As I had said, we were going oot and aboot for a bit.
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| A whole lot of out, and we definitely got about! |
Over the coming weeks, I'll try to convey as much as I can about our thirteen days of incredible adventures in the rugged beauty of Scotland. Apart from serving as my own memoranda of experiences that have left an indelible mark on both myself and Tanker, I hope to encourage others to consider exploring the incredible possibilities that await those who are willing to go beyond the cities and distilleries to behold this mountain-studded land in its true glory...or just to give you a taste of what we saw and felt as we did so.
Let's get on with it, shall we?
Our voyage began in utterly mundane fashion with the cheapest flight we could find, which fortunately took us direct from Toronto Pearson to Glasgow Airport with a minimum of fuss. We had arrived extra early at the airport, and had no issues at either end: we arrived with all of our luggage intact (save a zipper key having broken off an outer pocket of our single checked bag that we don't even use), a bit tired from departing at 7:15pm Toronto time and arriving at 7am Scotland time, or around 2am as our bodies were concerned.
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| Masks on from the time we entered YYZ until we exited the building at GLA |
We arrived to uncharacteristically hot, sunny weather in Glasgow - something that would become a bit of a theme for the trip as a whole.
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| Not a common view leaving the airport |
Our friend Craig from Freedom Campervans came to collect us, and drove us over to meet our home for the next two weeks:
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| Tank getting his first look at Mindy, a 2016 VW T6 Caledonian conversion (the other primary van's name is Mork) |
After offloading our luggage into Mindy, Craig took us off for an amazing brunch at the very allergy-aware Stack & Still. I had a huge plate of gluten & dairy-free pancakes with berries, walnuts, and maple sryup, while Tank was convinced to go for the "Big Breakfast Stack"
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| That's 2 big pancakes (the plate is enormous), baked beans, Lorne sausage, black pudding, bacon, sauteed onion, and a fried egg on top with chives |
With full bellies, it was time to try taking Mindy for a spin. A few things to keep in mind:
- We'd got up at 8:30am Toronto time on July 9th - it was now approximately 5am Toronto time
- Neither of us had ever driven on the left side of the road before
- Mindy was a right-hand-drive manual shift, meaning we'd have to shift with our left hand
With our things stowed in the van well enough for the moment, we did a full going-over of how the van's electrical systems, propane, diesel fuel, water tank, and components (roof, bed, rotating front seat) worked. Then Craig ran us through things that needed to be done prior to departure each day plus (electrical off, propane bottle off, unplug the power cord if using, and drop and secure the roof), and showed us the few existing bits of damage (just a couple of minor dents) whilst filming to ensure fair play with the insurance company. By just after noon, we were ready to roll...about 5 minutes away to a grocery store to stock up!
That was a fraught 5 minutes, let me tell you. Craig had been kind enough to pick up a UK SIM card for my mobile phone so I could use it without paying the punitive Canadian roaming charges (seriously - $15 per day to use my own SIM, or £10 for a MONTH with 16gb of data and unlimited calls & texts), so navigation only posed minor issues, but Scottish roads are very narrow, and the van is a bit wider than our Subaru, and there was some traffic..
We made it. There may have been some screaming, but no collisions.
Then, the bewildering experience of trying to grocery shop in a new country, where aisles aren't necessarily organized or labelled as you'd expect. It's bad enough trying to find what you need when you go to a different store than usual in your own town: now try it sleep deprived in a foreign land. Still, we eventually found everything we wanted, about $180 CAD at Tesco Extra later.
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| If you wonder about the bottled water, some prior renter of Mindy had filled the water tank with diesel so it wasn't drinkable, and we didn't plan to go to a caravan park that night |
With our supplies stowed and the tiny refrigerator packed to the gills, we headed out of Glasgow via the fastest way possible. With a bit of air conditioning in the grocery store and some time out of traffic, Tanker was a bit more relaxed at the wheel. We hit the dual carriageway toward Stirling, and Tank found it the perfect way to get to know Mindy.
