Day 4: Over the hills and far away
Another suitcase in another town… After a day of travelling and fantastic, if at times a little barren, scenery we arrived at Kinloch Campsite in Dunvegan on Skye. Sitting at the head of Loch Dunvegan it has simply stunning views out across the lock (Is this getting repetitive yet? …of course not!) – Oh and we went out to eat that evening, but more of that later!
To say I was reluctant to leave this morning is an understatement, it’s only the need to pay homage to Fi’s brilliant itinerary that drove us forward. That and the knowledge that having had this taster we know we’ll be back.
Today, before leaving, I was up bright and early again, and while the rest were still sleeping, I took my time strolling and paddling along the beach.
I was gone for a good hour, just enjoying the beach, and chatting to fellow early morning walkers, mostly dog walkers which meant I got a good dose of dog love.
(That morning Mikey and I were starting to miss our own two pups, who were having a little holiday of their own at their favourite kennels in the Scottish Borders. So the dog love was just what I needed!)
Golden Shot
After my return, the others roused themselves and we started to get ready to move on, which meant servicing the vans.
Mikey and I had a bit of fun sorting out the wastewater. In most places, you park over a sloping drain and the water then comes out of a small tube into the drain, all very simple.
At this site, there was a small hole about 30cm in diameter with a lid on. You had to drive over the hole so the wastewater tube was directly over it, then remove the lid and pump out the water.
Simple, right?!
Well, as you can imagine, manoeuvring a large motor home, so that a small tube was exactly positioned over a small hole isn’t exactly straightforward!
It was like playing TV’s ‘The Golden Shot‘ but with a van (I know with that reference I’m showing my age here!)
…it took us several attempts at pulling forward and reversing until we were correctly positioned.
Perhaps this could be an idea for a new game show, ‘camper vans do it’s a knockout’ (…oh there I go again, showing my age!)
Eventually, we got it right and were able to finish. As we were leaving the site, we did have a giggle as we saw someone else playing exactly the same game!
‘On the road again’ (…or is that ‘on the boat again’?)
As we set off, it soon became clear that the lead van was running on vapour.
We followed them to a garage that looked very ‘old style’ pre-self-service. Pete was allowed to use the pump himself but he had a spending limit imposed by the garage. Based on the price though, he didn’t want to spend any more anyway!
Refuelled (well, partly) we were good to go and headed to the ferry at Mallaig. This meant only one thing, we were off to Skye.
Once again, as we got onto the ferry we were expected to stay in the vans, but I was taking no chances on this trip and immediately headed for the great outside and the top deck. With the added benefit that it was a gloriously sunny day.
Mikey manfully stayed behind (for a crafty nap!), Fi and later Pete joined me on deck. It was a lovely trip over on the ferry, so sunny and we had a sheltered spot on the deck out of the wind.
Fi and I watch avidly as they loaded all the cars onboard, not quite believing it when they squeezed in two more vehicles after we thought they were full!
The Stalker: ‘White t-shirt man’
We were just setting sail when a man we came to refer to as ‘white t-shirt man’ came wandering onto the deck to stand just a few feet away from us.
Cast your mind back to the early part of yesterday at Tobermory on Mull, when we were stuffing our faces with delicious seafood. Well, we first encountered ‘white t-shirt man’ there. He stood out so much because he is travelling with a couple of cute Beagles.
Suddenly, our imaginations took over!
I mean it’s a long way from Tobermory to Mallaig!
…are we being followed?! …what are the chances of someone doing the exact same route as us?! …and he appeared to be wearing the same clothes too!
Fi was especially concerned he was wearing the same white t-shirt as yesterday. But to be fair, he could own several white t-shirts, nonetheless very strange!
There’ll be more of ‘white t-shirt man’ in future episodes…
Over the hills …sorry, mountains
Once on Skye, we continued our drive towards our campsite for that evening. The route took us across what Mikey and I thought was some pretty barren looking landscape. To start with we weren’t so impressed (sorry, if that upsets any hardcore Skye-lovers out there, but this tale gets better!)
We stopped in a few places for breaks and to take photos. When driving past a waterfall, I messaged ahead (remember the walkie talkies) to stop for a photoshoot.
(This blurry shot ended up being the only picture of a waterfall we have from the entire trip …and it turned out, for good reason)
A little further on we stopped for lunch at Glen Sligachan, a location where a famous sculpture has been erected celebrating famous mountaineers of yesteryear, Norman Collie and John Mackenzie (why not look them up to find out more).
We had another lovely lunch, soup this time, and after lunch went for a walk up to the sculpture and for a look around. It’s a pretty impressive work of art, depicting both men, one sitting, one standing looking out over the hills.
In a fit of craziness, and with a spring in his step, Pete decided to leap onto the sculpture, inserting himself as a third figure, looking out…
It was a lovely spot with lots of little paths heading off over the hills, we pottered around for an hour or so before heading back to the vans and on the road again.
Arriving at Dunvegan
For once, we arrived at the campsite pretty early and got the vans set up with a couple of greatly elevated pitches overlooking the Dunvegan Loch.
It had been planned to arrive a little early so we could watch the football, albeit on an iPad. Luckily, it was the right score meaning the evening could continue cheerfully!
The weather was still great, a near cloudless sky and quite warm, although the breeze was pretty strong. We spent a lovely few hours chilling and slowly getting ready because we were going ‘out on the town’ …ok, ‘town’ might be stretching it! It was time to eat…
The Old School House
The pub/restaurant was a short 10-minute walk from the campsite into ‘town’ (ermmm, village). So we set off in our finery (by that, I mean not the usual camper gear of jeans and t-shirt). We didn’t even need coats by this stage, as the wind dropped the weather was warming up.
Everywhere we have eaten so far has been completely amazing from the fish’n’chips to the seafood shacks, and even the home BBQ’d steak …and the food at the Old School House was no exception.
From the atmosphere to the wine (…and gin) to the food, everything was fantastic.
We tried Skyes very own Misty Isle Gin – which was very nice. Of course, we also resorted to one of our favourites, Isle of Harris Gin.
For food, let me see if I can capture it all:
- Starters were – Scallops, oriental duck, smoked salmon salad, (+1 we can’t remember!)
- Mains were – Mussels, langoustines and 2 x fish curry
- Desserts – cheeseboard, choc fudge cake, sticky toffee pudding
Are you hungry yet? …every dish was delicious and all the fish was so fresh… truly fantastic!
It was great to eat out and Mikey and I enjoyed the company (we were kinda getting used to Pete and Fi by then and thought we’d continue to stalk/follow them across Scotland for a bit longer!) 😀
It was late walking back to the site, and yet it was almost like daylight …a benefit of being up here, it doesn’t get dark!
A restful day
We found out from our leaders that we were here for a couple of days, so no need to pack up the van. After moving around so much, definitely a welcome break, no rushing to leave, a bit of calm.
We will of course be taking out one of the vans tomorrow, so we can visit more of the island – but it’ll be at a far more leisurely pace! …no Schumacher this time, just Mikey “sedate” Christon instead.
Another lovely day capped off with an incredible meal …and the weather just keeps getting better and better!
Post-script
Following intensive training from Fi, we are now adopting the ‘Marilyn pose’ too…
