A different route home

I cannot lie - the journey up to the Highlands two weeks earlier had not been one of my best. Traffic on the motorway around Glasgow was foul, getting over the Erskine bridge was quite unpleasant and the 'top section' of the A82 as it runs next to Loch Lomond was horrible in the extreme (and I later found out that an hour or so after I went through it was closed because of an accident for three hours, thankfully no-one was seriously hurt this time but it a dangerous stretch of tarmac).

I vowed I was coming home a different way and wow, am I glad I did so.

Usual route, (thick blue line on the left) versus new route (pale line on the right). According to mapping software it was only 6 miles further but goodness, the contrast in journey was "night & day". My revised route was on decent quality tarmac, not at all busy, and I got to drive through a section of the Trossachs National Park which I do not think I have been to before. Quite gorgeous and I've found another area I want to come back to.



Somewhere near Callander I saw a sign for an Antique Centre and on impulse turned off the road. A few hundred yards later I was parked outside:



Oh, that was a fun hour . . . lots of different vendors under one roof, cleverly arranged so that you constantly got lost and had to turn around and around to make sure you hadn't missed anything. Sensible prices too, nothing like the exhorbitant charity shop prices in Fort William. I came home with a wicker basket from this first display, probably no age to it but exactly what I needed for the other side of our slate hearth, and the bonus of reminding me of a lovely journey every time I take some kindling.









I was tempted here but managed to resist. This Kodak is the first camera I ever owned, I must have been about 10 years old.






When I parked Blue Bus I had seen a large area roped off. When I came out I found lots of new arrivals - the Morgan Owners Group were out for lunch and what a fabulous sight on a slightly damp and overcast day.








The rest of my drive was remarkably uneventful and far less tiring than the dreaded A82 with the motorway from Stirling especially traffic-free. So much so that when I got to Carlisle I had the energy to stop at Sainsbury's and do a massive household shop because I needed a fridge full of fresh vegetables.


And then back to Bag End.

14 days
1300 miles
6 campsites
800 photos

Countless memories and so many extra places on the "I need to visit" list that I seriously wonder if I will live long enough to get to them all!

Thank you for coming along on this journey and for sharing my memories. I've really appreciated the company. 🥰

Caledonian Canal

Final day, beautiful weather, 200 mile drive tomorrow so a plan to just putter around gently.

In an ideal world I would have driven one mile to the Corran Ferry and crossed over to Ardgour - something I have done a dozen times in the past (I even have a scan of 30 year-old photo to prove it) and theoretically a good way to get over this illogical ferry-fear.




This is another essential, lifeline service which is on its last legs thanks to lack of investment and planning (Scottish Government, SNP, yes I am looking you 🤬) so tourists were no longer permitted to use the crossing which had been reserved for essential traffic. If I had been allowed on the ferry I would have driven a few miles around the staggeringly beautiful area, had lunch in a small cafe, put what money I could into the fragile economy and come back the same way. But I did not. Since my holiday the ferry has been taken out of service completely.

Instead I travelled 10 miles or so to Corpach, just past Fort William and famous Neptune's Staircase on the Caledonian Canal. Another amazing build from Thomas Telford - I won't bore you with the details, that is what Google is for.



© Visit Scotland, Airborne Lens


The little community at Banavie have really got themselves organised in respect of welcoming visitors which starts with a massive car park - level, free, shady spots thanks to the trees, play equipment for children, cloudless summit of Ben Nevis in the background. What's not to like?



Same with The Moorings Hotel who have a prime location and a lovely Cafe.
"Trio of West Coast Salmon" . . . just saying!



So that took care of my morning and lunch, and a chance conversation with one of the canal staff meant I decided to stay for a few hours more. I took the time to have a long, slow wander up the tow path and was reminded just how much I love the canalside environment.


























