Hotel bang in the middle of the city. Bags dropped off, bearings found, so off for a wander and a sing song in one of the local pubs! Too late for dinner so crisps and beer had to suffice!
Woke up bright and early, perhaps a little dusty and croaky from all the singing but excited to be picking up the van today. Before hopping on a local bus to Haddington, bags and Bear in tow, we had an early lunch in another local establishment – Angus beef pie with chips and of course the local speciality, Haggis, Neets and tatties, served with a whiskey gravy, DELICIOUS!
Then a hop onto a local bus to Haddington, a lovely little town 30 mins south of Edinburgh to meet the van owner in Tesco car park, sure enough 3:00 pm sharp with met our van and it was love at van site!
Quick shuffle from East to West Scotland with a gentle blast past Glasgow. Booked a camp site in Largs to suss out the truck before braving the wild camping that followed. Met a local lass romping around the place in the morning.
Enough if that now, off we go into the wilds. still can’t get that bloody song out of my head….
You’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low road,
And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye.
Where me and my true love will never meet again,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.
Loch Lomond it was then before we got told to move along by the local rangers! Broad Scottish harder to understand than a rare Swahili dialect, but the no overnight parking message came through loud and clear! Honeymoon Ridge sounds cute and was. Three handy motorhome sized spaces just off the road. Trotted up the hill for a pre dinner stroll, then broke out the BBQ and got stuck into a doorstop sized slab of salmon. All good until around dusk when we had our first midge encounter. We had been forewarned about these clouds of Scottish terrorists and hid in our van!
Early start the next day, midges still in bed so headed North. Took the long route round via Oban. Stopped off at a handy roadside stop for a bite, then again a bit further for a shoofty around an ancient castle
Loch Etive next, right on the bank.
You can park overnight in Scotland, pretty much anywhere that says don’t. Best of all, free! Food and fluids dictate the number of days. Tiny, gas powered fridge on board good for 3-4 days worth of stuff plus almost unlimited tinned/dried is awesome. Sizeable fresh water tank also good for at least 4 days. Cassette thingy under the dunny is somewhat more restrictive. Supermarkets, pubs etc all have handy toilets but the ’ahem’, liquid waste is pretty much 3 days max, even with the ban on Mr Whippy and his antisocial chums! Water also getting low so checked into a camp site called Creagans Station where we showered and did all the necessary stuff to ensure a comfortable next few days of free camping! There was also a fabulous old pub within walking distance where we enjoyed a couple of drinks and scoffed some fish and chips.
Nothing beats the freedom of being able to camp any where and wake up in different and beautiful locations everyday and then just going and stopping when you feel like it!
Heading off towards the highlands now ….