Scotland Part 1

Our first night in Scotland was spent camped in the grounds of a castle at Lauder. Ben went in to sort out a spot and came out 20 minutes later with a new friend and a very confused look on his face. The owner had been talking to him nonstop but Ben had only understood about 1 word in 5. Luckily he drew a map and we managed to find our campsite.

The next day we continued heading North and bypassed the major cities heading for Aberdeen. The drive up was gorgeous. We had hoped for a night in a hotel to break up the monotony that is living in a Tarago. Unfortunately we were out of luck as every hotel in Aberdeen was fully booked. Instead we got the opposite – our first night of free camping out in the wilds (a forrestry commision carpark is kind of wild I figure) of Scotland. It’s legal in Scotland to “free camp” with a few minor restrictions you can pretty much pull over and spend the night anywhere – as long as you’re not too fussy when it comes to little luxuries like toilets, showers, electricity and running water. Luckily we’re not.

After a suprisingly good nights sleep we set off for Dufftown. The Scotch capital of the highlands. We booked in for the first tour of the day at the oldest distillery in the area which just happened to be the base for Chivas Regal. Ben happily gave me the role of designated driver and tasted to his hearts content. Lucky for him I hate the stuff so he got mine as well. I think revenge for all my boozy winery tours.

After Chivas Regal we headed over to the Glenfiddich distillery. As Ben had already had 6 glasses of scotch and it was only 11:30 we did what any self respecting grey nomad would do and treated ourselves to a devonshire tea. Then off we went on the tourist trail down the side of Loch Ness. We got a great campsite half way down the loch and literally a stones throw from it (to prove the point I threw stones into the Loch while drinking cider outside the campervan). Not only did I see 1 Loch Ness monster – I saw 4 – and no they are not just out of focus ducks!

Ben at Glenfiddich

The view of Loch Ness from our campsite

Scary Loch Ness monsters


Loch Ness campsite

The next morning we headed south to the bottom of the Loch then drove back along the other side. It was amazing. A lot less touristy, and not as good a view of the Loch but the mountains and valleys were even more beautiful I thought. We headed for Inverness where we spent the rainy, cold afternoon happily tucked away in a pub. Ben had his first Haggis and really liked it, better than horse apparently.

That night we scoured the road directory for what looked like nice places to camp and we found the best. We drove for about an hour up a narrow windy road into the mountains and just as we were about to give up we saw it. The perfect campsite. A flat gravel riverbank nestled between breathtaking mountains with a gorgeous stream and not a house in site. Heaven.
In the morning faced with the usual problem of not having a shower Ben took the courageous decision to strip down and wash in the stream. I think cold is an understatement and he couldn’t feel his feet – or much else – when he got out. He was however clean something that could not be said for me or any of our clothes.

Loch Ness scenery

Highland cows

Perfect campsite

That day we drove right to the top of Scotland and visited the lighthouse at the most Northern point of mainland Britain then spoiled ourselves by checking in to a very expensive campsite complete with hot showers AND a laundry. Money well spent in my opinion. The next day we were back on the road and headed along the top of scotland and then down the west coast. It was amazing. The scenery is breathtaking.
Unfortunately we were attacked by midges and I was held prisoner in the car for hours around sunset. For some reason they didn’t like Ben and he could stand outside in shorts and a t-shirt without too much trouble.

Speaks for itself really

Beach at John O'Groats

Highland scenery - gorgeous


After a couple of nights camping down the west coast we headed out to the Isle of Skye. When we arrived the cloud was so low we could barely see 50m in front of the car. We managed to drive around and find a campsite and Ben "volunteered" to cook. As we were cooking to crazy scots pulled up next to us and proceeded to change into their swimmers and go for a swim. Bear in mind it was pouring rain and about 5 degrees. They asked us how we were enjoying summer but I detected no sarcasm.

More Highland Scenery

Ben cooking in the rain Isle of Skye

Isle of Skye - our campsite was in those mountains

The next morning the clouds lifted and we discovered just how beautiful our campsite really was. We did a circuit around the Isle of Skye and then headed towards Fort William with a quick stop at the gorgeous Eilean Donan castle.

Highland stream

Eilean Donan Castle