Our First Long Trip in Vera
Friday 27th March
Vera was just back from having her self-levelling system fitted. We had last minute packing to do and finally set off at 11:15 – 45 mins later than planned, but we had all day to get to our first night spot, so all was well.
The M1 was our motorway of choice for this leg of the trip and we can access it within about 15 mins of Brinklow and were soon on our way North. We had some 155 miles to do on the M1 so we killed the time by listening to a few podcasts, did Quiz of the Day a couple of times, to help eat up the miles.
We pulled off briefly to grab our lunch from the fridge and give the boys a quick pee break. It was only when we had rolled to a halt that we noticed that we were outside a sex shop! Odd place for one we thought? It was called Pulse and Cocktails – needless to say we did not venture in!
Sandwiches in hand, we pressed on. Paul had done some research on Sainsbury’s petrol stations (so that we could claim our Nectar points) en route (or just off) and had found Northallerton’s branch, so we took a quick detour off our route. When we arrived – no petrol station. Paul had made the mistake of believing Google. Unfortunately Google tells porkies! You may ask it to search for Sainsbury’s branches with petrol stations, but Google will serve up any old Sainsbury’s – regardless of whether they have a petrol station or not. Lesson learnt! We eventually found a Co-Op and topped up there (£1.82.9)
We arrive at our overnight stop in Catterick and very quickly got hooked up. The drive had taken us through Swaledale, with some beautiful scenery. Our stop was just off the A6136 – Colburn Grange Farm (///selling.cost.converged) a tiny site with hardstandings and grass pitches, fresh water, elsan disposal and hook up.
As you may already have read, we used our self-levelling for the first time here. It was amazing to see it do its thing. I’ll repeat the pictures here for the sake of completeness.
Saturday 28th March
We had a very peaceful night and the site owner popped in to see us in the morning to check that all was well, which was a nice touch, we thought?
We set off on our journey further North with optimism. It was very gusty indeed and we had a couple of gusts that really made the van swerve. Luckily Paul was well in control and no harm done. It was a sunny day and the countryside looked beautiful. Paul had chosen the “middle” route North, as we had taken the Eastern coastal route last time we had visited 2 years ago.
It was not the most direct route, but we had all day. The route took us up through County Durham and Northumberland and we even glimpsed a bit of Hadrian’s wall on our way through, much to Paul’s delight. We als0 passed through Jedburgh, with its rather handsome Abbey.
We stopped at the border for lunch before heading further north to Edinburgh, and crossing the Firth of Forth and heading on up to Perth, where our friend Steve now lives. Along our route, we saw an ex Petrol station, where time had stopped still and petrol was a mere 77p a litre.
It was a bit gusty on the Forth bridge, and there were high winds (you don’t say!) warnings. But nothing Paul could not cope with. We arrived late afternoon and tucked ourselves in the corner of the car park for the night. No hook-up for us tonight! .
The car park belonged to the Taste of Perthshire shop and restaurant – just off the A9. We had a table booked for dinner. As the fuel was reasonably priced for the current times (£179.9), we quickly filled up, ready for the next leg, before parking. We freshened up and went for dinner. The premises are currently being re-developed and are clearly a destination, as coaches kept drawing up and disgorging fresh tourists all eager to buy Hairy Coo soft toys, t shirts, puzzles books etc. etc.
Luckily the dining room was a little less manic and we had a pleasant meal, which boded well for the next day, of which more later. We went back to the van and settled down for the evening which didn’t last too long as we were both tired from our two days on the road.
Sunday 29th March
The purpose of the visit to Perth was to surprise our dear friend Steve on the occasion of his 60th birthday. We had been in collusion with his partner Maria and his Mum for some weeks and we were really looking forward to seeing them all.We had a reasonably peaceful night, notwithstanding the rain lashing down all the while. But we awoke to a lovely sunny but still gusty day.