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| Our first taste of the M8 |
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| The van was really quite comfortable, if unfamiliar |
Our first stop was a major historical monument - we knew only of the statue there, but quickly discovered there was so much more to this momentous site.
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| This page has an excellent overview, should you choose to become better acquainted |
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| The inscriptions read: "For God and St. Andrew Robert the Bruce King of Scots planted his Standard near this spot when the Scottish Patriots under his command vanquished the Army of Edward II of England at the Battle of BANNOCKBURN 24th June 1314" "We fight not for glory, nor for wealth, nor honour but only and alone we fight for freedom which no good man surrenders but with his life" |
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| The axe head topping the Saltire's pole nods to the bloody history of Scottish independence |
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| Stirling Castle - stronghold of Edward II - is visible to the north |
Beyond the memorial, the statue we'd originally come to see:
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| Robert the Bruce - King of Scots |
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| The irony of the statue having been erected by Robert's enemies |
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| A striking tribute to the first ruler of free Scotland |
With our respects paid, we walked down the hill to the van and set off for the next part of our journey.
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| With a bit more dual carriageway before the real fun began |
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| Here we go! |
Truth be told, we missed Loch Lomond - the biggest lake in Britain - entirely. I'm sure its banks are as bonny as we've all been told, but Craig had advised against our original routing past it due to very narrow roads. Having seen the A84 and A85 through it, we are 100% certain this was the correct course for us, as the twisting, undulating secondary highways were more than stressful enough! I don't have any photos as I was too busy clinging to my seat in the van as we swung through the endless blind curves, perilously close to the crumbling edges of the road, or to ancient stone walls that gave no quarter to our sliver of lane.
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| Even my watch got cute about it |
We pulled over into laybys when queues of faster traffic (read: everyone) formed behind us, so as not to try the patience of other drivers too much. Tank gained smoothness and confidence with each shift, and got some experience backing Mindy into a tiny car park when we pulled off at Leny Woods as I'd seen something about a waterfall on Google maps.
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| We didn't see the fall, but we did get a nice look at Garbh Uisge |
A couple of very helpful National Parks Service wardens saw us a bit uncertain, and stopped their van to have a chat - they said we'd be welcome to park up for the night at Leny Woods, but to always check signage about to ensure that overnight parking was permitted. Here's the thing: the Scottish Outdoor Access Code basically permits anyone to ramble about and camp where they please, as long as they're not jerks about it. It's simple and beautiful, and permits people with a campervan (ahem!) a lot of freedom to roam and camp all over the countryside.
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| ..and what a place to have such a privilege! |
We weren't done our day's journey yet, though, so we pressed onward. The road emerged from the forest into rolling hills, and widened enough that I could finally un-clench a bit.
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| YEAH! |
We stopped in another roadside car park to have a good look at Loch Lubnaig, soaking in the sun.
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| Weary as I was, I sorely envied those paddleboarders! |
Speaking of weary: as the forest around us gave way to open vistas, Tank's yawning became virtually constant. Now at nearly 24hrs without sleep, I suggested we take advantage of having a bed along with us, and we pulled over just north of the Glen Ogle Viaduct - the first bit of Roman architecture we'd seen so far.
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| And quite picturesque it was, too |
We parked up in a gravel lot beside a motorhome, pulled out the bed, and flopped down for a nap. About an hour and a half later, Tank was feeling a bit more awake - though we were both absolutely soaked with sweat. I had a quick wee in the long grass off the path that intersected the car park, then we got on our way again.
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| Tank ready to go as I pause to snap a pic of Mindy and the Rob Roy Way trail signage |
We continued north, with slightly less yawning as the Highlands rose around us. Having driven through mountain ranges in both eastern (Laurentians) and western Canada (Rockies) plus the northeastern US (Green, White, Allegheny & Great Smokies), I was unprepared for how truly ancient the worn peaks of Scotland would appear.
