WORLD TOUR OF FRANCE
Tick tock,tick tock, tick tock, time seems to drag when your waiting for something. Its Thursday and the van is more or less packed and ready for the start of our world tour of France. Our ferry is booked for Sunday afternoon but first we are spending a weekend at Apps Court Farm in Hampton Court on the banks of the Thames. This gives all involved plus a few others to hook up and congregate for the weekend ready for the push down to Dover and on to the land of the Froggy. This trip came about when we were invited by Mr Ian Hulley (on guitar), T'onion (on base), Disco Dave (on keyboards) Madwitch and DOD (singers, bit like Pepsi & Shirley) to come on this trip after our return from Scotland way back in January. I gave LHD Rob the heads up (on triangle) and ferries were booked and all was set for a future trip.
Just to give it a bit more interest Louise and I are going to see if we can manage the three week trip in France on a budget of £1000 just to show as a young family if you have a camper van you can have a cracking time for not a lot of dosh. (Lets see how this pans out) We are hoping to stay at a mixture of campsites (non of which have been pre booked) and camping Aires with maybe the odd sleepy spot thrown in here and their if anywhere catches our fancy. I am really looking forward to lazy evenings drinking the local wine, eating French bread, taking Isaac to another country for the first time and having a crack with my pals. Actually we don't know were we are heading to either really so this could be an interesting read.
After a weekend at Hampton Court were we all met up for a weekend with some other members of http://www.club80-90.co.uk/ we set off.
We had Louey tag along for the ferry crossing as he was taking his family to euro disney and would try and catch up with us later.
We headed off through northern France on our way to Brittany.
Our first night was spent on a French Aire for around the £3 mark right on the beach were we saw the most amazing LT45 overland truck. At this stage i have got to say i dropped my camera and it wiped my memory card with the first part of the trip on it. I am now in the prosses of trying to get some picture from the crew to stick on here.
We drove a while further west into Normandy next and after Cloe found a campsite at only £6 in a small french village with an abby out of some book that they had in the van we arrived at a campsite that was well worth the gamble. This place was great, real Frenchy like... On arrival some old french peasant type fella was trying to sell us some massive beans he had obviously grown himself and to be honest if i knew what to do with them i might have bought some. The T'onions bus and ours found a suitable place to camp as the rest caught us up. They got well lost in Amines with the array of different gps devices they had and the added confusion of the cb and LHD's token bad luck it ended up in a gadget soup of confusion. T'onions bus and ours had the same so we found it embarrassingly easy Hehehehehe.
Woke up after a really good stay at the campsite all showered and ready for the off. Louse Isaac & I headed down to the village for a walk round the Abby and hooked up with T'onions bus and Lhd's bus and had a really nice walk around absorbing the atmosphere while Disco's bus, T'ulleys and Bernie & Madwitches bus pushed on and we were to meet them in a night or two in Brittany.
Next stop for us was San Mount Michelle
We stayed at the most amazing Aire, from memory it was about £3 inc electric.... Unbelievable and although there were no showers the campsite across the road did and i went in through the back door and used the facilities on offer. On reflection i wish we would have stayed their for another night or two but as it was early days we figured we should press on especially once you have wandered around the overcrowded attraction that is San Mount Michelle you have kind of seen it really. That said it was the evening their i really enjoyed with the fun and games that came with anywhere you go with good mates.
I just want to mention at this stage that not once on this trip did we pay to go on the french toll roads. It was initially because of the cost but really it was because the french normal roads are so good anyway and with an abundance of the awesome delight of the french super marches on the non toll roads and the 70p bottles of red wine it would be a crime not to take the non toll roads. This is why we made swift progress and met up with the others.
We spent the next week or so around Camart-sur-mer and although the campsite we met at wasn't my cup of Darjeeling but the location was spot on.
The weather hadn't really been to great in Britney but it didn't really bother me and it was good to see Dave try his kayak out and with mine off the roof of the van we had some really good kayak sessions. We moved on from the campsite after a couple of nights as it was £15 a night and we didn't have hook up as i have built the camper to be self sufficient we dint really need it anyway. Berni & Carolin had done a scout round and a wild camping spot down the road was found.
