In Conclusion

Written a few days after our return with the van emptied, cleaned and parked up until next time, we've looked back to work out our reactions.

The Outer Hebrides, or Western Isles as they are also known, have their own unique setting with varied scenery, albeit of course on a much smaller scale than the mainland. But the quiet ambiance is something that took some getting used to. The people are extremely friendly, although there aren't many of them and perhaps it was the isolation that initially made us unsure. If there is one feature that must be highlighted, it's the stunning beaches of pure white sand that dominate the western coasts of most of the islands, difficult to get to in many cases but almost always deserted, and when the sun comes out....

But that is what we have concluded, you must have decent weather and in this respect we were perhaps a little disappointed. It's not a lot of consolation to be regularly told that this was not normal for May and our lasting memory will be of the wind. Not rain, which looking back we didn't have much problem with (mainly at night).

The islanders also don't seem to take tourism seriously, although T.I. offices are at every main location. Ancient Monuments, seen in the distance but not signposted or on many occasions apparently inaccessible; campsites, few and far between, other opportunities such as wild camping having been curtailed (though we can understand why). Perhaps it's because the islands are difficult to access, necessitating the use of ferries although they are very efficient. Or perhaps it's just that the people themselves are very happy with their way of life and don't want it disturbed.

Whatever, we have come to the conclusion that if it's peace and quiet you are after, The Western Isles are definitely a place to be experienced. We loved it.

Friday 31 May

Fickle this Scottish weather - today it's grey and misty. We had thought of taking a day to visit one of the gardens around the Oban area, in the hope that further south there would be more to see. However the weather discouraged this so an executive decision was made to head home. It's quite a way from here but we're in no rush so set the satnav, service the van (just in case) and head home.

We won't go into much detail, we've travelled these roads a number of times before yet they are still attractive. A lunch stop at Callendar, around the Edinburgh City Bypass and then the favourite A68 to Jedburgh. Arriving at our usual afternoon break time, the offer of Tea For Two at the Jedburgh Woollen Mill took our fancy so we indulged ourselves in sandwiches, huge scones, fairy cakes and enough tea to float a battleship!

Alas all good things come to an end so a final cruise home in improving weather saw us arrive early evening.

Thursday 30 May

Idyllic as it was, the wind again encouraged us to move on. However we felt that, despite the cost, this was a place we'd love to come back to. Whilst servicing the van, we realised the site was also the starting point for a popular walking trail into the Cuillin Mountains and many people were taking advantage of the fine weather. This was also evident on the road back out where it seemed every available foot of parking space had been taken up with hikers cars. But at least they kept the passing places free.

Much as we were enjoying ourselves, we had commitments at home and thus we had already resolved to head slowly south. Taking the road bridge we regretfully left beautiful Skye and crossed onto the mainland, where of course the scenery was quite different but no less attractive.
Lunching in a wild camping spot, we decided Oban was a good target for tonight, as long as we had enough fuel to get there (Tesco fuel voucher - remember it?) alas entering Fort William the warning light came on so a stop at a reasonably priced service station (we had seen some outrageous prices) to fill up. Then just down the road was the obligatory woollen mill where we paused for last minute prezzies.

On checking the map we noticed a Caravan Club site at Bunree, just down the road. This site features on the main page of the CC website and looked very attractive - but don't use a satnav to find it..... Although the sign said "Full" we thought we'd try anyway and were delighted when the warden allocated us their "spare" pitch as we only wanted one night. I have to say that we haven't ever (yet) been turned away from a Caravan Club site, despite what the critics of their system might say.

Beautiful evening, so chairs out and enjoy it while it lasts.