The Kirkstone Pass and Shakespears Stomping Ground

Day 7 - May 31st

Given the local’s didn’t really like us (or liked us too much), we left early from Loch Lubraig headed to the Lake District.

We took the motorway for the better part of the morning and then headed off on to the smaller A and B roads through the Lake District. If you ever drive in England, you will always see more of the local area and natural beauty by getting off the M roads and on this occasion we certainly did.

Mum and I outside the Kirkstone Pass Inn

We headed through Ullswater towards Lake Windermere and without knowing, headed up the Kirkstone Pass which is about 1500ft high and has a pub at the top which goes back to 1496.

WTF?

 Claire and I had seen the pub on a show a couple of months back as an old English fellow flogged his 1930’s Morgan up the hill (20% grading) to get to it.

For most of my time in England I’ve avoided tap ales/beer like the plaque as it is generally warm and the mechanism, which they use to pour, the amber nectar seems somewhat disturbing – i.e. it’s a dirty old pipe they physically pump to get the beer out.

On this occasion though, I tried a pint of the local bitter with fish and chips and the combination was magnificent.

After lunch we trundled slowly down the hill towards Lake Windermere to find The Stags Head, where Mum and Dad had their honeymoon 44 years ago in August.

Claire and I at Kirkstone Pass looking out over the hill we trundled down later.

We spent the better part of 30 minutes trying to find the hotel, as it was not in the place Mum remembered it being. Given 44 years had passed since the last time Mum had been there I suggested that maybe it had either been pulled down or moved.

After being told to move from a bus stop by the local parking Gestapo, we managed to find that it was still in the same spot only that a number of buildings had been put up around it so it was blocked from view.

Our next stop was Stratford-Upon-Avon, where we managed to find a good wild camping spot by the canal and only 5 minutes walk into town. We picked up a couple of pizzas from the supermarket and enjoyed them with a few glasses of red by the water.

Dinner on the Avon River - Stratford Upon Avon

Following dinner we took Mum up the street to see Shakespears house, however, this didn’t appear as important as getting Mum to a toilet. As we couldn’t find any public facilities, Mum barged her way into the local Chinese takeaway to use theirs.

Bit of light hearted fun after Mums visit to the local Chinese shop. "Hold the noodles, I just want your loo!"

To be honest, much of our trip has been spent taking the Asylum Seeking Sloth from one public facility to the next.

Sun setting over the town of Stratford Upon Avon

Golf in Scotland and those fucking Midges again!

Day 6 - May 30th

Oban was chosen as a destination as it was the ferry point to get over to the Isle of Iona. This was another stop on the ‘spiritual journey’ for Mum, so Claire and I decided to leave her to her own devices.

Given we had been carrying a set of golf clubs all the way through Scotland without been taken out, I was itching at the chance of getting a round in. As we are on a £40 per day budget, I had agreed to not play a round of golf at St Andrews, so opted for the next best thing and played at Glencruittan golf club.

Now St Andrews may be the home of golf, host the British open now again and have played part in some of the most historic golf moments of all time, but I can guarantee you would have not had a cat follow you from holes 1 to 3 to watch your game.

Yes, you heard me right – a cat.

Claire and Golf Moggy!

As I prepared to putt for par on the first green, a cat came bounding out of the bushes and up to the edge of the green to say hello to Claire.

It then joined me to tee off on the second, followed me down the fairway to the green and then over to the 3^rd tee!

3rd Tee at Glencruittan - the cat is out of the shot watching in awe.

After golf we had a few hours to kill while we waited for Mum to return to decided to catch up on a few emails in the local pub and sort out the remaining odds and ends we needed to tie up in the UK before we left.

We then headed to Carnavan Sands to tidy up the van and finally get the bike out for a spin. The bike went like a dream and it was great zipping around the Scottish coastal roads, although it didn’t last long as the rain came in and made riding a little bit miserable.

After collecting mum from the ferry port we headed back down south towards Glasgow as we had a long drive over the coming few days to get Maxi into the mechanic for a cam belt and power steering change.

Now, why we decided to camp in the same spot that we were attacked by midge’s days earlier, I fail to understand. But we did.

On this occasion we were a little more prepared – i.e. we didn’t go outside, but pretty much spent the better half of the evening trying to kill the little bastards only to find that they were coming in through the skylight fly wire.

Sleep that night was a little restless as both Claire and I imagined that we had midges coming in biting us. Looking at our bodies the next morning, seemed to suggest that it was our mind playing tricks on us, as we didn’t have too many bites. I guess it’s like when you see a couple of ants and immediately start to scratch yourself.

The most picturesque camping ground yet!