We had a really nice evening down the beach camping overnight down their. Click on the link below and have a look,
After a perfect evening of cooking mussels on the beach drinking wine we awoke to everyone leaving. By the time i had woken scratched my nuts and stuck a semi in Louise's back and got the all to familiar ,''go away you smell like a brewery'' the only people who were in the car park were LHD's and our van. Rob got my attention with that all to familiar sound of the early westy side door opening being lubricated along its runner with cornflakes size peaces of rust. Its the kind of noise you make when you try and hack that greeny up from the back of your throat followed by a bang as it closes. Never did really find out what went on but when we saw the others in the town later T'ulley had the right hump and so did Mark, didn't speak to Dave and his folks but we were guessing something was up so we thought we would head off for a night as the others were heading off to the campsite i didn't really feel any love for and it was such a nice place full of wild camping opportunities and let what ever it was blow over and hook up in a day or so.
It was really funny when LHD's van and ours pulled up at a campsite in what i think was La Veniec. The owners kicked the French pissed up pikeys out of our pitch to shoe horn us in. The first thoughts were, ''Bollocks'' but they were so drunk they were in bed at 8.00pm and we ended up keeping the whole place up laughing and messing around till the early hours. Next morning we met up with the others and all was well in the world, suppose there is going to be a bit of this when travelling in such a big group.
It was really funny when LHD's van and ours pulled up at a campsite in what i think was La Veniec. The owners kicked the French pissed up pikeys out of our pitch to shoe horn us in. The first thoughts were, ''Bollocks'' but they were so drunk they were in bed at 8.00pm and we ended up keeping the whole place up laughing and messing around till the early hours. Next morning we met up with the others and all was well in the world, suppose there is going to be a bit of this when travelling in such a big group.
LHD joined the others at the campsite for the night as he had serious washing to do for himself and Frankie. We headed off for a nights wild camping again. Click the link below to have a look,
MORE TO FOLLOW.....
MUCKY WHEELS
Its Isaacs word for our new Syncro and the first day out in it as a family since I bought it. It is kind of my new works van due to the new London emissions zone we live in, so the old work vans days were numbered as it didn’t comply. It did us a favour really as I have always wanted one and this was a great excuse for one to be bought.
I had a quick look on the internet last night and got the name of a few green lanes in Surrey. I popped them into the Tomtom and this morning off we plod and drove the twenty minutes or so into deepest darkest Surrey. We started randomly by choosing one and off we went. All was well until Three Toyota 4x4s came down the hill at Beggars Hill looking very surprised to see us driving UP IT!!!!!!. ‘BLOODY HELL’, one of the very experienced looking drivers said as he passed us. ‘‘YOU TRYING TO GET UP THEIR IN THAT?’’ errrrrrr yeh…. ‘’IS THAT A FOUR WHEEL DRIVE THEN?’’ yeh why ? ‘’NEVER SEEN ONE OF THEM BEFORE GOOD LUCK. HAVE YOU DONE THIS LANE BEFORE?’’ no, infact I have never done any lane in my life. Ever. ‘’IT’S THE MOST CHALLANGING ONE ROUND HERE THAT’S FOR SURE, MIND IF I TAKE A FEW PICTURES OF YOUR TRUCK?’’
Boy he wasn’t wrong either. Louise bottled it and thought it best to take Isaac out and watch for a while as I had a go at a really hard looking bit and thought I best start on something smaller when I ended up on two wheels in a James Bond stylee and didn’t fancy rolling it on my first day out with the family. I turned around and we headed for Sheep Walk Lane another of our pre installed POIs on the Tomtom.
This one was much more relaxing though really muddy and after Louise had a few goes through the forest she was well into it and actually enjoying herself.
Isaac didn’t seem to mind any of it as he had been asleep in the back most of the time.
We stopped for a picnic and after we had eaten we headed to another lane. This one was a belter and Jake (syncroand101) had mentioned it to us while he rang during our lunch. I loved mentioning the fact we were out laneing while he commented on how he was at a family do down his parents and could sense the disappointment in his voice. I had got sick of our ability to not errrrrrrrrrr how can I put it… actually piss up and brewery are the words that spring to mind.
