left over from WWII. Oh, and sheep, lots and lots of sheep. Our trip from the Black Isle to Dunnet Head was very exciting, we went through some quaint little towns, checked out a French manor house, and got totally turned around looking for the ruins of Sinclair Castle only to find the road to the castle closed indefinitely. We were disappointed there was no place to park at the Whaligoe Steps, but we did visit Kiess Beach and the town of Kiess. We also drove on our first single-track road. Fortunately, it was on fairly level ground, but there were lots of twists and turns. We only had to pull over a few times to let others pass. When we were getting close to our stop for the night, we started seeing vans pulled over in the tiniest of spaces. We were hoping the lighthouse parking would have a little more room. We weren't disappointed. The car park at the lighthouse had quite a few spaces. We were able to get a spot facing the water and only had to pay 10 pounds to park for the night. We took a nice long walk around the grounds and met some very friendly dogs. The wind and rain were unbelievable after dark. Our little camper moved around a whole lot more than the narrowboat ever did. This was one of the highlights of the trip for me. I am so glad we had a chance to visit this beautiful and remote place.Read more

  • TravelerCanals and Camper Vans
    12
    Day 16

    Beaches and Caves

    September 22, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    We started the day with a little backtracking, we missed John O Groats on our way to Dunnet Head, and we needed the typical picture at the sign post. It was relatively early in the morning, so not busy at all, and we took a quick look around. Even our NC500 guidebook calls this popular spot underwhelming, but we were glad we had a chance to check it out. We headed back west and stopped at Castletown Beach. Such a beautiful spot, and my little rubber boots came in so handy. It was low tide, so there were lots of interesting things to look at. I even found a couple of pieces of beach glass. On the way to Castletown beach, we passed the late Queen Mothers summer home, the Castle May. We drove down the lane to the carpark but we were too early and the castle wasn't opened. We peeked through the gates, and it was very impressive.The sun was out, but it was raining over the Orkney Islands, so we had a beautiful rainbow. We drove west for most of the day, and the landscape became even wilder. Single track roads for the most part and only a few very small towns. Beautiful beaches, though. Randy did a great job driving, and he had to pull over on a regular basis to let oncoming traffic go by. Fortunately, there were passing places, spots where the roads were a few feet wider he could pull over on. A couple of times on coming traffic had to back up, but this was the exception. The scenery changed from seaside vistas to heather covered moors. Quaint small villages and miles of open countryside. We stopped for lunch on the causeway that crosses over the Kyle of Tongue. As I made lunch, I could watch the seabirds and look at the ruins of a castle in the distance. We stopped for the night at Sango Sands Campground just outside Durness. This was another place on our must-see list, and it didn't disappoint. The beaches far below were absolutely stunning, and the walking paths above were wonderful. We parked with a view of the Atlantic. The facilities were very nice and we had electricity so no need to worry about charging my phone. Everyone at the campground has at least one dog, so we enjoyed meeting lots of new furry friends. We are quite comfy in our super sized campervan and cringe to see so many travelers in tents. The wind here at night shakes our camper and not to be repetitive, but it has poured rain almost every night we have been in this camper. I can't imagine trying to stay warm and dry in a tent. But hey, the people in tents are friendly and have smiles on their faces. Oh, and there are people traveling and camping on motorcycles, bicycles and hiking. Unbelievable. We had a great day on the road and a lovely night at Sango Sands. We don't have to check out until 11 so we will walk to the Smoo Caves tomorrow morningRead more

