Our trip to Skye had been planned from about the beginning of this year, we had driven onto and around Skye very briefly when we did the NC 500 last October, that’s another story and another blog, and it was our very first big trip in Evie.
As you have read I like to plan, but was not going to do too much planning on this trip, we were going to play a lot by ear, but then I started to look at books about Skye (big mistake), I ended up buying a lovely little book from Amazon called Skye and Lochalsh The Guide Book by Lynne Woods and Doug Vickers it’s a brilliant book and just helps with your visit to Skye and you can see what there is to see and do and things off the beaten track that maybe you wouldn’t necessarily see if you did not know about them. So really the planning began when it arrived.
I didn’t spend a lot of time on it, just marking places and things that I knew we would enjoy, I would put it away then bring it out every now and then, I also bought another book called Isle of Skye Outstanding Circular Walks it’s part of Pathfinder Guide books this is also another good book with a range of different kinds of walks with different levels of mileage and difficulty. Steve had also mapped out a new route to go, rather than go the Loch Lomond way up into Glen Coe he found a route to go towards Dumbarton, it is a longer way but new roads for us, the plan on the first night was to wild camp in Glen Coe and that road does take you into Glen Coe.
So the countdown began, we had quite a few weekends away and Steve’s birthday week away and various family things going on and of course work, the months went by pretty quickly and before we turned round it was the beginning of the summer, the schools broke up and of course it started to rain for a few weeks as it does when the schools are off, we had planned to go after the schools had gone back at the beginning of September on the 7/9, that way we would miss the busy time on Skye or anywhere at that time of year. We had another few weekends away and of course the Evie breakdown to contend with, which was a bit nerve racking to say the least, but she was fixed 2 weeks before the 7th, phew.
We packed her with clothes and snacks (the essentials) the weekend before, so all we had to do was pack last minute bits and fresh foods for the fridge, and so the week countdown began, I needed some new walking clothes and a coat so did a bit of retail therapy, gave the house a good tidy and clean as us women do before we go away, why I’m not sure, as my youngest son was away the same time as us I had to sort out someone to look after the cat, luckily my middle son said he would pop in every night and sort her out, I worry a bit more about her now she is getting on a bit.
So it came to the Friday before the 7th, now usually in the past we have left after work on the Friday and done a BritStop on the way up, but this time we decided to go on the Saturday, but leave about 3am (which we have also done before), that way you miss the traffic, especially by Glasgow, so I finished work, Steve was already off, we picked Evie up in the morning, packed the last minute bits and so we were all ready for the early start, we had a takeaway and decided on an early night. Maybe a bit too early as we both couldn’t sleep so instead of reading or watching the telly we decided to set off it was 10pm.
The traffic couldn’t have been better, yes there are the lorries and maybe a few more cars than there would have been at 3am, but all in all it was a good run, we didn’t stop at Tebay this time which is a popular stop on the M6, we stopped for diesel just before Glasgow and all was going well until we got nearer to Glasgow and the satnav decided to go into silent mode, if we think back it hadn’t said very much on the journey, but Steve knows where he is going upto Glasgow which is where we need it the most, so we got into the wrong lane which took us into the outskirts of Glasgow, the sat nav did recalculate, but still didn’t say anything, so of course Steve is concentrating on his driving and I’m rubbish at reading what’s on the screen, so we got into another wrong lane which started to take us into the centre of Glasgow (yikes), our stress levels were getting higher, it’s at this point we rediscovered signs 🙂 so we followed the signs to Dumbarton which is the route we were taking, we eventually got on the road we wanted.
Phew, our stress levels went down and we both breathed a sigh of relieve, not after calling the satnav all the names under the sun. We went through Dumbarton and headed towards Helensburgh were we had a look on park4night for a spot to stop, recharge our batteries and wait for light as if we had carried on in the dark we would have missed all the scenery on these new roads, it was now 4am, we found a huge car park in Helensburgh which caters for motorhomes with no charge, we decided to have a well-earned cuppa and try and get a few hours sleep, then set of when it became light.
We did get an hour or so sleep believe it or not, there was the odd car or motorhome coming into the car park, but apart from that it was quiet and good for a stopover. We got up about 7.30ish and looked out of the window, the view was amazing, I think we had an idea it was going to be good as although we arrived in the dark, the lights lit the sea up and the town across the water, but it was even better in the light of day, the contrast of the sea and the mountains were classic of Scotland, we had a cuppa and took a walk along a small pier to enjoy the rest of the view, it was cold but dry and the sun just started to come over the mountains, it was very quiet too considering we were in a large town, but it was early on a Saturday morning. Steve got the satnav talking again and we set off.