The meet time was 12:30 and we slid into position just as they approached the cute little ” hut” where we had a table booked for lunch. Steve was suitably and genuinely surprised and we had a lovely meal and catch-up. I love it when a plan comes together!
We bid them adieu and set off on our way even further north. The route took us through the Cairngorms, which still had a good covering of snow. We stopped at Newtonmore truck stop for a cuppa and an Empire Biscuit (one of my favourite Scottish delicacies) .
The weather was very changeable – at one minute sunny the next hailing/sleeting and blowing an absolute hooley. We had chunks of slush dropping off the roof onto the windscreen. Winter has by no means left the Highlands! Eventually, we passed through Elgin and onto the homeward stretch to Portknockie, where Paul’s Mum and Stepdad have lived for the past 16 years, moving up from Portchester to join her brother in the little ex fishing village.
We arrived at about 6pm and parked outside the house. The plan was to spend the night right there, using their electricity for hook-up. It’s a good wide street so there would be problem for other vehicles to get by – even the dustcart slipped by with no problem,
We settled down for a cuppa and a good initial catch-up, before retiring to the van to make our supper – beans on toast with grated cheese on top – a perennial favourite of ours. We watched a spot of TV and then retired. Still tired!
Monday 30th April – Thursday 2nd April
Paul went out first thing with his Mum, walking the boys and her dog. They all came back drenched after a particularly fierce squall. Anne (Paul’s Mum) had offered us the use of her shower and we gladly took her up on her offer. Paul quickly showered at lunchtime before moving the van to its base for the next four nights above Findochty – the next village along the coast.
The site name was Sunnybrae – which literally means sunny hillside. And we did have a little sun, but also a few more really violent squalls. Paul immediately went back to work while I did some tidying and unpacking – nice to have a few days of not moving.
We drove back to Portknockie in time for tea – some absolutely delicious Salmon. It had been bought at “Eat Mair Fish” in Buckie and was much nicer than any supermarket salmon I have ever tasted. .We chatted for a while and I arranged an outing with Anne for the next day. And then we set off back to Sunnybrae, which we really like. Beautiful views of the stunning Moray coastline and pin-drop quiet at night.
Sadly, Paul had some urgent work that he needed to keep on top of and so was unable to take any time off. We met in the evenings and I had a succession of lovely daytime trips out with Anne (Paul’s Mum). We also had a lovely farewell dinner at the dramatically sited Cullen Bay Hotel with his Uncle and Aunt along, too. Sadly his stepdad Tony was poorly so could not come. And then, suddenly, it was time to start the journey home.
Good Friday – 3rd April
We had done a fair bit of packing and were pretty much ready to go as soon as we had unhooked and raised the steadies. We were quite excited about the trip ahead – although sad to be leaving the family behind.
We set off along the A96 towards Inverness, stopping for fuel at Sainsbury’s in Nairn ( £190.1) – it keeps going up! At inverness, we turned onto the A82 which would take us along the Great Glen – the route of the stunning Caledonian Canal. We had last passed this way nearly 40 years ago, by boat. The Canal, completed in 1822 – another Telford marvel – provides a safe, inland route from the West to East coast, removing the need to go up and over the very north of Scotland, via Cape Wrath. Starting (or ending?) in Inverness, it joins Loch Ness, Loch Oich, Loch Lochy and Loch Linnhe (which is a sea loch) and terminates in Fort William. It remains one of our most memorable boating holidays. We highly recommend.
As we joined the A82, we had to wait for the swing bridge over the Canal as a large-ish boat was going through. We were thrilled to see it.
We traversed the length of the Glen and it brought back happy memories of holidaying with my Dad and step mum – back before George was born. It started raining at lunchtime sadly and we ate out sarnies in a car park overlooking a loch while it poured. We arrived at our destination on the shores of Loch Linnhe, near Corpach.
We had a pitch booked at Linnhe Lochside Holidays and arrived about 3 pm, by which time the sun re-emerged from time to time, interspersed with showers. It was a great spot and we had a lovely quiet night there.
