Out of office on……

Our second outing in the campervan took us out to the west coast of Scotland and to the Isle of Skye...it was a brilliant trip with the Cammy performing well and us experiencing some amazing sights during the week 🙂 We headed off on 20 July, up through Stirling and then Glen Coe - although it was dull and showery there were spots of brightness and the views of the mountains were brill. We stopped briefly at Fort William to stock up on food and drink and then continued on our way (after stopping to let a wild deer cross the road!) past the Glenfinnan monument to our final stop for the day, a lovely (if not a little basic) small campsite at Arisaig called Invercaimbe campsite. We arrived around 6.30pm...unfortunately the weather wasn't great by this time however we had a little wander around and took in the coastal views over towards the Islands of Eigg and Rum. It was a wet and very windy night so we didn't sleep amazingly! The next morning we drove about 10 minutes north to Mallaig where we got the 30 min ferry over to Armadale on the Isle of Skye. We drove up to Broadford and then out westwards (enjoying the views and changing scenery on the way) on our first single track dead end road to Elgol where we parked up and walked towards Camasunary beach, taking in the great views of the Cuillens and coast on the way. We then headed back to Broadford for a spot of lunch in the van before heading further north and taking our second single track dead end road of the day towards Glenbrittle, stopping to take a walk up to the famous Fairy Pools - streams and waterfalls overlooked by the Cuillens. We then drive back to Sligachan and booked into the campsite that sits at the base of the hills (great views!). We felt it only right we head to the pub opposite the site for a couple of pints and some tea 🙂 While at the campsite we sorted out our portaloo (filling it with the right stuff for the flush etc) and also got the gas hooked up correctly so from now on we could wild camp (which is legal across Scotland)...exciting! The next morning we headed northwest to Dunvegan and then taking yet another single track dead end road to Neist Lighthouse (about 12 miles one way....30mins drive) and walked out to the lighthouse which has been operated remotely since 1990. The views of and from the coastline were brill....this was one of my favourite spots on the whole trip and it was lovely just walking around and taking in the sights. We headed back to Dunvegan for a spot of lunch (staying in the van to miss a few heavy showers in between the sunshine) and then yes, you guessed it, we headed out on another dead end road on the Waternish peninsula to Claigan. From here we walked 30mins to 'Coral Beach' - a beach literally formed by broken coral making it look tropical in the sun with clear waters and white beach. It was rather windy when we were there and despite getting caught in the odd shower the views were worth the walk. Back in the van we headed southeast to the main town of Portree where we found a layby just south of the town for our first night of 'wild' camping (it was just off a little used single track road and another camper pulled up next to us so it wasn't that wild!). At this point we had planned to also include a visit to the Isle of Harris & Lewis in our trip, however looking into ferry timings and costs (and the fact that we were enjoying Skye) we decided that would have to be another trip. So we spent the next morning in Portree and then headed up the coast to the north of Skye. Stopping just 6 miles from Portree we took a 1.5hr walk up to the 'Old Man of Storr' (a pinnacle of rock caused by a landslide) - despite the rain and a bit of a climb the views were ace. After drying out we continued on to the 'Quirang' - another amazing landscape caused by a landslide. We had lunch in the van to miss passing showers and then headed out for a short walk around the area....great views of the Trotternish peninsula! We then continued on the coast road right around the north of the Island (great coastal views of the Islands, mainland and dramatic coastline of Skye) to the east town of Uig which is where we would have caught the ferry to Harris. The harbour town consisted of a shop, garage, pub and also a small campsite where we stayed the night. This was the only time we were bothered with midges as the weather was sunny and still. The next day remained warm but there was also heavy showers. We drove back to Portree where we made an egg and bacon butty in the van and had a look around the shops. Once again we changed our plans - we had initially decided to head back on to the mainland and drive an hour or so north to the town of Plockton and then make our way south the next day (Saturday) however as the weather wasn't great and it was giving a sunny Saturday we decided to get the driving done today and spend Saturday in Oban where we would look to do a boat trip. So, at around 3.30pm (after having a look around the 'Aros experience' visitor's centre in Portree while it was pouring down) we headed south saying a fond farewell to Skye as we drove over the Skye bridge and down the A87 towards Fort William. The views on the drive down past Eilean Donan Castle (one of Scotland's most famous and photographed castles) and through the mountains, lochs and Great Glen were amazing - I was literally taking photos the whole way trying to capture the great views. After a pit stop at Fort William we continued down to the Appin peninsula (about 20mins from Oban) and found a brilliant little spot to stop in for the night overlooking Loch Crenan. We spent the evening with our heads out of the van watching the wildlife (which included jumping fish, a stork and a resident seal!) and sunset...best night of the trip! The next morning we admired the scenery and wildlife again before driving to Oban. After having a brief walk around the town (and sampling a prawn sandwich from the famous seafood hut on the pier...half of which got swiped by a cheeky seagull!!) we set off for Ellenbeich on the Isle of Seil (30 mins away including another dead end road much to Glenn's delight) where we had booked onto a 2 hour wildlife boat trip. The trip was good fun...taking us past the Islands of Scarba and Jura and through the gulf of Corryvreckan where we spotted common and grey seals, buzzards, shags, cormorants, porpoises, wild goats, red deer and a sea eagle's nest (but no sea eagle unfortunately!). The tour finished at 5.30pm at which point we headed back to Oban and booked into a nice campsite overlooking the bay for our final night of the trip. The next morning we utilised the campsite facilities (getting rid of our grey and chemical waste) before heading into the town for breckie and then driving back to Edinburgh via Stirling (about 4 hours in total). We both feel this was one of the best trips we've had (and right on our doorstep too!). We hadn't really researched things to do and see for this holiday - before leaving we booked only the ferry from Mallaig to Skye and our first night at Arisaig campsite and had a link to '10 best walks on Skye' that Mum had passed me. Looking back, this was ideal as this meant we didn't really have any expectations in our heads of what we were going to see or set plans on where we were going and as a result we felt the trip totally exceeded our expectations.  On Skye we ticked off the first 6 walks which provided a loose itinerary for places to visit, and these were obviously on the main tourist trail as the car parks were often full and the sights themselves were fairly busy with tourists however this didn't detract from our enjoyment. I also liked the fact that everything was free to visit (even the car parks) - even though the sights were all naturally occurring I'm sure other locations would charge an entrance or parking fee (which we would probably have been willing to pay as the sights were worth it) yet we were able to enjoy them for free. I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone who enjoys the outdoors and stunning scenery and I'm looking forward to taking a trip further up the west coast of Scotland and visiting more Islands in the future! 🙂