Day 5 - May 29th

After finishing breakfast and waiting for the local toilets to open (yes this is what my life has come to), we headed towards the town of Glencoe – another stop on Mums spiritual journey.

Walking through the woodlands near Glencoe.

We left Mum to go into the visitor’s center while Claire and I took a quick walk around the local area to stretch the legs and get out of the van as we’d spent a considerable amount of time in it to date. Glencoe is famous for the massacre of 45 McDonald scots back in 1692.

Mum enjoyed her time there thoroughly and we then headed south towards the amazing town of Oban. Despite only being 5 days in, Mum was complaining about the need to do washing so we decided to check into a camping ground and pay to stay.

It was a very good decision, as we came across quite possibly the most picturesque caravan and camping ground I have seen – and only £7 per person per night.

Another Scottish castle near Oban

The grounds were situated about 3 miles out of Oban itself and down a single-track road. The road and idiotic school bus driver managed to claim the first hubcap for the trip, as I had to dive into the gutter to avoid her coming through and took it off on the adjacent stonewall.

We quickly parked and setup and left Mum to do her washing, while Claire and I headed off on a much needed bike ride around town and the surrounding countryside.

Our evening was spent cooking up a delicious chili marinara with local seafood (from the Tesco freezer), a few glasses of the local beer and a stroll up to the top of the campgrounds looking out over the loch and hilly terrain.

View from the top of one of the hills in the Oban camping ground. Photo was taken at 10:30pm at night!

I also managed to pilfer a couple of bits of timber to use as a motorbike ramp. A good day all rounds.

Van Repairs and Fort George

Day 4 - May 28th

After being treated to a good 3-4 days of above average temperatures and sunshine, Scotland turned to its good old self and turned grey and slightly wet.

The reason for us being in Findhorn was for Mum to continue her ‘spiritual journey’ and visit the local Findhorn Community Centre.

While we left mum with her spiritual friends, Claire and I headed off to a local hardware store to get some materials to repair the leak in our water tank, which was leaving us with a couple of inches of water in the cabin after we used the sink. Luckily the repair was quite simple and just cost us a .69 pence roll of Teflon tape.

Our wild camping site in Fort George with seaside view.

We then headed towards Fort George, which turned out to be an actual working fort. Unfortunately, we missed the huge sign stating ‘No Civilian Vehicles’ and managed to scare a few security guards as we drove in at a million miles an hour with a rather large white van.

Nonetheless, the security guard proceeded to insult us about our stupidity (granted really) and my driving. We then headed back the way we came, to end up parking in Fort George Town on the side of the street with another sea view, albeit next to a petrol station with a number of old pieces of heavy machinery.

Ahh….the joys of Wild Camping.

The worst way to find out what a Midge is.

Day 3 - 27th May

During my time in the UK, I’ve heard quite a number of Poms complain about Midges. Being Australian and knowing how bad we’ve got it with the mosquitoes and vast array of other bugs at home, I’ve generally taken these Midges as just another whine of the English.

This has now all been proven incorrect. Midges are quite possibly the most diabolical insects known to man. I hope they have some purpose in the future, as I can see no value of them to this Earth whatsoever.

What’s so bad about them you say? Well, they travel in huge packs, are so small that they crawl through your fly screen wiring to get at you and are resistant to fly spray and every other insect repellant we had in the van.

Once they are on you, they pack a huge punch for their size and you are dumbfounded at the bite they can inflict considering their small stature. Then your body reacts – leaving huge red welts that make you look like you’ve contracted some sort of hideous skin infection.

Luke's legs after a couple of rounds with the Loch Lubraig Midges!

After doing a number of hours research on them, we found that they were particularly bad in the North West of Scotland – exactly where we were and it’s only the females that bite you. We also found that the best repellant for them (and used by the British Marines) is Avon Skin & Body Lotion!

I can just imagine a bunch of the world toughest and most deadly marines camped out in the Scottish Highlands moisturizing each other with Avon’s secret weapon.

Claire and I are now on the lookout for Avons special sauce before we hit up Scandinavia, as they apparently as bad there as they are in the NW tip of Scotland – awesome!

After leaving Loch Lubraig and the midges, we headed north to Findhorn stopping in Pitlorchy for lunch and in Forres for supplies.

Lunch in Pitlorchy

Findhorn is a small coastal town about an hour east of Inverness. We made our way around town to find our next wild camping spot and managed to find a car spot on Findhorn Bay big enough to fit Maxi.

Although, this was only the second place we wild camped, Findhorn is still coming first in the Wild Camping Appreciation Scale (WCAS), which is a measure of the security, facilities, view and slope of a camping site.

