News and updates from a different author

‘Camping Skye’, Broadford, Isle of Skye

Driving over the sea away from Skye

Plockton

Eilean Donan Castle

The Hawes Clan

Rhubarb – Mum and Dad’s lovely Bassett Hound

Steall ruins

Steall meadows & Steall falls

I am not going to attempt to compete with Rachael’s superb style of writing, vast vocabulary, precise grammar and punctuation topped off with the additional humour. If I can complete this having made no spelling mistakes it will be a triumph in itself!

On arrival at the campsite in Broadford I braved the showers hoping that they would make me feel slightly more in the land of the living. For once the shower head stood about half a meter above my head so no hunching and knee bending for me. I had also pressed the shower a couple of times to guarantee it to be warm on my entry and it showed to have tremendous power. All looked exceptionally promising for the revival process…

Two words: it didn’t! 

I had expected far too much from what had appeared to be top quality facilities. By the time the water reached me standing underneath it was spraying cold and I wandered back to the van feeling much worse than when I had left. It was now down to a couple of paracetamol and a good nights sleep.

On waking the following morning my initial thought was that I felt so much better and that we could press on South with Mum and Dad to enjoy the delights of Glen Shiel and Fort William. I quickly realised that was not the case and we decided that another day in Broadford was the best course of action. It was so frustrating as a really good spell of weather had arrived for the first time and I was incapable of doing anything. Still, Rachael and I managed an afternoon stroll into Broadford which was rudely interrupted by one or two fierce hail showers. I should also mention that the temperature had dropped and that snow was now settling on the surrounding hill tops.

Having spent a further night on the Isle of Skye it was now time to move on. The previous evening had resulted in us sharing the stove in Mum and Dad’s camper. The gas bottle had run dry in ours and on trying to switch to the spare we realised that the van tool kit didn’t include a spanner big enough to perform the operation!

Before leaving Broadford we bought a spanner and enjoyed a lovely cooked breakfast at Cafesia. I would wholly recommend the Scottish breakfast and the coffee to everyone!

We drove over the bridge and off the island and headed to Plockton for a quick visit before driving on towards the mighty Fort William. I had camped on a beach close to Plockton about ten years ago and had really vivid memories of it being very picturesque and offering splendid views. Something not to missed if close by!

After driving through the village of Plockton, using their facilities and buying a fridge magnet to add to our collection we got back on the road enjoying the great views of the Cuillins of Skye. The drive was absolutely terrific as much more snow had fallen overnight than we realised. On approach, Eilean Donan castle looked terrific with a backdrop of snowy hills. Both The Saddle and Five Sisters of Kintail were also really impressive and had a really good smattering of snow the previous night.

The only slight downside to the journey to Fort William was a swaying lorry carrying hay bails narrowly missing us as it worked its way around a corner at great speed. We met up with Mum and Dad in the Morrisons car park and replenished our food supply for the next couple of days.

We spent the night in the North Face car park for Ben Nevis, a location I have spent many very uncomfortable nights crunched up in the car and washing/bathing in the questionably clean stream. One particularly horrible memory was waking up to a breakfast of spicy chicken wings and old water before heading off ‘up the Ben’ climbing. This time it proved a great spot and provided a really glorious morning walk to take in the amazingly clear views of the North Face and warm up the limbs.

I am not going to post any details about Rhubarb (Mum and Dad’s Bassett Hound) tying Mum’s legs together with her lead!

We then drove down to both Rachael’s and my favourite campsite located in Glen Nevis having stopped off en route to book a table for tea at the Achintee also know as the Ben Nevis Inn & Bunkhouse. We met Mum and Dad at the campsite, them having stopped off at Home Bargains to stock up on much-needed breathbusters for Rhubarb!

After a quick lunch (a beautifully whipped up penne carbonara cooked by Rachael) Rachael called home to wish her niece Tabitha a very happy 1st Birthday. Mum, Dad and I headed into the Fort where we wandered around the shops. We returned to the camp site for a quick shower and tidy of Mum and Dad’s van before making the night walk up the Achintee leaving Rhubarb to sleep and guard the vans.

We only had two torches between us and what is usually a ten minute romp turned into something slightly longer. It could have been described for some as a physical challenge on the crystal maze.

The food as ever was tremendous and plentiful and again I would entirely recommend it to everybody and anybody. Thank you Dad for treating us again to such a good meal and good evening.

The walk back down to the campsite was slightly icy as the temperature had certainly dropped down towards the freezing level.  On getting back to the vans Rhubarb was still fast asleep and should any burglar have attempted to break entry, I am certain she would not have woken up. We all had a cup of coffee and then retired to bed knowing it was going to be an early start the following day with Mum and Dad having to return their camper to Glasgow and pick up their car driving on to Penrith.

We woke relatively early and enjoyed a cup of tea with a bowl of Coco Shreddies before assisting Mum and Dad in preparing their van for returning. We drove up into Fort William with them and said our goodbyes.

We then headed back down to the head of Glen Nevis where we enjoyed one of our favourite walks up to the Steall ruins. The weather today has been glorious and the views into the Ring of Stealle, Aonachs and Ben Nevis were splendid. We then returned into Fort William where Rachael picked up an Amazon order of the DVD box set of Two Thousand Acres of Sky from the post office. We then headed to Wetherspoon’s and enjoyed a late lunch with copious free refills of tea and coffee which is where I am sitting writing this. The plan at the moment is to head back to Torlundy and spend the night again in the North Face car park.

Finally,  I owe a big thank you to Rachael for looking after me whilst I have been a little under the weather.

‘Thank you! x’