  • TravelerCanals and Camper Vans
    2111
    Day 17

    West As Far As We Can

    September 23, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Wow, what a windy night. I thought for sure we would wake up somewhere other than where we went to sleep. But when we opened our blinds, all was good. After taking advantage of the nice hot showers, we headed out on foot to the Smoo Cave. It was uphill for most of the one and a half mile walk, and I kept thinking of those brave souls cycling and walking this route. The cave was amazing. The pictures don't do it justice, and we were so glad we had the chance to see it. Guided walking tours and tours by zodiac were canceled because of the weather, but just the little we saw was well worth the walk. On the way back to the campground, we stopped at a memorial for John Lennon at the town hall. He spent summer vacations with family in the area. It is said that the song In My Life was about this area. Just a short drive from our campground at Sango Sands was the craft village of Balnakeil and Balnakeil Beach. We drove by the village but parking was a challenge so we kept going. The beach was so beautiful and we spent quite a bit of time there. There was a group of young people taking surf lessons and a few people walking their dogs. We saw hoof prints in the sand but no horses while we were there. There were ruins of a stone church and a large graveyard beside where we parked, so Randy explored that while I made lunch. A man parked in front of us in a very unusual bright blue bus. Not as large as buses back home, but way bigger than I would want to travel in on these roads. Randy had a chat with him, and we kept seeing him as we traveled. We decided to head to Kinlochbervie on the west coast and park at their pier for the night. For a nominal fee, you get electricity, trash, waste disposal, and fresh water. Oh, and a water view. We've been told that some of the most challenging roads are on this stretch, and that seemed to be a true statement. Pretty much the whole way was a single-track road, and traffic was a little heavier as it was the weekend. There are so many more campers on the road. Every where we pulled off, we ran into Will in his bright blue bus. We arrived at our stop for the night around 3 and were glad to park. Although we were only on the road for less than 4 hours, it was a very intense day. Randy took a walk to a pub high on the hill, but I was fighting a cold, so I stayed behind and curled up with a book. He found out the fishing boats from here go out for 10 days. They come back long enough to offload their catch and change crews. The crews work 10 days on 10 days off. He also found out there were much fewer boats now, and fishing is not doing well. There were about 6 other campers parked with us and four crazy sheep who kept coming up beside us to check us out. The big blue bus pulled in but left, too many other campers. Since we had both electricity and cell service after dinner onboard, we watched some YouTube. It was another windy rainy night, but we felt very comfortable parked on the wharf.Read more

  • TravelerCanals and Camper Vans
    Day 18

    South to Lochinver

    September 24, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    We decided to take a short side trip this morning to a small town called Tarbet. The only thing in Tarbet is a passenger ferry to an island called Handa, which is a nature preserve. We found out the ferry doesn't run on Sundays, but I still thought it would be cool to check out Tarbet. Who knows, we may be able to see Handa Island from the shore. Well, we couldn't, and there really isn't anything else in Tarbet. However, the drive to Tarbet was amazing, so beautiful, but probably the absolute worst roads we have been on ever. Thank goodness Randy is such a good sport. It was only a few miles out of our way, but because of the state of the road, it took much longer than we thought. I had used Google maps to get us there, but I thought I would use the campervans nav system to get us to our next destination. When I put in where I wanted to go, I received an error message. It seems the system was programmed to keep us off roads that were too small for a vehicle this size. We are 24 feet long and 9 feet wide. The road we took to Tarbet was one we shouldn't have been on. I didn't share that little bit of information with Randy until after we made it back to the main road. I think when we are going to go off road again, I will use the campers' nav system just in case. We were on a two lane road for a while and at times almost hit the 60 mile an hour speed limit. It felt like we were flying, but very soon, we were back on a single track road, barely making 40 miles an hour. We found another stunning beach today. I'm sad to say that I can't even remember where it was, but it was gorgeous. The sand was three different colours, white, pink, and green by the warers edge. While I was wandering around, a family came with a pony. It was the funniest thing they were running it up and down by the surf, and then the pony decided to roll in the sand. I dont think that was in their plan. We stopped for the day at Lochinver, a small sea side town. We parked by the harbour across from a pub. It was not the quietest spot, but it was free, and we could walk across the street for a pint. We had a late lunch early dinner at Peets Restaurant, which had great reviews. We actually wanted to try the pies at Lochiner Larder, but they were closed on Sundays. We've read reviews and been told by a few people that they have the best pies in the world. They open at 10 Monday morning, so that's another good reason to spend the night here in Lochinver. Also, I can actually pronounce the name of this town correctly so I'm not leaving. We walked along the waterfront and met two elderly ladies who were out walking their dogs. We had such a nice conversation with them. They couldn't quite figure out why we would come all the way to Scotland when we had such a big country of our own. We went to the pub and watched Scotland beat Tonga in World Cup Rugby. We met a few really nice fellow tourists who were traveling with their dogs, so we had our puppy fix, too. While we were there we watched a big fishing boat come in to the harbour. There were a couple of large trucks waiting for their catch, so we thought it may be a noisy night ahead. We found out the boats that come in are usually French or Spanish. There aren't any local boats any longer. The boats come in, drop off their catch, and head right back out again. After the rugby match, we headed back to the camper, and Randy beat me at a few card games. After we went to bed, it wasn't the loading of trucks that woke us up it was the wind again. It howled all night and shook the camper enough to wake us both up on a regular basis. The weather reports have a wind warning in the whole area for Wednesday and Thursday. I can't imagine how much worse it could get, but we may be in for an eventful few days.Read more