As you can see by the picture on the blog, it was a tremendous site and only let down by the ‘Shitability’ rating – i.e. ease of access to local toilet facilities.

View from our campervan door in Findhorn. Rating of 24 on WCAS.

Coffee and cake by the beach campfire in Findhorn.

The night was spent having a great meal of salmon and vegetables from the van and then a campfire on the beach 3 metres from our door, while we ate the left over chocolate cake from Dorothys and drank coffee and rum.

The Sun in Sunderland and then on to Scotland

Day 2 - 26th May

After a quick shower, breakfast and a bucket of coffee with Dorothy (plus waiting a good couple of hours while Mum sorted out her luggage), we headed off to Sunderland to have lunch with family friends of ours - Michael and Val at the Little Haven Hotel.

This was our second visit to Sunderland, as we had been there in 2011 after finishing the Coast-to-Coast ride from the east to west of England. Despite what people say about the weather up north Sunderland was again true to its name and we were again greeted with a beautiful day of about 23 degrees and sunshine in Sunderland.

Val, Mum and Claire enjoying the Sunderland Sun.

Following lunch we headed north again towards Scotland, with no particular destination in mind apart from being somewhere near Sterling.

Scottish Border Air Guitar

Mum, Claire and I at the balmy Scottish Border

Mum not really understanding the concept of the 'Crazy Pose' - I guess she looks crazy anyway.

This was our first real attempt at ‘Wild Camping’ (camping anywhere you don’t need to pay and are not at risk of physical harm), so we were fairly unfamiliar with the key things to look out for.

We passed through a number of towns, which had obviously had issue with our type as the local car parks, gardens and even supermarkets reminded us that there would be ‘No Overnight Camping’!

As the sun started to set (about 10pm in Scotland at this time of year), we were still plodding along the winding roads of the Scottish lakes when we came across a camping site, which would suit quite well but Luke was driving to fast to slow Maxi down and we sailed right past the entrance.

Lucky for us, there was another picnic area less than a mile up the road and we made sure we travelling at a suitable speed to make the turn in.

Being a Saturday night, about 25 degrees in Scotland and on a lake the campsite was packed to the hilt with drunken Scots. Actually, I take that back. There appeared to be only one drunk Scotsman, who was so pissed and loud that it made up for everyone else.

Stroll along Loch Lubraig - with glass of wine in hand and no idea about the Midges at this stage.

Luckily none of us could understand a word he was saying, so it became white noise and we managed to tune out.

Following dinner we had a quick stroll down by the lake and Mum decided to help herself to a seat at someone else’s fire and begin rattling on at them about her spiritual journey. I didn’t complain as it gave my ears a rest for a while.  She later returned back to Maxi escorted by a dirty old drunken scot who was clearly hoping for a little more than a quick walk back home.

Morning walk up to the top of the hill just behind Loch Lubraig to get a view over the lake.

The Journey Begins

Hello and welcome to the first post of Claire and I’s travel blog - EuroOdyssey.

Now the title of this post is slightly misleading, as our journey has already begun. In fact as I write this, I am sitting on a ferry to France and we have already covered 1600 miles over the past 11 days.

Despite our original intentions of this trip being at a fairly relaxed pace, we have managed to do almost 1600 miles travelling as far as Findhorn in the north of Scotland and back down to Penzance, which is fairly damn close to the ass end of England.

Given the amount we have travelled in such a short space of time, I will try and keep this post succinct and just cover the highlights.

Day 1 – 25^th May - Leaving Newbury, picking up a SuperDream and sleeping in a driveway in Leeds.

After packing the last of our things into the van and donating a number of items we wouldn’t need on the trip to the local charity organisations (vacumme cleaner, dumbells), we departed Newbury around 1pm with our first destination being Lincoln in the middle of England.

Outside Blueberry Court Newbury just before hitting the road.

Not known for being a particularly exciting holiday destination, we were actually there to pick up a 1980 Honda 250 SuperDream that we had purchased a couple of weeks earlier on eBay.

Due to the size of our campervan (now affectionately known as Maxi) and its thirst for diesel, the bike will serve as another mode of transport around towns/cities we stay at on the way.

Getting the SuperDream into the back of Maxi

After getting the bike into the back of the van, we then headed up to Leeds to visit the wonderful Dorothy and Luke’s Mum (affectionately known as the ‘Asylum Seeking Sloth or ASS’ – more on that later).

As always, Dorothy was an amazing host for us and put on a huge feed, which was thoroughly appreciated after spending the better part of the day on UK motorways.

Our first night in Maxi was spent sleeping in Dorothy’s driveway, which was a welcome relieve from sleeping on the side of the road but came with a fairly sizeable slant, so we both woke up with fairly heavy heads.