Easter Saturday – 4th April
We had a delicious breakfast roll from Woody’s at the campsite – Bacon, egg and Lorne Sausage. Yum. We also took advantage of the dedicated Motorhome point, where you can dump your grey waste (i.e. waste from washing-up and showering|). A first for us! A first because most smaller sites do not have these points. We carry a small grey waste container, on board , which we empty regularly on smaller sites. It seems to work well.
We saw the locks (a flight of 8) called Neptune’s Staircase and drove along the Western shore of Loch Linnhe (the A82) towards Ballachulish. This route then led us through Glencoe – one of the most breathtaking drives in the UK and a first for Paul. We stopped briefly and I shed a few tears. Normally on such occasions, I would have rung my dear Uncle D, who sadly passed away in late March. He loved Scotland and being there was a painful reminder that I would not be ringing him any more.
Glencoe was busy with tourists – great coach loads of them – probably some of the same ones we saw at “Taste of Perthshire”! If it was heaving today, we imagined what it might be like in the height of summer – and shuddered.
The road was being re-surface at Bridge of Orchy and we had a very long wait – they seemed to let about 4 cars through from our side of the traffic lights and about 40 from the other side, each time.
By the time we reached the beautiful shores of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, it was sleeting and visibility was pretty poor, so no pics, sadly. I was actually a tiny bit worried about our site for that night. It was on the Ayrshire coast, near Culzean Castle. Storm Dave was due to roll in on Saturday evening with gusts of up to 70MPH, from the Atlantic. Eek! We could not have chosen a worse spot!
We arrived on site (Thomaston Farm – Maybole) at tea-time and the wind was already beginning to freshen. As the evening wore on, there were several white knuckle gusts and I was really not looking forward to the long night ahead. At bedtime, I stuck my earplugs in and hoped for the best. Other than one rather large gust at 2 am which woke me up, I was not too troubled by wind (Matron!) and we awoke to a snow-dusted van and lovely views of Ailsa Craig.
Ailsa Craig was a lovely surprise – it had not been visible at all the previous evening. What a little gem this site was! AIlsa Craig, by the way is a small (16 sq kms) island in the Firth of Clyde, famous for being the place where most of the stone for Curling stones is quarried
Easter Sunday – 5th April
Our journey today was a longer one and would eventually deposit us back in England. We stopped briefly at at Gretna Green for loo, coffee and lunchings and eventually arrived at our night stop near Middlewich late afternoon. We also stopped at Tebay services, with its very nice farm shop, to grab another coffee and then resumed our way ever southwards. It was a fair journey – if a tad breezy through the Lake District. There was a long delay at one point, caused by a lorry having been blown over by the wind. Sobering.
We popped in to Sainsburys in Northwich to slurp up some more diesel (£183.9) before arriving at our last overnighter for this trip – Yatehouse Farm.
It is a working farm and we had to call the farmer to gain access. He told us where to go and we arrived at our hardstanding pitch to the VERY loud strains of Sexual Healing. A chap immediately jumped out and told me that they liked to party and would be loud. We’d be welcome to join in and have a few beers, though – somewhat insincerely, I felt? I found him a bit rude and then he tried to tell Paul the same stuff. We politely declined and instead went to a quieter pitch on the field.
It was a pleasant enough site but we weren’t sorry to leave. It’s a shame we had been put of off by the 24 hour party people (who actually didn’t seem that loud to be honest), although we had told the farmer of their plans, when he came round to collect the money. Maybe he told them off? We’ll never know.
Easter Monody 6th April
The journey back to Brinklow was short and we were unpacking and cleaning by lunchtime.. Our roughly 1200 mile trip can be seen in the clip below:
DEDICATION
I’d like to dedicate this edition of our our blog to one of our biggest fans, who always looked forward to reading our blogs. Our lovely Uncle D. We’ll always miss you.
RIP Uncle D