There was quite a way to go before getting to Skye, we were heading for Oban, the route took us though some spectacular scenery, the scenery is a lot gentler than the Scotland we know. There were lots of lovely villages and large Lochs and also some lochans, you can never do it justice in a photo I don’t think. The weather was amazing, warm and sunny which makes everything look even the more spectacular. We arrived at Oban , found the parking virtually straight away and parked up, it was a short walk to the harbour, it was busy with people doing the same thing as we were, taking photos and just enjoying the hot weather (by now it was hot), Steve spotted a fish and chip van, well it was a posh fish and chip van, we decided to get fish and chips after we had had a walk around, there are a lot of fish restaurants and gift shops in the town, it’s a nice place to have a mooch about and the view from the harbour is lovely.
We headed back to where the fish and chip van was and without even looking at the price I ordered 2 lots of fish and chips, it was £18, that’s why I said a posh van, we sat down and waited, it didn’t take long at all, we put our salt and vinegar on and made our way back to Evie, rather than eat while walking round we would rather sit in Evie and eat, the beauty of motor homing. It wasn’t the best of fish and chips, the fish was breaded and there wasn’t many chips, there was peas and coleslaw, but not mushy, but it was nice enough and we were ready for it after our early start and early breakfast.
We set off for Glen Coe where we were hoping to spend a night before moving onto Skye. We again passed some gorgeous scenery and had only driven about forty five minutes when we passed a gorgeous loch (which turned out to be Loch Linnhe) with a huge layby by the side of it, we decided to park up and stay there the night instead of going to Glen Coe, I think we were both just knackered after the start on the Friday and virtually driving through the night, so we pulled in, made a cuppa and just chilled for a while.
It was a busy layby, with cars and motorhomes in and out, as it was such a lovely view people were stopping to take photos, the road was a busy one too and we did wonder weather to move on or not, but we decided to stay put. There was a small marina a short walk away so after we had rested for a bit we took a walk towards that, it was really hot by this time, we didn’t walk to far before going back to Evie, there were a few more motorhomes parked up when we got back, it is nice in one way, it’s like safety in numbers, not that I’m saying for one moment stopping in a layby is unsafe just that you feel a bit more relaxed.
We had a bit of tea, just a snack after the big dinner, then we took a quick walk down the side of the loch, the views again were amazing and there were a few people kayaking on it, it was getting late so we settled down to watch a film, the road was still quite busy with a lot of motorbikes and still people coming in and out of the layby, also a couple of cars looked like they were staying too. After the film we went up the weary ladder to bed, it was a bit of a noisy night, the road had calmed down but we still had the odd car going past, what more do you expect being parked in a layby I know, there was one plonker who kept his hand on the horn as he drove past, I won’t repeat Steve’s words and then to top it off I had a nightmare, I have never had a nightmare as far as I remember and it’s not the best place to have one as Steve thought I was going to jump out of the bed, bit of a height to drop from a bed above the cab. Not sure what bought it on, it must have been the Winnie The Pooh filmed we watched, 🙂 not really we watched a film called Arrived, it was an alien film and wasn’t even scary, as people who know me I don’t do scary, all I can put it down to is being really tired, hopefully it won’t happen again. So after a bit of a restless night we set of early this time heading for Skye.
We went through some lovely little villages and towns, lovely lochs and large mountains on our way, it was a lovely journey and we reached Fort William about breakfast time, we decided not to stop in Fort William this time, as we have been a few times, it is well worth a visit though. We thought we would find somewhere nice to pull over to make some brecky on the road, it wasn’t long before we got to the Commando Memorial, for some reason we had never stopped before, the car park was empty so we pulled in. The monument is very large its 17ft and is 3 bronze commandos dressed in world war two uniforms, they are looking south towards Ben Nevis and the detail is unbelievable, on the plinth is written ” United We Conquer” In memory of the officers and men of the commandos who died in the Second World War 1939 -1945. The country was their training ground.
There is also a remembrance Area, many of the commandos who served in World War Two have their ashes placed here, it is also in memory of more recent conflicts with photos of men that have died and cards and letters from loved ones, Steve and I found this very emotional and we didn’t feel as though we wanted to take photos of this area, it makes you realise that there are still men and women risking their lives on our behalf. We were going to have breakfast there, but it just didn’t feel right for some reason so we jumped in Evie and set off again. We found a layby with great views to have some breakfast, then hit the road again on our last leg to Skye.
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