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| Suddenly "as old as the hills" took on a whole new meaning |
We stopped at the Loch Tulla viewpoint to try to take it in, the sun still high in the sky as the clock crept toward 7pm.
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| ..and what a view it was! |
It also happens to be the location of an interesting cairn, which we both thought quite moving.
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| With paths leading off in every direction from it |
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| Top plaque |
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| Lower plaque |
We had designs on a couple of Munros along our way, but those would be for other days - for now, we were just looking for a spot to park up for the night, while rolling along and enjoying the stunning views.
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| Someone has already claimed the layby on the right |
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| The landscape just kept getting more impressive |
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| Crazily, the road works crews were only just wrapping up at 7pm on a Sunday! |
When we reached the Glen Coe viewpoint, we knew we'd found our home for the night.
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| Looking north toward tomorrow |
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| A trail - known as a "walk" in the UK - led off from the small car park |
Further walks were visible everywhere - criss-crossing and switchbacking over the sides of the mountains, and winding off into the distance in every direction. They were seldom more than patches of grass or gravel worn by the passage of feet, but it became very clear to us that Scotland takes its right to wander quite seriously, and has done so for centuries.
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| Tanker for scale - I'm not sure we've ever felt so small |
The heat of the day was fading quickly in the dry air of the valley, so we set up Mindy for the night and got into some warmer clothes.
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| Ready for our first night of #vanlife |
We had bought another SIM card for Tank when we stopped at the grocery store, and seeing that I had a decent amount of coverage in the valley between the enormous peaks that surrounded us, I took some time to set it up...slightly hampered by the fact that our mutual provider refused to take a credit card with a billing address outside the UK to purchase the pay-as-you-go plan we wanted (mine had come with a £10 voucher already prepaid). I finally managed to use a third party site to buy a voucher, crossing my fingers that it would actually work and I wasn't just handing over credit card info to some scammer. Fortunately the PIN I received was accepted by the mobile company's app, and so now we both had functional phones for Scotland!
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| Though Tank did basically no posting or mapping, and basically just used his phone for sports scores and social media. |
I made us some dinner (zucchini, broccoli, chicken breast, and rice, cooked up with lots of garlic paste) on the propane stove in Mindy's little galley from the supplies we'd picked up in Glasgow, and we pulled out the camping table and chairs that Craig had kindly included with the van to have dinner on our "patio".
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| Then I wrote up my daily log entry while Tank took care of the dishes |
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| The sky took over the evening's entertainment |
Now here was a thing for which we weren't really prepared: we knew we were quite far north - just shy of the 57th parallel north, approximately the same latitude as Churchill, Manitoba (the polar bear capital of Canada) - and that sunset would be very late, around 10:15pm that evening. What we hadn't really comprehended was that this meant it wouldn't really get dark outside.
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| This is almost 11pm |
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| We began to wonder why we'd brought out headlamps.. |
We'd seen no wildlife at all except crows and the occasional sheep, but as the semi-darkness deepened we could hear a strange noise at intervals over the small ridge in front of the van. We had thought it might be sheep or goats calling to one another, but as we later learned what sheep bleating sounded like, it became clear it wasn't that. I was never able to catch sight of what was making the noise; there were at least 2 or 3 creatures in different places, all moving about in the gloom. Frogs perhaps? Wild goats? We've no idea.
As we laid down to sleep that night - some time after midnight, with the dew falling so heavily around us that it might as well have rained - I swear I heard hooves clatter across the crumbling, gravelly pavement outside the van. I tried shining my headlamp out through the window of the van, but the moisture in the air just reflected it and I couldn't see a thing past the glass.
We slept well, then rose the next day to see what else Scotland had in store for us..
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| Apart from thousands of foxgloves |
Stay tuned over the coming weeks as I take you on a tour of this incredible country.
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| .as seen through the eyes of a couple of rotten old punks! |
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