As we plod on through this last lane it was just right. Not to challenging but enough to keep you on your toes especially when we hit a huge rock that ejected Louise out of her seat and striped the two tube holders off the roof rack. It wasn’t bad going really as I only did that and lost a rubber bung that stops the rear cab door from hitting the handle and a few scratches down the side from bushes that thankfully polish out.
Sooooo things I have learned today are, buy an OS map of Surrey, make some better clamps for my tubes on the roof rack as cable ties just don’t cut the mustard, what a beautiful part of the world we live in (we had no idea), and we love laneing.
THE FOX & GOOSE
So again we ventured to Hampshire and The Fox & Goose.
The day started out well, we arrived just as it was going dark on the Friday and it being April it was a warmish enough evening. After a bit of a drink around the vans Louise turned in with Isaac, who had fallen asleep before we even arrived. I caught last orders at the bar before getting a bit smashed in my good mate Putney Mick's van along with Lee & LHD Rob until 3am.
This was the first time we had been back to the Fox & Goose as the last owner Sheila had sold the pub to new owners and to be honest the welcome we had by her wasn't quite the same as the new chap. Sheila rocked!!!!
The Saturday was good Isaac loved to play and run around with the other kids in the field and he didn't really wander off too. We went for a walk along with the canal with Putney and Lee and had a drink in a really nice pub a little way down the tow path. When we got back we had a meal in the pub and to honest it was shite and if we weren't staying their for free i would have had to say something. However i am still optimistic this is due to a new menu and new owners and hope these teething problems will be ironed out and raise to Sheilas high standards.
After dark the evening was again spent with a few gentle drinks round the vans before we went inside for a few pints. I especially enjoyed watching how drunk Popeye Phil was due to him giving up drinking for lent (the Doyle birds fault) and this being his first piss up since.
We woke up in the mornig to this..........
Scotland
We had been banking on a trip across France and into Spain for Christmas and New Year but after the passport people taking over eight weeks and still no passport a plan B was put in place, Scotland
So after setting off from London four nights ago and spending a quick overnight-er at my Mum and Dads house in Bolton and popping in to see my Sister we decided to head off on a world tour of Scotland.
We couldn’t drive all that way and not stop at our favourite area in the UK, Wasdale in Cumbria. As we arrived at Waswater we were blessed with a fine welcome almost on que kind of almost as if we were expected. It had pissed down most of the day and wind like you wouldn’t believe, I felt we had kind have got blown up to The Lakes as well of at least double the miles being blown from side to side. In true campervan style we pulled up on route via Grange Over Sands were we rocked up in front of the local Co-op and enjoyed soup and rolls while we watched the locals read the stickers on the vans windows oblivious to the fact we were sat inside having our lunch. Louse cracked me up with a comment she made about how she had noticed when we drove past a dad and lad walking down a road and the little scamp would say, ’’look at that cool camper’’ and the dad would say, ’’its ok’’ just because he wants his dad to think his (Louise’s words not mine) Ford Passat to be cool.
We spent two nights in this magical place and it was nice to be back and it was the perfect place to try out the new bikes and kiddie trailer I bought for us as a kind of big stocking filler for Christmas. Isaac loved it and I spent an hour or so with him being happily towed behind me while Louise had a kip in the camper. I am looking forward to using it loads for the rest of this trip. Louise took to hers quite well saying she hadn’t ridden a bike since she was a kid and only managed to plough into the bloke who ran the forestry commotion site we stayed at the one time.
One thing I have noticed that is odd is that its in the last days of December and its 50 degrees F in the mountains. Very strange and I bet it wont last.
We left Cumbria this morning and after leaving Cumbria and entering Carlisle all was well the van ran well lots of LPG stations etc etc with a quick stop off at Gretner Services and onto the A74(M). It was a shame it was foggy and rainy as I recon that A74(M) would have been an ace drive into Glasgow.
