31 August Scot 11 We're in France!!

I’ve just noticed that I did not get around to finishing the ‘Scottish’ element of this blog!  We are in France at the moment and whilst updating the French blog I noticed the misdemeanour 

After ‘Scot 10’ we spent a week or so on the Isle of Skye and then before we knew it we were back in Glasgow visiting our daughter again!  I will have a look at the photos when I get home (they are on remote hard drive) and see if there is anything worth posting.

 

Until then, if you see this entry (Scot 11) then please assume that I still have not completed the update.

 

Bye for now (from France, how weird is that?)

Grahame

24 July Scot 10 Sheildaig to Applecross

Sheildaig is a lovely little crofting and fishing village on the West coast North of Applecross.  The crofting association provide an area of ground for campers and motorhomes etc to stay for free.  Fresh water and rubbish disposal is also provided too.  This is the view from our van.  There is a discreet ‘donation box’ on the entrance gate with contributions used towards upkeep and maintenance, which we left a few pounds in.  Sheildaig is to be congratulated on their forward thinking and welcoming attitude.

About two kilometres along the way from Sheildaig we went fishing down by these rocks.  Out of view is an old crofters cottage which owns this slipway and 290 acres of land (the owner is a lovely Northern Chap who lives here with his wife, they are both in their late 70’s and are quite self sufficient)

After a quick look around Applecross (interesting but not that much) we night stopped on top of the old Cattle Pass road which is 2053 above sea level

and approached by steep single track roads either side up to 25% gradient !  like this on the East side….

21 July Scot 9 Clashnessie to Ullapool

How about this for a lovely night stop?  (we took a real fancy to the beachfront cottage in this photo!)

Clashnessie Beach

 

A short walk from Clashnessie leads up to this rather magical waterfall at the head of a small glen

Yet again we end up at a ‘Stevenson’ light house, this time at Stoer Head (but we did not night stop here)

Driving across the high ground towards Ullapool….

the land becomes verdant green with impressive mountains in the distance...

 

20 July Scot 8 Durness to Drumbeg

The drive between Durness and Drumbeg is along dramatic and lush coastal landscapes.

 

Beach near Durness

Smoo Cave is the largest easily accessible cave in the UK

The view looking out from above the cave

On the way to Drumbeg along a very winding and steeply undulating single track road this is typical of the landscape

The view from Drumbeg looking out across Eddrachillis Bay

19 July Scot 7 Scotland again!

We are back on the mainland.  Orkney was interesting enough but quite frankly 5 days and we were done.  We caught the 18:00 ferry back to Scotland last night and spent the night on a very windy and blustery Dunnet Head (a theme developing here?).

Dunnet Head is actually the most Northerly point of mainland Britain (not John O’Groats!)

The light house with Wolfy on the far left

Then on Saturday we continued our journey ‘anti-clockwise and after some provisioning in Thurso (good ole Tesco’s!) we stopped here on the Kyle of Tongue viewpoint and settle in for the afternoon.  It was wet and breezy but very atmospheric.  As we were on a ‘fasting day’ we just kicked back…..

Grahame baked this lovely fresh loaf in the Omnia ready for breakfast on Sunday…….. it needs a name….

18 July Scot 6 Orkney

The only other town of any significance in Orkney is Stromness.  With it’s old harbour front and half cobbled main street it is altogether a nicer place than Kirkwall, However…….it looks like it it is still stuck in the 50’s and in need of a sympathetic makeover (!)

Well one of the town planner’s had a sense of humour anyway…..

After Stromness we visited the stone circle at Brodgar.  The circle is very large although the stones are much smaller than say..Stonehenge.

Interesting ‘vandalism’ on one of the standing stones from the 1800’s! (note the care with which some of the engraving was carved out)

16 July Scot 5 Orkney

Over to the West side of Orkney ‘Mainland’ and we stopped at Yesnaby.  It felt like it was time for an ‘Orkney Phoon'

This is all that remains of a millstone from a mill that was destroyed by the Tsunami tidal wave from the 1755 earthquake in Portugal!  

One of the stacks at Yesnaby known at ‘The Castle'

15 July Scot 4 Orkney

Kirkwall turned out to be as dull as ditchwater (sorry Kirkwall) and the only place of any real interest is St Magnus Cathedral.  It was built during the 1100’s and was originally part of the Norwegian Diocese

The tomb of Dr John Rae, renowned Arctic Explorer (we like the way he is portrayed)

This is a painting by a famous Norwegian artist (can’t remember his name but there was an exhibition of his paintings in the Cathedral while we happened to visit.

14 July Scot 3 Orkney

So then, we caught the ferry to Orkney on Monday started our tour anti-clockwise around the main Islands.  On the East side of Scapa Flow is the ‘Churchill Barriers’.  These were four barriers (like causeways) put in place to stop German U Boats from attacking from the East (HMS Royal Oak was sunk by a U Boat in 1939 with the loss of 833 crewmen).  Between Barriers 1 and 2 on the Island of Lamb Holm is the Italian Chapel.

The chapel was built by prisoners of war in the 2nd World War.  It was converted from a Nissen Hut and constructed using scrap materials.  The inside was painted by artist, Domenico Chiocchetti

Our night stop was on the wild and windy ‘Mull Head’ on the island of Deerness

13 July Scot 2 John O'Groats

After Cromarty we drove up to John O’Groats via the A9 coast road.  On the way we stopped for a short while at Dunrobin Castle.  It was built in the style of a French Chateau…...