I also got to appreciate an unusal sight, rare enough that I amused myself imagining it was an hallucination - Ben Nevis without cloud:




Eventually my meandering and waiting counted down the clock until the pre-booked afternoon descent:



I've stood next to multi-storey cruise ships on the Solent and they are absolutely massive. Whilst the Lord of the Glens is not quite that big she totally dominates this smaller landscape in a similar way and completely fills each lock - she was modified 20+ years ago specifically to cruise the Caledonian Canal and Inner Isles.

Perhaps the cost of these trips is why the passengers all seemed very snooty and chose to completely ignore some children who were waving, being very polite and just wanted someone to wave back. Thankfully the crew had better manners than the paying customers.

Nearing the end - Fort William

To be truthful, whilst I didn't want to leave Morvich and Glenelg themselves, by this time I was just about ready to go home. But I can be a bit bloody-minded and this was one of those occasions. When the trip was planned it was a complete fortnight which would have been the longest I had been away in any van (caravan or motorhome) and I was determined to see if I could do it, for no reason other than to prove to myself that I could.

The drive across to Fort William was an easy 60 miles and I arrived in town at 11.30, far too early to go the last few miles down to my final campsite.

Fort William was the place where, many decades ago, I first fell in love with the Highlands and I have always had a soft spot for it. Sadly, like my beloved Lake District, time has not been kind to this town. Just like the Lake District it is now a victim of its own success and completely over-run.

But I parked up, had something to eat and went for a wander to reaquaint myself with the town centre. I found what I feared and expected - more cafes and coffee shops than you can count, and some very tired retail outlets. Oh, and the first time in 2 weeks I heard bagpipes. I adore the haunted, keening sound of the pipes but sadly these were not being played well and I ran away 🤪.





I can rarely resist wandering into a nicely arranged charity shop but this one completely astounded me. I guess it is catering to the hoards of visitors because the prices were unlike anything I have ever seen. Very "ordinary" second-hand cotton shirts were £50 each. The Imperial typewriter was priced at £200 (similar ones have sold on eBay for £50) and the little KLM Dutch Houses on the right hand shelf? I have quite a collection of them and never pay more than £6 or £7 per house. These were twenty-five quid each!

I know the shop is there to raise money for a very worthwhile charity but these prices felt like taking advantage of visitors, I guess that is the way things often are these days. Needless to say I left with my credit card still securely at the bottom of my bag.




Thankfully the campsite 10 miles further south at Bunree was neither as tired-looking or possessing of out-of-tune bagpipes. But it does have a row of pitches right on the lochside.







Unfortunately the peace & tranquility of Morvich had 'spoilt' me and I confess no desire to return to this site. There was nothing wrong with it, absolutely nothing at all; it is a very normal, standard Caravan Club site but comprised seried ranks of (mainly) large white boxes with no relief from trees or hedges. And it was the location of my encounter with the male bully who reckoned I could not navigate . . . But ignoring all that, I did have a lovely spot to sit and watch the water and relax.



For my last two nights the site was absolutely fine and despite being the busiest of all I had stayed on it was very quiet at night, and at 07.00 which is the time I am usually up. Wandering around that early I had the place completely to myself and it was gorgeously peaceful.








Fort William did have one final disappointment for me - on my last afternoon, after a fabulous day at Neptune's Locks (I'll post that next) I popped a couple of miles down the road at Corpach to re-visit "Treasures of the Earth". I had clear memories of us going there 30 years ago and as it was the end of my trip I was all ready and willing to get to the gift shop and hopefully acquire some more crystal specimens for our small collection at home.

The museum was exactly as I remembered. I mean EXACTLY. The same displays, in the same cases, with (mostly) exactly the same information boards, now very faded. But not the same dust - the layers of that around the exhibits and in the sparsely stocked gift shop were new. It was very sad. This is a smalllish, family owned business which has clearly suffered massively from Covid closures and lack of investment. What a shame because it could be absolutely outstanding.

"Just think of something lovely"

Isn't that what Anaesthetists say as they are putting you under? "Just think of something lovely as you drift off to sleep". This day was one of those (up there with Torridon) I would bring to mind if ever I have to have surgery.

