Our last night on Loch Lomond

Well, tomorrow morning we leave for Sandbach to get Stan serviced on our way home so it’s a last night looking out at the beautiful Loch Lomond from our windows. The weather has finally turned today after nearly 4 weeks of sunshine and Steve’s sister says snow is forecast for tomorrow – yikes! Guess it is time to leave…

This might be the last blog of the journey as don’t think we will get wi-fi over the next 3 days but might manage by making our smart phone into a wi-fi hotspot.

Think we would have been happy to stay away another couple of weeks but we’re glad to be coming home to Easter and hoping to catch up with a few mates.

Don’t know how to say “cheerio” in Gaelic but would if I could!

It's April Fool's Day!

But we're no fools staying on this lovely site! Can't believe the number of caravans and campers  arriving since we did. This is the most popular site we have stayed on and it's easy to see why. We've been getting weather forecasts saying the good weather was going for days but - although the temperatures are a bit lower - we've still go plenty of sunshine and beautiful sunrises/sunsets over the loch.

On Friday, we did "beer and pizza" with the Witherbums in Milngavie and saw their fantastic new house - a great family home for 2 near-teenagers and a full-of-beans cocker spaniel! Was great fun catching up and thank you, Tori, for the very pretty rose-in-a-pot which is now sitting nicely in Stan and reminding us of you. Will look forward to seeing you horse-riding on our next visit.

Yesterday we decided to be tourists! We drove into Balloch and did a cruise on the loch on a great boat - got on first and got the best seats with amazing views and Steve got to sample a Scottish delicacy, Talisker whiskey, so he was a happy boy. Then we went to Loch Lomond shores and went in the Sea Life Aquarium - saw sharks being fed, a big green turtle, the biggest octopus in captivity in Europe and otters being fed. Very nicely done and great young guys giving information on the critturs. 

Going soon to have Sunday lunch at the local quaint pub on the side of the loch at Balmaha - it's only about a mile from us so should be a nice lazy day.

Water, water everywhere...

One week later and we finally have a reliable wi-fi connection! Have tried to update this but couldn't get a strong enough wi-fi signal anywhere so apologies you are now getting news of 2 new sites in one post...

Had lovely journey from Gleneagles up to Ardgartan site on Loch Long but a few hairy bits on the road alongside North West Loch Lomond - even Steve, intrepid tower that he is, found it a bit challenging and was relieved to arrive safely. Back to the joys of Camping and Caravanning Club sites - lovely, helpful wardens and clean, warm and modernish toilet/shower blocks. Not many people were on the site so we were given the choice of pitches and chose to pay £12.50 extra to have a big pitch and picnic table overlooking the loch - so beautiful!!! We had a few "funny" neighbours while we stayed there but really loved the site, the wardens and cute little village nearby, Arrochar. Would totally recommend this site - my favourite so far! 5 days wasn't enough and I'd like to come back for longer.

Has great visit from Witherbums (friends who moved up to Milngavie from Ashtead) on Sunday and the weather was so fantastic that we had brunch outside. How Ross and Tori have grown and it was fun just catching up with their news. Hoping to do "beer and pizza" at their new house tomorrow which we used to do in Ashtead!

On Tuesday, we visited Helensburgh and got some "proper" food shopping at the Co-op which has been our main shop since being away - they seem to be everywhere in the North, like Tesco's in the South. Helensburgh was a bit varied - some lovely stone houses with views over the loch and other a bit scruffy parts.

Wednesday, we drove North up to the original Loch Fyne restaurant on the edge of - you've guessed it - Loch Fyne and had a treat lunch of crab, scallops, smoked salmon and assorted other fishy goodies. Delicious and a great experience.  

Today moved on to another beautiful site on the shores of Loch Lomond, Millarochy Bay - was only about an hour's drive and it was relatively OK towing roads till we got very near the site when it became narrow and bumpy. Today is the first day the site opens for the year and we arrived one minute after their opening time so got pick of the pitches again! So, as I am writing, I am looking out over Loch Lomond with only a few rocks between me and the water! The facilities are similar to Ardgartan so all's well there. Staff are very helpful but a bit disorganised and not at all ready for the stream of caravans which followed us in. We're nice and settled now and even able to write this! Think Steve likes this site even more than Ardgartan; even though it's got more trees and green stuff, I preferred the mountains of Ardgartan, though they're both very pretty.

Lots of touristy things to do from this site so won't be bored but it's nice just to chill out and enjoy the scenery without really doing much.

Should be able to keep the blog more up-to-date for the next few days as we have wi-fi all the time we are here. Stay tuned, please!

In which we see the most beautiful animals Part 2....

Back from lunch!

Yesterday, we went to see the most wonderful critturs - the giant pandas at Edinburgh Zoo! You have to book to see them as only 20 people at a time are allowed to watch them. The male panda - Sunshine - weighs 20 stone and is currently eating half of his body weight a day in bamboo. When we saw him, sat in a big pile of bamboo and munching his way through it with a big grin on his face, I cried because he was so beautiful - and he looked so contented with his bamboo feast. The female - Sweetie - only (!!!!) weighs 15 stone; she was wandering around her enclosure and having a drink. We were told we were lucky to have seen both of them. They can only mate 2 days in every year and everyone is eagerly waiting in the hope of hearing the sound of little panda paws... Seeing them was a wonderful experience I will always remember.