  • TravelerCanals and Camper Vans
    111
    Day 19

    Great Pies, Challenging Campsites

    September 25, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    We agree Lochinver Larder makes great pies. I had the chicken, mushroom and leek. Randy had the steak and ale. We have a strawberry rhubarb to split later. They were awesome and large enough that we ate part as a second breakfast and part for lunch. We started our drive today on two lane roads driving way too fast again. Actually, we don't often get up to 60, which is the speed limit, but since we usually have been driving 35 to 40 on the single track roads, 55 or 60 is wild. The scenery is changing again. There are individual mountains that seem to rise right out of the moors. It's very strange and very beautiful. A small island on Loch Assynt has the ruins of Castle Ardveck which dates back to the 15th century. When we pulled off the road to take pictures we found a beautiful waterfall and an old mill stone. Just south of Ullapool we stopped at the Corrieshalloch Gorge and Falls of Measach. It was a beautiful walk and the rain held off until we made it back to the camper. Great timing for a stop since we were able to finish our pies. We kept driving and stopping at spots that caught our interest before once again heading off the beaten track to find our wild camping spot. I had found a place called Red Beach that had 3 recommended parking spots and it sounded perfect. I used the campers nav system to make sure the roads would accommodate us and off we went. It was 8 miles off the main road which doesn't sound far but it's a long way on these crazy one track roads. Well, I think the campervans' nav system was offline because this road was worse than the road to Tarbet. We finally reached the first parking space but it wasn't the best so we decided to try the second one. The road got so narrow that we couldn't make it. Randy found someone's laneway to turnaround in, and we headed back to spot number one. It did offer a little protection from the wind, so we tucked ourselves into it and went for a walk. We measured the width of the road just above where we parked, and it was 8 feet. Our campervan is 9 feet wide no wonder we turned around. We were back at the camper sitting in the front seats looking over the fields to the sea when a tour bus pulled up and used our little parking spot to turn around in. The driver gave us a little wave, then almost ran over us to execute a perfect 3-point turn. Take a look at the pictures, and you will see how small this spot was. There is only room for one or two more small campers. That was it we were out of there. The only problem was we had no other place picked out for the night, and we had no service. So back to the main road, and we headed south. We checked out a couple spots off the road, one wasn't far enough off and one had a no overnight parking sign. So we carried on. We passed by another and caught a glimpse of a van, so we turned around and found a very secluded little spot. There was one van already parked but lots of room for us. In fact, as I write this two more joined us. Once tucked comfortably into bed we could hear the wind but we were so protected the camper didn't move all night.Read more

  • TravelerCanals and Camper Vans
    11
    Day 20

    Goodbye NC500 Hello Skye

    September 26, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Today was a big day, we finished the parts of the North Coast 500 we had planned on completing. We decided not to drive the Applecross Peninsula because our campervan is 24 feet long, and the recommended length of the vehicle is less than 18 feet. We feel as though we have done more than enough single-track roads. The route officially ends back in Inverness, and we would much rather spend some time on Skye and around Glencoe, so yeah, for us, we have completed that part of the trip. I would highly recommend it and am so glad we had the chance to experience it together. Today, we started the day with a visit to Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve. They have a very nice visitors center with information on the reserve and a number of hikes. The hikes range from an easy 30-minute walk to full day hikes to the summit of Beinn Eighe. We chose one of the short easy walks and were able to get back to the camper without getting rained on. It was a really nice way to start our day. Our second stop was in the tiny village of Shieldaig. We parked the van on the outskirts of town and walked in to take a look around. We stopped in a small smokehouse in someone's backyard and bought some salmon and cheddar. The owner was a really friendly young man, and we ended up chatting for a while. He explained to us that the road from Applecross when translated from Gaelic means "trail of the cattle." For many years the Bealach na Ba was only used to drive cattle to market. He said today hotshots in fancy cars love burning their clutches out racing over it. On our way back to the van, we saw a huge tour bus pull in. Too funny it would be like a bus load of tourists showing up in Wyoming Ontario. Before heading to Skye, we decided to visit Eilean Donan castle. We found a parking spot and checked out the visitors center. It was pouring rain and really busy, so after a quick look around, we decided not to go inside. We've visited a few castles on other trips, and although interesting, they really aren't our thing. We stopped for the night at a campground in Broadford, Isle of Skye. We needed to do laundry, we waited for an hour and a half, and the washer was still in use, so we decided walking into town and finding a pub was a better use of our time. There was only one man at the bar, and the bartender had country music blasting when we stopped in at the pub in the Broadford Hotel. There were signs everywhere saying it was the home of drambuie. It appears Bonnie Prince Charlie had ownership of the recipe, and he shared it in gratitude for the people of Skye assisting him in his escape after the battle of Culloden. It started to get busier, and the people parked next to us came in and joined us. Former sailors turned power boaters who were renting a campervan. What a coincidence. There were lots of stories flying around that table and a few rounds. Jill and Barry were so much fun. It was dark when we found our way back to the campervan and was too late to do laundry. We will save that for another day.Read more

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