Now, that Glasgow it’s a bit smaller than what I thought it was going to be and although we got a bit lost and being stuck in traffic for over an hour due to a crash on the road and in the end we did get to our destination, Loch Lomond on new years eve 2007. It was really foggy when we arrived and to be honest its dark to so tomorrow will be a tester to see how nice it is…. Oh yeh HAPPY NEW YEAR
Well…… yesterday or new years day or the day after hogmanay in our case was spent with a nice walk along Loch Lomond and it was time to get the waterproofs out. It was good though and Isaac was happy doing his new hobby, throwing stones in rivers, lakes and lochs. (note to self I must find out what a Loch is one of these days)
One thing I have noticed is that the Scots take this hogmanay business very seriously to the point not one shop petrol station or pub is open on new years day. The mist finally lifted just enough today over the loch so we could just take a peep at the surrounding hills and mountains. The campsite we have stayed at Loch Lomond isn’t to shabby really but as all things comes at a price. Heated showers and loos and is sat right on the shore of the loch, even got hook up so the £8 fan heater I got from B&Q has had a hammering even though we didn’t need it as its quite warm for the time of year.
Today we set off north after a quick stop at the co-op and stocked up on grub. It was a bit of a bummer that the lpg station was still shut for the holidays as I was on petrol but hey ho. The drive up the west side of Loch Lomond and north to Oban was unbelievable and some of the nicest driving I have ever done in the van. We really felt out in the wilds following a river for miles with pine forests covering valley sides and mountains reaching to the sky either side of us. BRILLIANT…….
We arrived in Oban just in time to miss the 2pm ferry to mull but it wasn’t really an issue as Oban is a nice enough place for a walk round a bit like a small St Ives but colder really and we got the 4pm one instead. Whilst we were waiting I rang my pal T’onion up as I remembered him saying that he along with his better other half Cloe and little Silverskin Kate had done a bit of wild camping on mull a year or so ago . Besides me on the blag for a free place to stay was justified after paying the £53 ferry fair and finding the only lpg pump in Oban fubard and out of order thus using more liquid gold. The next lpg gaff is in fort William and we wont be their for a couple of days yet.
The camper rolled off the ferry at mull in the dark around 45 minutes after leaving the mainland and we thought we would seek out the tried and tested sleepy spot issued by T’onion. Bloody hell wildlife like you wouldn’t believe!!!! First of all it was the wild deer kind of standing around in the dark on the road then we saw a snake scurry across the road in front of us then a few sheep along with a few more deer.
After a bit more driving I think we are now at,’’the spot’’ as mark said it had a rock bed and that is about all I can tell you about it at the moment as it is so dark we cant see anything else. Now let me tell you something about my good lady Louise, she has a phobia about being on the edge of something and near water and looking at the tomtom its sowing we are on a cliff edge next to a loch. Mmmmmmmmmmm so as she is a t totaler I have just introduced her to Smirnoff ice and the one bottle seems to have done the trick. I just think the wind is worrying her at the moment which is fair play really as its coming in gusts. Still as hell for ages then a massive gust for a second or two then nothing again. Its rocking the van like a doggers convention at the moment.
Looking forward to seeing were we have parked in the morning when its light like and I'm sure we wont tip over due to all this really heavy petrol Ive had to fill the van up with . Besides it costs as much as gold bars so it should weigh the same.
We did wake up the following day and oh my god was it windy in the night. To be honest things do feel worse at night in the dark when you don’t have any real idea were you are really, but what a nice surprise.
The view was breath taking and I couldn’t help getting up with the camera like a giddy kid on Christmas day, this is what we had come away to do. I unhooked the bike from the back of the van after breakfast and took off along Loch Na Keal for a mile or two while Louise sorted Isaac out and did a bit of tidying up.
I was happily riding along on the bike when to my amazement saw some daft sod camping in a tent at the side of the road, this fellow was pointed out to me by Louise earlier on as we had been looking at some waders doing there thing when she had copt an eyeful of the tent malarky earlier. I thought we got blown around loads but this fella must have been through a massacre. What was he thinking arriving in a car getting a tent out and kipping in it, in eeerrr January for gods sake hehehehehe anyway he had had enough because in the half mile away I could see his tent to the time it took me to cycle their he had packed up and gone, I jest you not.
