Day 7: Coniston to Bewdley

06 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by Natasja in Camping, My ramblings

Tags

The second to last day of our road trip was to Bewdley and CCCampers, the birthplace of iVan.

Screen Shot 2014-09-06 at 19.03.51

While Kristian did our 3000 mile check-up on the interior conversion, we took his car and explored Bewdley. It’s a lovely little town with a steam train station that looks like it is stuck in the 1940’s. Unfortunately we couldn’t take a ride on the steam train because of timing issues, but I would really like to go back and do the whole Severn Valley Railway journey from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth. We found time for fish and chips at the station cafe and ice cream along the river. Priorities, right?

Our camp site for the night was Hopley’s Family Camping which was a bit too “family” for us, but it was our last night and from there it was only a 2.5 hour journey home the next day so we stuck it out.

Now we’re home and it is good to be back. Our tiny home feels like a mansion compared to iVan. We loved our Scottish road trip and we consider ourselves blessed that we only had one bad experience, Midge Attack 2014. We drove through the most amazing scenery, appreciated the wide open spaces and all the colours of Mother Nature. I came back very inspired – inspired enough for at least three crochet blankets!

Day 6: Edinburgh to Coniston

04 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by Natasja in Camping, My ramblings

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

camping, Lake District, road trip

Today is John’s 40th birthday! After the pre-birthday celebrations in Edinburgh last night, we aimed straight for the Lake District and our campsite Coniston Coppice Park.

Screen Shot 2014-09-06 at 19.02.51

We didn’t stop along the route as we know we will be going back to the Lake District to explore it fully. We saw today’s trip as a taster of the week we are yet to spend in the Lake District – it’s a spectacular area. The only place we did stop was in Coniston itself to buy meat for the bbq. When in Cumbria, you have to buy Cumberland sausage, right? And where better than the local family butcher. Our little Outback Compact U gas portable bbq is so handy for a quick afternoon bbq! We bbq everything on it in a Teflon griddle pan that I got from Tesco for £7 (I even use it to toast bread on the gas hob in iVan). I just wash the pan when we’re done and John wipes down the Outback Compact U before putting it back in it’s case.

I can’t tell you how happy we were with the campsite and the whole area around Coniston. The campsite is big and the pitches set in the woods, yet within 10 minutes walk you are next to Coniston Lake and the National Trust farmland where you walk amongst the grazing sheep!

This was the perfect place to spend a 40th birthday. The birthday boy was a happy camper.

Coniston

The tame racing driver of Coniston

Coniston family butcher

Birthday lunch, camping style

Cumberland sausage and lamb & mint sausages

Cumberland sausage on the bbq

Coniston lake

*If you want to see any of the photos full size, just click on it and use the arrows to navigate through the slideshow.

Day 5: Isle of Skye to Edinburgh

03 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by Natasja in My ramblings

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

camping, Edinburgh, road trip, scotland

Day 5 started off with a mad dash to get out of Isle of Skye. I don’t think we’ve ever packed up and left a campsite as quickly as today. Our aim was to get to Edinburgh as early as possible so that we would still be able to explore the town at a leisurely pace.

Screen Shot 2014-09-06 at 19.01.07
We made one quick stop at the Eilean Donan Castle, but there were still midgets and our midget tolerance was super low so we moved on very swiftly. Our camp site for the night was pre booked – the Edinburgh Caravan Club Site. It’s an exceptional camp site with all the usual high standard facilities, but also very close to a bus stop that takes you into Edinburgh city quickly. We showered, dressed up a bit and went in to town around lunch time.

The first place we visited in Edinburgh? A yarn shop. Cheeky, I know, but hey, I was in the home town of MCADirect! I wandered round a bit and in the end bought Sirdar Baby Crofter for a blanket I’m working on. John waited patiently.

When we initially planned this road trip the plan was to spend the 4th of September, John’s 40th birthday, in Edinburgh but we ended up arriving a day early and couldn’t spend a second day there, so today ended up feeling a lot like his birthday. It was really fun and we enjoyed Edinburgh immensely.

Eilean Donan Castle

The home of MCA Direct

Waiting for me to decide on a ball of yarn

Princess Street Gardens.. and a caravan

Tartan

You should spit, not swallow, when tasting Whisky

Holyrood Palace

The Queen didn’t want to let us in at Holyrood Palace

*If you want to see any of the photos full size, just click on it and use the arrows to navigate through the slideshow

Day 4: John O’Groats to Isle of Skye

02 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by Natasja in My ramblings

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

camping, Isle of Skye, road trip, scotland

We had mixed feelings about Day 4 of our road trip. On the one hand, the road from John O’Groats via Tongue and on to Torridon was spectacular, but on the other hand once we got to Isle of Skye the midges totally freaked us out and we had the worst time finding a camp site.

johh ogroats to isle of skye

Shortly after leaving the John O’Groats camp site we stopped at the Castle of Mey. It wasn’t open yet so we only managed to take a photo fron the outside. The castle is in the middle of farmland so we could get up close to the rolled bales of oat hay which, up to this point, we have only been seeing from the road. I know it’s nothing to blog about, but to us it was very impressive.

Our total journey time would have been a hour shorter if we didn’t drive via Tongue, but man it was worth it! Throughout our trip we were fascinated by the mix of farmland, farm cottage and sea that you can see all in one spot. With the slightest turn of your head you could think you are either on a farm, or at the beach, when in fact you are standing between the two. This beautiful spot, near Bettyhill in Sutherland sums it all up for me, and we would not have seen it had we not travelled via Tongue.

The A836 winds through the most amazing scenery. There are many viewpoints and places to pull of the road – which makes for excellent lunch stops. Trout and Scottish soda bread in the Highlands anyone?!