 

Then after a quick visit to John O’Groats (very dull and ‘has been’) we went up to Duncansby Head and parked overnight next to the lighthouse.  The views were lovely and the rock formations are quite dramatic...

11 July Scot 1 Cromarty

After a few days with family we set off on this years ‘Scottish’ trip.  The plan is to drive up to inverness then go anti-clockwise around Scotland until we reach Oban.  On the way we expect to visit the Orkney Islands and possibly The Outer Hebrides (again).

Our first night stop was on the seafront in Cromarty on the ‘Black Isle’ just West of Inverness.  The village keep an area of grass for public use right next to the water and tolerate motor campers staying overnight (thank you Cromarty).  It was a lovely place to stay.  The village is quite charming and has real character without being too ‘twee’.

Wolfy is the third van on the right, we stayed here for two nights…….very relaxing.

Cromarty Harbour (we did try fishing but did not catch anything).

1 July E81 Homeward Bound

As I write this entry we are on the boat halfway between The Hook of Holland and Harwich.  The journey to the port this morning was another easy run and we arrived with plenty of time.

Wow!  It certainly has been an adventure over the last nine weeks.  We have driven over 6000 miles through five countries and we have seen sights that previously were unknown to us.  The main reason for this trip was to see Norway in particular and we were not disappointed!  The sheer size and scale of Norway is impressive.  The scenery is breathtaking and the people are very hospitable.  We loved the ‘midnight sun’ in the Arctic circle.

There is not much else for me to say that has not already been said either in words or photographs previously on this blog.

Of the countries we have been to on this trip our favourite is Norway followed by Sweden and Denmark, then Germany and lastly Holland.  I do accept that we spent very little time in either Holland or Germany so we will return another day to those two countries and pass judgement then (hehe).

We are of the opinion that the optimum time period for us to be travelling in the van is between 4 and 8 weeks before we become ‘punch drunk’.  Therefore we intend to optimise our trips away in the future.

After this trip we will have a short period of consolidation before out next adventure……………..where next is yet to be decided…...

Tara for now

Grahame and Kate

30 June E80 Monday? then it must be Germany...

We got up nice and early this morning and continued our journey homeward.  After 280 miles and a couple of tea stops we arrived in Schüttorf near the border with Holland.   I checked the blog and discovered we were here 9 weeks ago today……how time flies!

Just around the corner from the Stellplätze are a couple of supermarkets where we topped up Wolfy’s 'wine cellar’.  Wine here is SO much cheaper than in the UK that we would have been fools not to buy some more (well we do like a cheeky glass or two after a busy days touring!).

Tomorrow morning we will set off early on the last part of this road trip.  We plan to arrive at the ferry terminal with time to spare, then we can just relax for a while before boarding the ferry around 13:30 and setting sail at 14:30.

We should be back in the UK by 20:00 on Tuesday evening!

Tara for now…...

29 June E79 Denmark again...

Well, not much to add here.   After a fairly poor nights sleep on aeroplane style seats we got off the ferry from Norway at about 07:45 this morning in Hirtshals, filled the van up with  100 litres of diesel (£1.10/litre), drove to the beach nearby and had breakfast.  The ferry itself was very nice and only 4 months old, more of an ocean liner really.  We can’t really complain about the lack of sleep as it was our choice, a cabin was about another £150.

When I said ‘to the beach’ I should have said ‘ON the beach’ ……. this is allowed here

There is even a Bus Stop on the beach!……..

 

Then we set off for Germany!

240 miles later we are parked up in the Stellplätz in Flensburg where we were two months ago.  It was quite strange driving through Denmark, no mountains, no fjords, no bumpy single track roads and loads of cars!  However there is a certain reassurance when returning to a familiar place.

Our plan is to drive through Germany on Monday and night stop near the border with Holland, then on Tuesday we will be boarding the Stena Line ferry from Rotterdam to Harwich to be back in Blighty by Tuesday night.  On the way through Germany we will probably stock up with a few bottles of wine at ‘sensible prices’ haha…..

We intend to visit family and friends later in the week before setting off on our next adventure! (destination unknown at the moment).

28 June E78 The Pulpit Rock

Todays entry is ALL about the rock……. THE PULPIT ROCK (Preikestolen)

It is an extraordinary granite rock formation left after the ice age 10000 years ago.  The top is 604 metres (1982 feet) above the calm blue water of the Lysefjord below.  The walk from the car park took us about an hour and a half each way and is 4 kilometres to the top.  It is a significant climb over rocky and boggy ground.  There are no fences, no safety barriers………….just scared people!

Would you be comfortable sat up here?

“It’s MY rock now!"

“Err……..it’s a long way down!"

Can you spot Grahame in the photo?

“Where did all these people come from?"

Oh yes…………. a Pulpit Phoon!

As well as the fear factor the views are amazing……..

and scary!

Where’s Kate?

Just another cheeky phoon for good measure…..

Look at the dude on the end……...

just one slip…….and it’s goodnight Vienna!

another view….

This was one the other side of the rock on the way back down

We really enjoyed our trip to the Pulpit rock.  It was another ‘Norway Magic’ adventure.  After this we drove to Stavanger to take the overnight ferry to Denmark.  We are now on the way home via Denmark, Germany and Holland (maybe even Belgium and France if we get reckless!)