After getting back to the van and putting the push iron back on the van we had a quick poke around the area and found a few more really good sleepy spots with there own beaches further down and decided to head on to tobermory or balamory depending on the cut of your jib. (You say balamory i say fuc…… ahh never mind you had to be their when the new roof was going on.) to be honest I hadn’t seen the kids program balamory and so couldn’t really comment on its relevance but I can say it was a nice enough place alright.
Tobermory (or balamory) done and dusted with we decided to head westward to a place I had read about on the wild camping forum called Calgary bay. We drove some really fantastic single track roads really steep and windy in parts and such nice scenery I could have done it all day.
That’s when it happened. We had just driven around a steep hill and round a sharp corner and heading straight for us was a massive turbo nutter bastard eagle. I slammed on the anchors and it kind of swerved and landed on a fence post about 3 feet from my face. We kind of sat their for a moment myself and Louise and this bloody eagle just kind of looking at each other, in the eye. I swear just for that minute we all had a moment a kind of moment when we could see the colour of our eyes and looked into them. It kind of broke the moment when Louise and I started to scream at each other quick get the fucking camera and by this time he had flown off with Louise just snapping his rear end so we couldn’t capture our moment for anyone else to see. It was ours and for none else to see I guess.
We arrived in Oban just in time to miss the 2pm ferry to mull but it wasn’t really an issue as Oban is a nice enough place for a walk round a bit like a small St Ives but colder really and we got the 4pm one instead. Whilst we were waiting I rang my pal T’onion up as I remembered him saying that he along with his better other half Cloe and little Silverskin Kate had done a bit of wild camping on mull a year or so ago . Besides me on the blag for a free place to stay was justified after paying the £53 ferry fair and finding the only lpg pump in Oban fubard and out of order thus using more liquid gold. The next lpg gaff is in fort William and we wont be their for a couple of days yet.
The camper rolled off the ferry at mull in the dark around 45 minutes after leaving the mainland and we thought we would seek out the tried and tested sleepy spot issued by T’onion. Bloody hell wildlife like you wouldn’t believe!!!! First of all it was the wild deer kind of standing around in the dark on the road then we saw a snake scurry across the road in front of us then a few sheep along with a few more deer.
After a bit more driving I think we are now at,’’the spot’’ as mark said it had a rock bed and that is about all I can tell you about it at the moment as it is so dark we cant see anything else. Now let me tell you something about my good lady Louise, she has a phobia about being on the edge of something and near water and looking at the tomtom its sowing we are on a cliff edge next to a loch. Mmmmmmmmmmm so as she is a t totaler I have just introduced her to Smirnoff ice and the one bottle seems to have done the trick. I just think the wind is worrying her at the moment which is fair play really as its coming in gusts. Still as hell for ages then a massive gust for a second or two then nothing again. Its rocking the van like a doggers convention at the moment.
Looking forward to seeing were we have parked in the morning when its light like and I'm sure we wont tip over due to all this really heavy petrol Ive had to fill the van up with . Besides it costs as much as gold bars so it should weigh the same.
We did wake up the following day and oh my god was it windy in the night. To be honest things do feel worse at night in the dark when you don’t have any real idea were you are really, but what a nice surprise.
The view was breath taking and I couldn’t help getting up with the camera like a giddy kid on Christmas day, this is what we had come away to do. I unhooked the bike from the back of the van after breakfast and took off along Loch Na Keal for a mile or two while Louise sorted Isaac out and did a bit of tidying up.
I was happily riding along on the bike when to my amazement saw some daft sod camping in a tent at the side of the road, this fellow was pointed out to me by Louise earlier on as we had been looking at some waders doing there thing when she had copt an eyeful of the tent malarky earlier. I thought we got blown around loads but this fella must have been through a massacre. What was he thinking arriving in a car getting a tent out and kipping in it, in eeerrr January for gods sake hehehehehe anyway he had had enough because in the half mile away I could see his tent to the time it took me to cycle their he had packed up and gone, I jest you not.
