Highland Combi Adventure 2006

Rannoch Moor I
Originally uploaded by rtw2007.

Half term, October 2006: one van purchase later, we set off to the Highlands again for a re-run of Highland Combi Adventure 2005 in order to test out our new VW T5.

The van drove brilliantly and zoomed up the motorway just as easily as our car. We rejoiced at the differences between this trip and our trip in Hectar the 1970s VW combi which we had hired in 2005- although Hectar was loveable, we really appreciated not having to wear every item of clothing we had with us; not having to sit with our hands draped over the dashboard heaters for the whole journey; and not needing endless fried breakfasts /cups of tea / fish and chips to stay warm (OK, maybe that last bit was a good thing). Admittedly the new van of dreams doesn’t look anywhere near as good as Hectar in photos, but overall we were really pleased with it.

Highland Combi Adventure 2006 itinerary:

Day 1: London to Yorkshire to stay with mum in Silkstone overnight. Gave mum the guided tour of the van, which took all of about 5 minutes (tops). She made suitably impressed noises – whether that was because she was actually impressed or simply because she was relieved that the new van is more reliable looking than Hectar, we were not sure.

Day 2: After lunch at the Potting Shed, we headed up through the Yorkshire Dales towards the Lake District, with the aim of sussing out areas where we might potentially buy a house post-RTW2007.

We hadn't even got through North Yorkshire when we realised that we were running low on diesel. We hit a series of towns and villages in which the petrol stations had all closed down. After one minor panic (think what we would have been like had we been in Kazakhstan instead of Catterick...) and one resolution to fill up our jerry cans ASAP at the next opportunity, we set off again through the beautiful Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Michael took over the driving as we turned off the main road towards a house on a farming lane which we had seen advertised by one of the estate agents. Within 20 seconds of arriving at the house, we were stuck in a ditch. The perfectly innocent looking grass verge was in fact a bog and our front right wheel instantly sank deep into the mud. Michael got out our spade, only to discover that our efforts to be well prepared by carrying a spade had been ruined by the fact that we had a chosed a folding spade which collapsed upon contact with even the softest ground. So we were not going to be able to dig ourselves out. Michael gathered flat stones and pieces of wood to lodge under the front wheel to give some traction, but to no avail. We had no phone reception, so no AA to the rescue, though we will have to get used to that given the countries we are going to. And it was getting dark very quickly.

Michael sprinted off to the next farm and came back with the farmer and his wife. The burly Yorkshire farmer in his rubber trousers prodeeded to make us feel completely usless by getting stuck in with much gusto and far more success than we had managed, directing digging and reversing in a compeltely unflappable manner. Eventually, after Michael's ankles had been snapped at by the farmer's many dogs, one of which got so far as to bite a hole in his sock, we eventually managed to get out of the mud. We had nothing to thank the farmer with other than three cans of continental lager, which he unsurprisingly didn't seem to impressed by. But at least we were out. The owner of the house we had been looking at was no doubt delighted to come home to the enormous hole we had left in the grass verge.....

Having had our first experience of why four wheel drive is a very very good plan, and having been left wondering what on earth we would have done had we been in the middle of nowhere in the Uzbek desert when we got stuck in the mud, we continued our journey to Dent for some food and some good Yorkshire bitter from the Dent brewery to cheer us up.

Day 3: A quick drive to Sedbergh to look around and drive past the school (still thinking about houses and jobs for post RTW2007); a picnic just outside Kendal; and then a drive on to Kendal to do some shopping in Booths and pop in for a cup of tea with George and Margaret at Kendal Green. We heard about their holiday to climb Mt Kilimanjaro and picked their brains about moving to Kendal, local houses and schools etc, before driving off towards Scotland.

We managed to find the unfriendliest campsite in the world, which refused to let us stay for no apparent reason other than general grumpiness, but we were saved by the owner of a hotel in Tarbet who let us park in his car park alongside all of the old people's Wallace Arnold coaches - oh, the glamour.

Day 4: Tarbet to Fort William. Breakfast in Crianlarich; then a drive to Fort William for delicious hot roasts in warm rolls; followed by the purchase of some new walking boots for Helen and a short walk around Ben Nevis to test them out.

Day 5: An early start for the drive to up the beatuiful Great Glen to Loch Lochy, for Helen's first attempt at a Munro. Meall na Teanga is on the north-west side of Loch Lochy, just north of the Laggan Swing Bridge, near Kilfinnan. The mountain is part of the range above the forest which runs alongside the loch. Its only about 3011 feet on a fairly worn path, making it one of the easier Munros, but you climb up all the way from sea level and that it quite enough for a first timer. It was bitterly cold and the tomato soup in a flask which we had made in the van was very welcome. Progress was fairly slow and Helen decided that a power nap (in the middle of the path, halfway up the Munro!) would help with progress, which indeed it did. We had some great views on the way up, though the summit was shrouded in mist and there was no view at all from up there.

On the way down, we saw three RAF jets doing test runs down the length of the Great Glen, which is quite a sight against such a spectacular background, especially from the forest path where the jet felt incredibly close and certainly was close enough for us to be able to see the pilot. We also saw the jets refuelling from a Nimrod in formation, which again is incredibly skillful.

After the walk we headed off for fish and chips in Fort Augustus; a quick look at Castle Urquhart, which looks pretty spectacular lit up at night; a glance at a house for sale in Drumnadrochit (rather too close to the Nessie tourist tat for our liking); and then onto Bunchrew campsite just outside Inverness.

Day 6: Inverness and the Black Isle. The weather today was reportedly the worst in the Highlands for seven years, with flooding and strong gales. We wandered around Inverness and then went over to the Black Isle towards the "beautiful" village of Cromarty. Unfotunately, the rather extreme weather meant that our visit was tinged with fear of death (well, maybe not quite that bad). It was blowing a gale and lashing rain. On the drive back, we came across upturned trees across the middle of the road, forcing us to turn around, and also an overturned van. Lovely. But a late night visit to Hootenanny's and the classy Cactus Jack's in Inverness cheered us up somewhat.

Day 7: Another day in Inverness, including viewing a house in the Crown District; a long walk by the river to the Ness Islands and back via the Caledonian Canal; and lots of visits to Starbucks to warm up.

Day 8: From the campsite just south of Inverness, we took a detour to Loch Morlich, then went up Cairngorm mountain (the cheating way on the funicular railway) and got interviewed by some bloke who tape recorded our pearls of wisdom on how they should improve the "Cairngorm Experience".

We then went back down to Aviemore via Loch Morlich and started the seemingly endless drive back to mum's in Yorkshire via Perth, the Forth Road Bridge, a scary trip to Lindisfarne Island in the dark (avec ghosts) and endless stretches of barren Northumberland wilderness.....

Day 9: Yorkshire to London and the end of Highland Combi Adventure 2006.

This is our last test post..... roll on 6th April 2007 (start of RTW2007) and more particularly 10th April 2007 (ferry from Newcastle to Bergen).....