30 July. Only one campsite this time, this is a short three night trip. Driving through Inverness we stopped at the Co-op to raid their biscuit shelf. We have a new favourite, Abernethy biscuits. We are heading to the northeastern corner of Scotland, Caithness. The landscape is so different to that of the west coast. Flat.
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We’re heading to the Scottish borders, to Dumfries and Galloway. That is the southwestern corner of Scotland. Our first campsite in Sorbie is over five hours’ drive away so we decided to break the journey at Inver Mill campsite near Dunkeld. We’ve stayed there before. On the way down we stopped at the House of Bruar for lunch as we often do when driving by. We got up early the next morning and were on the road at 8:30. We had a pit stop at a service station and had a couple sandwiches and coffee in Bruno. We got to a late start because we were waiting for the express delivery of our mattress topper. Bill got email saying it would be delivered between 16:12 and 17:12. It was delivered at 16:12, precisely. We ripped it out of its packaging and were off.
Travels with Bertie are now travels with Bruno, son on Bertie. We sold Bertie, our WV Crafter conversion, in the autumn and during the winter started looking for a new campervan. Bertie was a good introduction into campervaning. After days online Bill found Bruno, an 18 month old WV California Coast. Bayleaf green. The price and colour were right. At the time we were in Finland for a three month stay, so we flew into Scotland, took a train to Penrith in England and drove up the next day. (Second hand cars don't wait for your return a month later.) Bill drove Bruno and I followed in Fifi, a ten year old Fiesta we bought to use as a shopping bag and for other shorter drives. We then flew back to Finland. We went back to Aberfeldy for a few lazy days. The weather was lovely, sun was shining, it was warm. We walked over to Homer’s, a shop with all sorts of nice things for the home. We bought a few things for the kitchen wall and a dustpan+brush set. Bill calls it my dustpan. Early the following morning we walked to a bakery for a loaf of sourdough. They had won the gold award in Best in Scotland for their white sourdough making them the Scottish Bakery of the year 2022/2023. Well, all we can say is not all sourdough bakeries participated. The sourdough we bought in Mallaig comes from a completely different planet. The sourdough planet. This time we drove south, to Aberfeldy, but stopped first at Blair Castle. We joined Scotland’s National Trust which gives us free access to castles and gardens and places. Lentran House, where we live, is a member of Historic Houses and that membership also gives us free access to castles and gardens and places. Blair Castle is a Historic House place. Blair Castle is some 750 years old and it has been the home of the same family through all these years. 30 rooms of the castle are open for public. Quite impressive, I must say. Fancy. In the walled garden everything was still asleep which was a pity. It’s still early in the growing season.
Our second trip takes us to Acharacle and then to Camusdarach in Arisaig. We start by taking the same road as before to Fort William, to M&S for some food shopping. From Fort William we drive on to Glenfinnan where Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745 raised the standard after he and a small band of loyal supporters sailed up Loch Shiel to start the Jacobite Rebellion. His quest to restore the Stuarts to the British throne. The monument was built in 1815 as a tribute to the Highlanders who fought in that uprising. Introduction Bertie came into our family in mid-February. He’s a 2013 VW Crafter campervan conversion, very well looked after by the previous owners. We knew some things needed fixing and after a health check and the fixes he now is ready for the road. Why “Bertie”? We both enjoy Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street books. One of the characters is the six-year-old Bertie who has a very domineering mother. Bertie wants to be less programmed, he wants to be free and, with a sigh, is counting the years when he’ll be eighteen and no longer has to listen to his mother. We are setting Bertie free now. We enjoy going for walks and during the lockdown have done a lot in our local area. The beach, the dunes and a local forest walk have become very familiar and the two golf courses are enjoyable. All very flat, really. Could we do something more demanding? We decided to find out. Scotland has a fantastic network of walks: glen walks, hill walks, mountain walks, forest walks. They are well laid, extremely well maintained and marked, this way protecting the environment from erosion. They are classed on a scale of one to five boots. The most demanding we had done so far is two boots. So, four boots? Ben Macdui. How far could we make it? C’est Lionel, notre fishmonger français ici en Dornoch. He is très friendly. He drives here every Wednesday all the way from Aviemore where he runs his shop, parking next to the Cathedral, opposite to the Coop. He’s been in Scotland some fourteen years and in the seafood business for over forty years. |
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