After getting back to the van and putting the push iron back on the van we had a quick poke around the area and found a few more really good sleepy spots with there own beaches further down and decided to head on to tobermory or balamory depending on the cut of your jib. (You say balamory i say fuc…… ahh never mind you had to be their when the new roof was going on.) to be honest I hadn’t seen the kids program balamory and so couldn’t really comment on its relevance but I can say it was a nice enough place alright.
Tobermory (or balamory) done and dusted with we decided to head westward to a place I had read about on the wild camping forum called Calgary bay. We drove some really fantastic single track roads really steep and windy in parts and such nice scenery I could have done it all day.
That’s when it happened. We had just driven around a steep hill and round a sharp corner and heading straight for us was a massive turbo nutter bastard eagle. I slammed on the anchors and it kind of swerved and landed on a fence post about 3 feet from my face. We kind of sat their for a moment myself and Louise and this bloody eagle just kind of looking at each other, in the eye. I swear just for that minute we all had a moment a kind of moment when we could see the colour of our eyes and looked into them. It kind of broke the moment when Louise and I started to scream at each other quick get the fucking camera and by this time he had flown off with Louise just snapping his rear end so we couldn’t capture our moment for anyone else to see. It was ours and for none else to see I guess.
Calgary bay, how cool to find a beach with such white sand and clear sea. It shat all over any of the beaches in Cornwall we had seen and I would say was on par with Zanzibar for sheer white sandiness. Only difference was it was -1C. Isaac had his after noon kip and Louise joined him so off the trusty mountain bike came off again. I rode down a track for a while and came across an old deserted harbour that I could only guess hadn’t been used for fifty years or more and was well happy poking around exploring, needless to say we spent the night camping on the beach as it was so nice their.
I woke up the next day with a big old fart, their isn’t anything more satisfying than a good fart in a morning in a sleeping bag is there? Besides it was my fault as I thought I would give Louise a rest while we are away and do all the cooking and last night was a curry. It kind of reminded me of that bisto advert when the brown stench kind of wandered in and out of the bisto kids nostrils, so I thought it would be a good idea to open the widow so I could breath again. Besides my eyes has started to sting with the stench and I heard Louise let one rip and she farts worse than Jockey Wilson. As I opened the window BLOODY HELL!!! It had been snowing over night. Not much but it was their and on a paradise beach too. As I sat with my cup of tea thinking how ace it was that it had been snowing and watching the eagles flying above us it dawned on me, CRAP!! we drove over a mountain pass to get here…
We drove back to the ferry port the only other way we could have and on the map I am sure its not as forgiving as it makes out.
At the ferry port after a very long and careful drive that we all loved we were told only two ferries were leaving today one went at 9am (it was now 12 noon) and the other went at 5pm ( didn’t fancy tackling the A9 in the dark especially as we heard on the radio it was closed due to heavy snow) so we didn’t feel to cheated as we weren’t really ready to leave mull yet.
From Craignure ferry port we headed on south westward and again headed over a mountain pass were the snow had built up overnight but the snowplough and gritter had done its magic and the roads weren’t to bad so we carried on. As we came back down to sea level the snow had gone and we had a nice drive and saw some of the biggest ginger cows with the most massive horns ever. We pulled over for a bit of lunch and just as the soup was cooked out of nowhere a blizzard hit us.
After just going over that pass we were worried about getting back and not being able to get the ferry the next day again so we set off back and ended up wild camping in a pine forest not to far from the ferry port for a quick exit in the morning. That’s one good thing about mull people are put off by the price of the ferry but you can sleep anywhere really for free so it soon pays for itself. We woke early today and left mull early and I know dam well we will return one day soon as it is awesome.
