Scotland May 2014
Holiday started a bit rubbish as the night before we were due to leave we discovered a nasty rash on Harley’s right side, looked infected, hence we went to the vet on Saturday morning. £73 later and a bag full of antibiotics, drops and cleansing lotions, we were on our way to Scotland!
First stop was at Cressfield campsite in Ecclefechan
Arrived ok, very friendly and laid back owners, we felt welcomed. Harley was relatively ok in van on our way there, but still needed a walk after the long drive. Went for short walk by the river at the edge of the campsite, people raved about that walk but we failed to see what the fuss was all about. Walk was not long, quite rough and it looked more like buldozer trail but hey…it was a walk nevertheless. The site has a really nice big field next to it where you can let the dog run freely.
Then we went back to the van, the boys snoozed and I made notes for blog 🙂
Later on we walked into the village, literally 5 minutes from campsite. We knew there were 2 pubs in Ecclefechan, one the Cressfield Hotel right next to the campsite, and the other one, the Ecclefechan Hotel. So the plan was, we go to Ecclefechan Hotel, have a pint, then come back to CH and have a meal. The EH was not too busy, very friendly local people in there including the owner, an Irish guy called Joe! We had a pint, a short chat with the locals and then headed to CH for a meal only to find out they dont let dogs in!! So back to the EH it was then. They all seemed so happy to see us back, we felt a bit embarrassed not to have eaten there in the first place. So we sat at the same table as before, ordered another pint and some food. Then the owner, Joe the Irish guy came over to have a chat, such a nice genuine Irish guy! Although living in Scotland, he was drinking Irish whiskey!!! Who has ever heard of Irish Whiskey in Scotland ?? And a couple of Scousers were there on a return visit too!! The world is so small! The food was really good, we thoroughly enjoyed the evening at Ecclefechan Hotel.
Then we went back to the van and listened to some music.
I decided it was a good start to the holiday!
Next day we woke up to cloudy sky and rain. So we decided not to go on the walk around the woods, it was so foggy, you could barely see the woods!
We set off on our way to Oban, 3 and a half hours away. It was a long drive, windy roads, bad weather and stressed dog but we got there in the end and it was worth it.
The Roseview Campsite just outside of Oban is just lovely! Nice and quiet, we had a good pitch on the hill just opposite the bbq area.
We hooked up and went for a walk straight away, Harley needed it. If you walk to the entrance and then turn left, walk down that road, it will take you to Loch Kerera, wonderful views all the way down.
We carried on around the loop, but after a while we decided the loop was too long and as the weather was getting worse and worse, we turned back and went the same way back to the site. Wet dog and wet owners….we warmed up with a nice well deserved whisky in the van.
There is not much to do around this campsite, no pub to go to, so we ate in the van that night and watched a movie.
Woke up on Monday morning, again to grey sky and rain. The thing is, we’ve been to Scotland on 3 camping trips before, each time we went the first week in May and each time we’ve been so lucky with the weather. Didn’t seem to be so lucky this time.
Didn’t matter. Had breakfast and off we went on another walk. Got absolutely soaked again. Then we got back to the van, packed up and went to Oban to get the ferry to Mull.
Our original booking was for 4pm in the afternoon, but as the weather was so bad, we rang Caledonia Ferries and asked if we could take an earlier one. No problem they said, take the one at 2pm they said and changed our reservation. We went to the ferry terminal next and saw there was a queue for the ferry already…it was only 11.50. So we asked if that’s the 2pm ferry, they say “no, it’s the 11.55 ferry to Mull”. So we asked again if we could get that one instead, I ran in the ticket office, they changed our reservation again, and 10 minutes later we were on the ferry! Brilliant! That’s what we love so much about Scotland, people are so laid back, so happy to help.
This was Harley’s first ferry trip.
He didn’t seem to be bothered and was well behaved on the ferry. 45 minutes later we arrived on Mull.
Our first campsite on Mull was Shielieng Holidays, right next to the ferry port in Craignure. This is not a big town so dont imagine a massive ferry terminal. The campsite has lovely views
and it’s also very conveniently located right next to Craignure Inn, a nice pub where you can have a meal and drink.
By the time we hooked up and had a sandwich and a cup of tea, and were ready to go for walkies, the heavens opened and we had to delay our walk. Finally about 3pm the rain stoped. We went for a walk along the shore, very muddy and wet, but nice and with great views. Then we walked into Craignure and checked what shops were there as we needed some food supplies for the next day. Then we stopped at Craignure Inn for a pint. This is such a lovely pub, with log fire and cosy bar.
We had a pint and decided to have the meal there and then, as it had started raining again, so not worth going to site just to come back again. I ordered venison stew, which was amazing and hubby had chilli con carne, also delicious.
Another pint, then back to the site in the rain, and settled for the evening with music and books.
