Category Archives: Scotland
1000 Miles, Part 2: Swansea
It’s time to get down to the task of covering some serious mileage. We pull out a rather good audio book we’ve been listening to set in 18th-century Scotland (read with some beautiful Scottish accents!), while Nettle stoically devours mile after mile. We spend quite a while following the wooded edge of a big picturesque loch north of Glasgow, before … Continue reading
The Lost Valley, Glencoe (Found it)
While we’re here in Glencoe we decide on a hike, to see as much of this magical place as we can in the short time we have. “The Lost Valley” (it’s always in the last place you look) sounded far too intriguing to pass up, so we take Nettle down the road a little way to where it branches off … Continue reading
1000 Miles: Part 1, Skye to Glencoe
Time always has a habit of sneaking up on us. Somehow, we’re almost out of time here in the UK: it’s hard to believe, but our two-year UK visa expires in just a few weeks. We’re going to head over to Europe, next, and we have a ferry booked from Hull. But first, we’ve an errand to run. Back when … Continue reading
The Old Man of Storr: Not Actually An Old Man
With the success of our evening walk yesterday — having the entire place to ourselves, and walking during Golden Hour — we thought we’d do the same thing again for our next walk. Being in a motorhome and thus having the ability to stay anywhere gives us a huge advantage in getting to see places from a different perspective! We … Continue reading
The Quiraing: A Place of Near-Mythical Beauty
“What’s that burning thing in the sky??!” Oh — it’s the sun. So it does still exist, then. We jump on the opportunity to do some sight-seeing unmolested by the elements in this rainy, cloudy land, and take off. It’s beautifully clear and sunny, a few delightfully fluffy clouds here and there. We set off back the way we’d come, … Continue reading
Braving the Weather on the Trotternish Peninsula
We spend a couple more days in Portree on some final errands, including getting Nettle’s annual MOT check sorted, then it’s time for a change of scene. We’re only headed to another caravan park — a cheaper one! — as we’ve still got some things to do before we’re ready to enter travel mode again. It’s been a windy week, … Continue reading
Portree, Isle of Skye
Today we drive to the Isle of Skye. We’ve been looking forward to the Isle of Skye since before we left Australia. Don’t bugger it up Scotland! The weather has cleared up a bit today, and we’re rewarded with an impressive mountain-scape as we drive to Portree, where we’re meeting Keith and Sarah. Our short drive through the little town … Continue reading
Scottish Weather: 3 / Team Nettle: Nil
We get up at noon, feeling a little seedy. We’ve been vacillating as to whether or not to drive to the far north for a driving tour that Lonely Planet describes as “perhaps Scotland’s most spectacular road trip, … a scenic feast, almost too much to take in.” We’ve accepted that we’re not going to see and do everything we’d … Continue reading
Making Friends and Meeting Family in Scotland
We have a very sociable few days coming up. First, we’re meeting up with some quasi-distant relatives of Mike’s and then an American couple who we’ve met online through the travel twittersphere. We drive back via Loch Tay and Glen Lyon, as we can’t get enough of scenery like this: We do a walk on the way to meeting Dennis … Continue reading
Watching the rain in Perthshire
Having arrived after a quite dramatic introduction to Perthshire, we awake beside our very own loch to howling wind and rain (which kept Katherine up all night and dogged her dreams with visions of a flooding Nettle), and rather quickly our plans for a day-long hike dissolve. To be honest, I’m personally not so shattered at the idea of spending … Continue reading
To Loch Tay
An oft-abroad friend had waxed lyrical about a spot in the lower highlands called Loch Tay, and so it’s there to which we point our trusty steed as we leave the sheep-dotted fields and tidy urban sprawl of Edinburgh. The countryside rapidly increases in prettiness, as we pass by escarpments adorned with ancient-looking rocky buildings that might well have simply … Continue reading