The ferry arrive back at Oban at 10am so we spent the first hour doing the things you do when you have just spent the last few nights wild camping. Filling the ebberspacher tank with diesel, filling the water tank up, going to Tesco etc. we called in at the lpg place but the pump was still on the blink so I topped up the petrol tank and found I had done £37 worth in mull. I was glad that 20 miles out of Oban we hit a station that did gas and although it was 55.9ppl was glad to be full of gas, water, petrol, diesel, and food again so it didn’t matter if we had a big downpour of snow again as we could survive stranded for 5 days or more no problem. You have to remember we do have a 2 year old travelling with us so better to be safe than sorry.
We drove past fort William and Ben Nevis no worries and gave a couple of t25s a wave. We saw an enthusiastic syncro at the petrol station then we saw an old AC brown westy and I waved to the passenger (note to self, must stop doing that). At the moment after an awesome drive up here with some of the best views so far over the Cairngorms we are now near Aviemore in a very nice campsite for a couple of nights because we all need showers before going further north. Loads of snow round here and some of the most state of the art shower blocks I have ever seen. Looking forward to exploring the area.
We decided to stay at the campsite at Glenmore that sits between Aviemore village and the ski slopes in the mountains. This campsite is perfect for the winter camper with state of the art toilet and shower block that was heated. The site was on the banks of Loch Morlich and had a great sandy beach that felt more Mediterranean than Scottish. The first full day was spent with us taking the mountain bikes round the loch though we had to push them a bit of the way due to the frozen snow making ice sheets across the tracks and leaving it imposable to cycle on. Louise found this out the hard way by going for a burton and landing in some heather, very funny actually. We thoroughly enjoyed the ride round and the views were as good as it gets really. That afternoon we drove up to the ski area up some really cool mountain roads and the view from the top was unreal.
Next morning we woke after camping in the woods to fresh snowfall so without a minute to spare we had breakfast bought a sledge and rushed up the mountain for a sledging session. First I went down with Isaac at a gentle speed then second I thought I would have a go on my own, with a big long run ahead of me I pushed off and started to gather speed. Faster I went, then even faster until I was going so fast I started to panic and then hit a big bit of frozen snow tat smashed through the bottom of the sledge and smashing my tail bone too. Christ it hurt, felt like I was sitting on a golf ball and brought a tear to my eye. It brought a tears to Louise’s eyes too as she was laughing so hard she could hardly stand. GRRRRRR!!! Serves me right for laughing at her falling of her bike I guess. When she had recovered from her fits of laughter and I wasn’t going to be fit to ride a bike for a few days due to being shafted up the arse by an iceberg and snowboarding was now off the cards we picked up the two half’s of sledge threw them in a skip and drove to John O Groats.
The drive to John O Groats was long but very nice. We saw loads of buzzards sat on the fence posts at the side of the road. Lots of lpg fill up points around so no problem there but little else apart from nice views and a quite interesting coast line. We wild camped at John O Groats in the car park next to the closed campsite under a sign that read no overnight camping. The place itself was quite nice in its own way and I quite liked it but at this time of year we didn’t see anyone all evening and night time. Me and Isaac stayed up and watched long way down on DVD and I ended up getting quite merry in the van while Louise ended up turning in early.
Next morning an extreme weather warning was issued on the radio and due do the cloudless sky and nice sunrise I thought what a load of crap. We headed off to the nearest town and had a cheap but rubbish breakfast at Tesco in Wick the next town south from John O Groats. With the extreme weather warning still in the back of my mind it was confirmed in the paper I was reading so rather than head to the west coast we decided to head south on better roads to Glen Coe for the night and after a long drive we arrived at The Red Squirrel Campsite.
The place was breathtaking but very scary at the same time with mountains either side of the valley full of snow and looked like it could avalanche if you farted. The campsite itself was a bit of a shed really and was done on the cheap that usually wouldn’t bother us but the fact they charge top whack for the privilege of staying their took the piss really. The three fingered bloke that ran the gaff was a right odd ball and chewed my ear off for around an hour on how the reason there were so many homosexuals in London was due to a hormone in the water they couldn’t remove in the recycling process. He was clearly mad as a box of frog so I had to stand their with a false grin on my face thinking to myself what we were going to have for dinner. To be honest I think his mum and sister were the same person to be honest and his old man was his brother, but who am I to judge. Besides his campsite had the only trees for miles and we would be needing them if the 80 mph blizzards were to arrive any time now. It felt like we were in the blare witch project especially as we were to only ones camping their and I slept with the table leg very close to hand.