Believe it or not, we woke up on Tuesday morning to sunshine!! Finally, sun was out, temperature was a bit higher….like the Scotland we remembered from previous camping trips.
We set off on our way to Calgary Bay, not far away at all, only 30 miles, but with a single track road all the way there. The road to Tobermory is the main road, ok for a drive and very scenic. Tobermory itself is a pretty little town, with a few cafes and quirky shops and of course the famous Tobermory distillery.
We had a walk around, bought some whisky, of course, and left for Calgary. I was very glad I was not driving the van (not that I ever do!). This road was a little bit too narrow, a bit steep, both up and down, and a bit adventurous, which is not a bad thing according to hubby! Anyway, we made it Calgary Bay in one piece and oh my God, it was worth that drive. The place is amazing!! Pictures below. Not only that, but the sun came out in full blaze, it was sooooo nice. Harley had so much fun, he recovered from the drive in no time, running around like a loony on that wonderful beach. Pictures speak for themselves.
And we found a cool wild camping spot, we parked up and enjoyed the view!
We spent the afternoon on the beach, running and playing, Harley met Baxter, another Border Terrier, as mad as Harley and the two of them had so much fun together.
Then we sat by the van and had a beer, then cooked a curry, had another beer, and read a book. The day at Calgary Bay had been a good one!
The next day, Wednesday morning we woke up to sunshine again, it was amazing waking up to that view, right by the beach.
By the time we had breakfast, the rain started! Still, we went for another good walk on the beach with Harley, as we knew the drive ahead won’t be much fun for him.
Then we set off. There are only 60 miles between Calgary and Fionporth, where the next stop was, but it took us 3 hours to get there! Single track road is ok, but single track road with endless curves, with 20% descent, then the corresponding ascent, then the odd local driver in delivery van (post, frozen meat, cement!) thinking they know the roads so they can drive fast…..arghhhh am telling you it’s a good thing I don’t drive the van!
We finally made it to Fidden Farm Campsite in Fionporth.
And oh my God!!! This is even better than Calgary Bay, after such a drive it was the best place in the world to arrive to!
We have stayed at nice campsites before, some of them right on the beach, but this was definitely the best!! I kept calling it the new Seychelles, with that white sand and giant rock formations!!
After a bit of lunch and a well deserved cup of tea, we went back to the beach to explore. And whilst exploring, we saw 4 seals basking in the sun. Just like that, they were sat on the rocks in the sun, so we kept quiet and tried to take some pictures, see below.
So the Scotland trip was all worth it because of those 4 seals. They were wonderful.
The sun stayed out, surprisingly enough, so we decided to walk into Fionnporth, the small village only 1 1/2 miles away. It has a shop, a pub, The Keel Row and a ferry terminal, where you can take the ferry to Iona. We stoped at the pub and intended to have a pint outside in the sunshine, but within 5 minutes of sitting down the dark clouds came back and it started raining again. So we sat inside, lovely pub with friendly staff.
It was nice and quiet in there, for about 10 minutes, then all of a sudden it was packed with people off the ferry. This is what we noticed on Mull, you can be somewhere realy nice and quiet and then a ferry arrives, and your peace and quiet is gone. It’s not a problem, don’t get me wrong, we met lovely people/tourists, Scottish, English, Dutch and others, everyone is there to enjoy the place, it was just a bit unusual at first.
So we finished our pint and headed back to the campsite in the rain.
We cooked in the van that evening, potatoe salad and sausages from a local farm shop outside Tobermory. By this time, the weather got really bad, see pic below…
That evening we just sat in the van and listened to music.
Thursday morning we woke up to mixed weather, clouds, rain and sunshine…we went for a last walk on this gorgeous beach and guess what, we saw two more seals. One gray and white, really beautiful and the other one black. 6 seals in less than 24 hours, so happy! We didnt have the camera with us that morning, so no pictures :-(.
Then we packed up and to Harely’s horror, we set off back to Craignure to take the ferry back to Oban. Another hour and a half on a single track road…
We got to Craignure with plenty of time to spare, so we went to the Craignure Inn to have lunch, which was again delicious. Then 45 minutes on the ferry and back onto mainland Scotland.
2 and half hours later we checked in the Gleddoch Hotel outside Glasgow. We had a voucher for one night stay in this hotel and I must admit, we all enjoyed it, a nice bath and proper comfy bed :-). And this was the view from our room:
Next day we started driving back South, our last stop was at Bleatarn Farm Campsite. It is a very nice site, only 5 pitches but well run and it had lovely walks around it.
The weather was not good at all, as you can see, dark clouds and rain and wind. However we went for a walk on Hadrian’s Wall and we enjoyed it.
So did Harley, and we also saw the sheep from the Specsavers Advert 🙂
So this was our camping trip in Scotland 2014. We thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the weather, we love Scotland and am sure we will be back very soon!