Before reaching Torridon our route took us through the Beinn Eighe National Park. This was John’s favourite part of our whole road trip – driving right at the foot of the mountain Beinn Eighe was amazing.

After Torridon we quickly made our way to Isle of Skye – it was around 6 pm by this time. When we reached Isle of Skye it had started to rain and we were tired. Our planned campsite was at Sligachan but there were way too many midges. (Just like John O’Groats we didn’t book any camp site in advance on Isle of Skye). In the end we slept at a Caravan Club Certified Site which was a bit rubbish (the term “tiny carpark with a loo” comes to mind). With all the midges around we really did not enjoy ourself – but we did learn that we can do absolutely everything, included getting out of the front seats, without opening any doors.

Isle of Skye was a bummer, but our drive there was amazing and we have already forgotten the worst of our Night Among The Midges.

The Castle of Mey

Farmland around the Castle of Mey

iVan somewhere on the A836 after Thurso

Bettyhill

Coldbackie

Tongue

Somewhere on the A836

Smoked trout, cream cheese and scottish soda bread for lunch on the side of the road

Somewhere on the A836

Viewpoint near Torridon

iVan at Torridon

Torridon

*If you want to see any of the photos full size, just click on it and use the arrows to navigate through the slideshow.

Day 3: Inverness to John O’Groats

01 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by Natasja in Camping, My ramblings

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

camping, John O'Groats, road trip, scotland

Day 3 of our road trip, covering Inverness to John O’Groats (the most northerly point of the United Kingdom) was one of the most scenic.

Screen Shot 2014-09-06 at 18.01.53

Along the way we stopped at Golspie and walked up to the Berriedale graveyard, but one of our best finds was taking a small turn off from the A9 to Latheronwheel. It’s a tiny village with secluded little harbour. We spent a hour here, just taking photos and enjoying the quiet. John even jumped over the little river to explore the abandoned house.

We didn’t book a camp site in advance for today. We reckoned there would be plenty around John O’Groats or we could just sleep at the side of the road. Imagine our delight when we reached John O’Groats to find the John O’Groats Camping and Caravan Site! It a fantastic campsite set on the edge of the water, surrounded by farmland and has great facilities. After choosing our pitch we went for a scrummy Cream Tea For Two at the Knitwear Cafe and a wander on the beach.

Oh, and I finished John’s scarf just after Berriedale.

Berriedale graveyard

Tweed crochet scarf

En route

Latheronwheel

Rock plants

Latheronwheel

Abandoned house at Latheronwheel

Bridge

Look! We bought a house in Scotland!

John O’Groats

John O’Groats Caravan Site

John O’Groats

Tea For Two at Puffin Cafe

Playfull on John O’Groats beach

John O’Groats beautiful pebbles

Farmland at John O’Groats

*If you want to see any of the photos full size, just click on it and use the arrows to navigate through the slideshow.

Day 2: St. Mary’s Loch to Inverness

31 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by Natasja in My ramblings

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

camping, Inverness, road trip, scotland, Scottish Highlands

Day 2 of our road trip to Scotland took us from St. Mary’s Loch on the Scottish Borders to Inverness – capital of the Scottish Highlands.

Screen Shot 2014-09-06 at 17.39.21

We didn’t have as much ground to cover as Day 1, so we stopped a bit more along the way. We “took the waters” at St. Ronan’s Well in Innerleithen, had breakfast in Peebles and tea at the Beatrix Potter Garden in Dunkeld.

You’re probably wondering what I did while John was driving. Crochet of course! Being a campervan passenger at least 4 hours a day is a lot of crochet time which I couldn’t miss out on. I decided to make John a 40th birthday present (which would be on 4 September) scarf. He would see me crochet it, he chose the colours and it would always remind him of our Scotland trip. On the Thursday before our road trip I chose the stitch I would use: Tweed Stitch. Unbeknownst to me, the River Tweed runs along the English and Scottish borders! How serendipitous! Of course when we reached a parking place next to the River Tweed, we just had to take a photo of the scarf in the making.

Being in Scotland, we couldn’t wait any longer to try our Angus Beef steak. John did a great job of bbq’ing it for us, along with minted Scottish lamb chops. We didn’t even have salad with it. Any greenery would have spoilt it. In John’s words: “It was a thing of beauty.”

Our campsite for the night was the excellent Culloden Moor Caravan Club Site.

St. Ronan’s Well gardens

Breakfast in Peebles

Tweed stitch scarf in the making next to the River Tweed

Beatrix Potter Garden

En route to Inverness

Angus Beef BBQ

*If you want to see any of the photos full size, just click on it and use the arrows to navigate through the slideshow.

Day 1: Home to St. Mary’s Loch

30 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by Natasja in Camping, My ramblings

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

camping, road trip, scotland

We’re back from our first more-than-a-longweekend trip with Ivan. We went all the way from Surrey to John O’Groats and back again in a week. We saw the most beautiful places on our way to Scotland, and in the Highlands the scenery took our breath away. I will be sharing our road trip with you in seven posts. Expect a lot of photos!

This was the route for day 1: Thames Ditton to St. Mary’s Loch in the Scottish Borders.

Screen Shot 2014-09-07 at 10.33.08

On our way to the Tibbie Shields Inn Campsite, we stopped at Harrogate for tea & fat rascals at Betty’s Tea Room and at Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North. John and I couldn’t stop talking about how beautiful Yorkshire is – this is definitely on our to do list for Spring, and not just for a weekend. We want to go back to Yorkshire for at least a week (and I want to eat Fat Rascals for breakfast every day).

The Tibbie Shields Inn campsite is right on the banks of St. Mary’s Loch, and I mean ON the bank. The shower and toilet facilities are not great, but what it lacks in facilities it more than makes up for in location.