What a night the blizzard has hit big time. In the night it was so windy the breaks on the van were groaning as the wind tried to push us along. A fresh load of snow has been dumped overnight on the valley tops and the river banks look like they are due to burst its banks and we are right next to it so we went quick and set off over the A82 to and we endured the 80 mph winds and snow and lorries buses etc it was extreme driving at its most extreme. We drove down the length of Loch Ness and that was really nice and had lunch parked next to it.
It was a right buzz when we managed to get to Glasgow and it had calmed down. But after we set off over the M74 the wind had picked up again and blew Two HGVs over that lay in front of us on there sides. Best call it a day now really as its getting worse and we didn’t want to endanger Isaac so after seeing if the Lake District was any calmer (it wasn’t) we headed off to my folks house for two night in Bolton before heading home.
Scotland was ace and although we had some really bad weather towards the end it was really good. Nothing like anywhere in England and I would be interested to see what it would be like in the summer instead of January. The only thing I would say is that winter camping in Scotland has some long nights and short days and some extremely unpredictable weather at that time of year so cupboards need to be stocked and tanks need to be full most of the time just in case.
The van has given us just shy of 2000 miles trouble free motoring in just over two weeks and although our Radio One live lounge CD is wearing a bit thin now I got for Christmas it has given us the anthems for our amazing trip. Whilst we slept at my folks house on the last night I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the camper especially how it had got us through so much sitting outside on its own all cold and although it a bit of a gold digger its worth every penny.
oh and my passport had arrived when we walked through the door......
The place was breathtaking but very scary at the same time with mountains either side of the valley full of snow and looked like it could avalanche if you farted. The campsite itself was a bit of a shed really and was done on the cheap that usually wouldn’t bother us but the fact they charge top whack for the privilege of staying their took the piss really. The three fingered bloke that ran the gaff was a right odd ball and chewed my ear off for around an hour on how the reason there were so many homosexuals in London was due to a hormone in the water they couldn’t remove in the recycling process. He was clearly mad as a box of frog so I had to stand their with a false grin on my face thinking to myself what we were going to have for dinner. To be honest I think his mum and sister were the same person to be honest and his old man was his brother, but who am I to judge. Besides his campsite had the only trees for miles and we would be needing them if the 80 mph blizzards were to arrive any time now. It felt like we were in the blare witch project especially as we were to only ones camping their and I slept with the table leg very close to hand.
What a night the blizzard has hit big time. In the night it was so windy the breaks on the van were groaning as the wind tried to push us along. A fresh load of snow has been dumped overnight on the valley tops and the river banks look like they are due to burst its banks and we are right next to it so we went quick and set off over the A82 to and we endured the 80 mph winds and snow and lorries buses etc it was extreme driving at its most extreme. We drove down the length of Loch Ness and that was really nice and had lunch parked next to it.
It was a right buzz when we managed to get to Glasgow and it had calmed down. But after we set off over the M74 the wind had picked up again and blew Two HGVs over that lay in front of us on there sides. Best call it a day now really as its getting worse and we didn’t want to endanger Isaac so after seeing if the Lake District was any calmer (it wasn’t) we headed off to my folks house for two night in Bolton before heading home.
Scotland was ace and although we had some really bad weather towards the end it was really good. Nothing like anywhere in England and I would be interested to see what it would be like in the summer instead of January. The only thing I would say is that winter camping in Scotland has some long nights and short days and some extremely unpredictable weather at that time of year so cupboards need to be stocked and tanks need to be full most of the time just in case.
The van has given us just shy of 2000 miles trouble free motoring in just over two weeks and although our Radio One live lounge CD is wearing a bit thin now I got for Christmas it has given us the anthems for our amazing trip. Whilst we slept at my folks house on the last night I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the camper especially how it had got us through so much sitting outside on its own all cold and although it a bit of a gold digger its worth every penny.
oh and my passport had arrived when we walked through the door......