It started with a drive up Mam Ratagan pass, a steep and narrow old military road and through Glen More to get to the small hamlet of Glenelg. I had built up this road in my mind as being something difficult, still spooked by the trip down to Plockton. My mind was being stupid and it was a glorious drive - loads of passing places, decent road surface, most fabulous views. That was when I realised the reason the Plockton road had been so ghastly was because it was deeply wooded on both sides for much of the way making it more like driving in Devon: limited visibility and no chance to respond well in advance to other vehicles.



I did not linger in Glenelg, I was keen to head towards Gleann Beag down a dead end road to two of the most intact, fabulous brochs which remain in Scotland - Dun Telve and Dun Troddan. Although a couple of thousand years more recent than the Neolithic buildings I had hoped to explore on Orkney, these really did not disappoint and I spent far more time than any other visitor just sitting and thinking. Why were they built, how were they built, how were they used and by whom?



First, Dun Troddan:







click on this to enlarge if you want to read the info.












Parking THIS close to this much history? Amazing.




Something I have noticed from my many visits to Clava Cairns is that if you take your time then it is remarkably easy to "out stay" every other visitor and have the place entirely to yourself. Most visitors arrive, walk around the site, take photos, leave. Google claims that the average length of stay at Clava is 30 minutes and the same can be said of these amazing places.

Dun Telve:

















Sunshine, complete silence except for the ever-present Golden Eagles soaring overhead (more about them later in the day!) and thankfully not much distance to cover. I was hobbling around having done something incredibly stupid that morning. I "mis-stepped" getting out of the van first thing and turned my left ankle over. Hurt like hell but firmly strapped I was able to limp around slowly whilst giving thanks I drive an auto and did not have to think about a clutch and changing gear. But it was painful and meant I did not walk further up the valley to a chambered cairn and another broch. I really HAVE to go back!




I eventually tore myself away from this gorgeous valley and headed back to Glenelg, and on to the tiny spot where the Kylerhea ferry connects with Skye. After my fears about the Orkney ferry I contemplated taking this little turntable vessel the short distance across to Skye and then driving back to my camspite via the bridge. I parked at the cafe, bought one of the most crap cups of coffee I'd ever had accompanied by the most superb chocolate brownie ever to pass my lips (which I eaked out to three portions, it was far too unctious and rich to eat in one go!) and wandered down to the slipway.

And after a while I slowly walked back to the Blue Bus, gently patted her and whispered quietly "don't worry sweetie, we're not going on THAT", and took several deep breaths to calm the adrenaline because I knew I was not getting on a bloody ferry 😧. This fear is going to make some future explorations a bit difficult and one I am going to have to work at overcoming.








All things happen for a reason though. Instead of driving back via Skye I had to return the way I came - back through Glen More stopping at the viewpoint at Bealach Ràtagain.



I settled down on a bench with a drink and binoculars. Sure enough, there were the Golden Eagles - again - and as I could just about see Morvich in the distance I knew these were the same birds I had been watching from my campsite. They are very territorial and would have been the same pair I had seen at the brochs. Then the silence was thoroughly disturbed by a large group of visitors on massive bikes. Who parked up, got out their binoculars and came to watch the birds with me for the best part of an hour.






After being on my own for nearly two weeks the company was lovely, and with a group mostly from the north-east of England the non-stop jokes and gentle banter was hard to keep up with at times and hugely entertaining. We agreed that we could see a large juvenile who'd parked himself at the top of a nearby pine, possibly after a big feed, with what was probably Mum watching from another tree 100 yards or so away, and occasionally Dad (?) doing a flyby to make sure the family were OK. One of the bikers was very a knowledgeable birdwatcher and it was lovely to talk about behaviour, territory, food sources, and generally geek out.




A thoroughly special day, left me thinking (not for the first time) "Goddess, I am so lucky to be doing this".