Tomorrow is our washing/packing-up day before we move on the next leg of our Scottish adventure - to Loch Long. Five days there. It's only a short drive but we're not sure how good the roads will be for towing so we will just take our time.

Gorgeous sun here today and Wendy and her friend Eileen have been playing "pitch 'n' putt"; both got holes in one but kept it quiet in the clubhouse in case they had to buy everyone a drink!

Dogs remain good - they love this life as Stan still feels like we have a home where we always go back to.

Next blog will probably be from Loch Long - we're hoping we can get on to our pitch and tune in our satellite dish in time to watch the Malaysian Grand Prix! 

In which we see the most beautiful animals Part 1....

So sorry again for a break in the blog! Safely arrived at second site in Scotland to find it too is not wi-fi so have had to come to sister Wendy's timeshare house to be able to post this.

Had nice family meal at Chinese in North East on the Friday night before heading up to Scotland the next morning. Bit hairy for me towing on the motorway near Glasgow when we had missed the Stirling turn off and the jockey wheel on the caravan dropped down and was crashing on the tarmac. Had to pull on to the hard shoulder so Steve could lock the wheel back up so hope we're not in trouble - had to do it for safety reasons.

Eventually got to Grand Eagles, a very pretty site billed as "4/5 star luxury" but has very basic facilities. No-one to meet us except worker who is updating the pitches, etc and we had to ask other caravanners where to find things. Very disappointed - showers/toilets are clean but certainly not "modern" as advertised - no heating or lights, loo window broken and surface on floor breaking up. Yuk! Glad we don't have to use them much. Things got worse when we realised the work on the pitches was coming "to a site near us" ie next to us! We have had a few days sat in the middle of a building site with dumpers/diggers blocking our view and deafening us. Can see the site will be improved later in the year but what about the shower/loo block?

Have had nice time seeing nephew, John, and niece, Laura, and Nat, Laura's partner - lovely trip out on Monday to Auchingarrich Wildlife Park which we stumbled on. Lots of lovely critturs, some of them wandering free and you were able to buy food to feed them. Felt very relaxed and nice for the animals and visitors.

Had another amazing crittur encounter yesterday (Wednesday) and will continue the blog on this in a little while - lunch at the golf club at Gleneagles calling!!!

The end of our North East stay

We have had a lovely week and set off on the next leg of our trip tomorrow to a site near Gleneagles in Scotland.

We have been so lucky with the weather - we have had no rain and lots of sun. Who says it is freezing all the time in the North East?! On Sunday, Wendy (sister), Neil (brother) and Carol (Neil's wife) came down to have brekkie at ours which was good fun. It was so sunny we were able to sit out in our outdoor chairs and get a first glimpse of Summer. We have really enjoyed catching up with Neil and Carol who we don't get to see them very much and having some lovely time with Chloe (Neil's daughter) and Dale (Chloe's son). It is Dale's third birthday while we are on our travels so he got his prezzies early so we could see him open them: a "transporter" type Postman Pat and his van, a Thomas the Tank Engine annual and a Buzz Lightyear special little seat - spooky that Dale was wearing a Buzz tea-shirt when he opened this!

Wendy has been a star feeding us and letting us use her washing machine and computer so a big thank you to her! Taking her to the local Chinese tonight to show our appreciation.

Other things we have been doing which have made it such a busy week: looking at some houses for sale in the areas we would like to move to, looking at some villages to check out whether we would like to live there or not, having lunch at a couple of wonderful country pubs (well, we are on holiday...!), planting some sweet little tete-a-tete bulbs on Mum and Dad's grave, visiting the solicitor who is drafting our new wills, having Sunday lunch at Wendy's and having Neil and Carol over for tea plus various bits of caravan "housework". Yikes!

Looking forward to moving off the site tomorrow as it really is a very poor standard, even though it's in a great location. The owners seem to do the absolute minimum and have nor real concept of helping you to have a nice stay. Will be interesting to see what the Gleneagles site is like as it too is privately owned and bills itself as "5 star".

Well gotta go now and see to the washing (not very exciting but important!). It is Pepper's birthday today - can't believe she is 9 - so she and Bud will be getting special treats today!

We are safely up North!

What an adventure getting here! Started the trip in terrible weather - we were both absolutely drenched hitching up - with awful visibility while towing up to North of Nottingham to our first night stop. Nice lady, who said it was her first week in the job, welcomed us onto the site; she didn't tell us that on this particular site we weren't allowed to go on the grass and - in the process of manoeuvring on to the third pitch they gave us, we caused some tyre tracks. Warden No 3 came out and went ballistic with us and wanted to throw us off the site!!!! We refused to go and Warden No 4 came out and moved us to a 4th pitch suitable for our big van and made peace with us. Phew.......

Good night's stay after WW III, and then good journey up to the North East. Site is only 2 miles from Joy's sister and brother so very convenient but very basic - the poorest site we have stayed on. There is no wi-fi so, sorry, blog will be a bit sporadic during our stay here. 

Weather forecast is great for the week and we have a flock of expectant mother sheep next to our site so we are baby lamb spotting.Spring is so lovely in the North East!

Gotta go now because Wendy has brought in the Friday night's G & Ts!