Month: <span>August 2017</span>
Month: August 2017

Snail Spaces: Brahan Estate (CL)

A five-van CL, the Brahan Estate offers waste disposal and fresh water, peace and quiet and miles of walking.

Parking at Brahan is between the oak trees lining the drive

Parking is above the Ha-ha and under the old Oaks on a tree-lined drive. The pitches are undefined and there is masses of space in which to fit five units.

Plenty of space

The view across a barley field edged by trees with hills beyond is beautiful.

August 2017

Buzzards fly overhead, owls hoot in the night and shy deer visit from time to time. There is an arboretum to admire and a dog cemetery to visit. There are walks through woods and along the River Conon.

Out with Nell

Management is relaxed and informal.

A blissful spot to stay.

Last visited August 207

Snail Spaces: Dunbeath Harbour

Motorhomes are welcome in Dunbeath. Toilets are close by and picnic tables available. Dog walking along the beach and river, extensive walks back up river on the other side of the A9. Shop up in the village.

Drive along to the harbour and keep on going past the spot where you think you should stop. There is a parking area beyond the ice house and behind the empty cottage below the cliff.

It is a popular and busy spot, with many cars coming and going so please park considerately.

Quiet. Poor radio signal, no phone or internet.

Please leave a donation in the box in the boat house collection box.

Last visit August 2017, last stayed September 2016

Snail Spaces: Sibster Forest

Set close by the junction of the A9 and A882 adjacent to Georgemas Junction, this recently planted forest offers a handy overnight spot when using …

Snail Spaces: Former Radio Station (CS) Brora

A short and easy stroll from the centre of Brora, these former MoD premises offer only basic accommodation at present. Right on the sea’s edge …

Week 1: Well, it happened

I have been remiss, I know but really you can have little conception of how hectic things have been. The important thing is that everything that needed to happen, happened. The passports arrived, Boatmail was organised, Post Office Redirection is in place, shock absorbers were fitted, the MOT was passed, Nell’s pet passport was updated, practically everything that we owned was sold, the house was entirely emptied, passage was booked and… we set off.

In fact we set off for Kirkwall last Monday, the 14th and stayed overnight at the Picky camp site. Vincent was MOT’d on Tuesday morning and passed with no advisories. Nell had her immunisations topped up an hour later and we set off for Stromness to see if we could book the afternoon boat. By supper time we were parked up at Sibster Forest.

Wednesday morning saw us set off for Dunbeath, where we planned to stop overnight at the harbour. We were nicely settled in when we realised that we really needed to do some forward bookings. There is no Internet and no phone signal at Dunbeath, so we drove off to Brora and went to stay on the CS there where we have stopped before. We did our planning and booking and then took ourselves off to Sid’s Spice for dinner.

Thursday morning took us to Beauly, where I traded in my camera kit at Ffordes. A heart-breaking moment but I really did need to get something smaller for the van and lighter for me to carry. I now have a mirrorless camera, an Olympus OM-D EM10 Mk II and four lenses to go with it. I haven’t done much with the camera yet due to the manual being on a disk and us not having been on a hookup at Brahan Estate, where we stayed for two nights.

Whilst in Beauly I had my Camping Haircut done. I am in need of a paper bag to put upon my head. We had breakfast at a Deli in the town, a place that deserves a special mention: Corner on the Square – worth seeking out if you are in the area. Good coffee and the cakes looked great but we confined ourselves to pancakes, bacon, banana and maple syrup.

Parking was easy in Beauly. We went straight to the Brae View car park, which is unmarked. We backed into the bushes, out of the way but it really was not busy at all. It would be suitable for overnighting and offers the possibility of entertainment as it faces onto the Shinty Club ground.

The Brahan Estate site was as peaceful and therapeutic as ever. It really is one of the very best sites that we have used to date.

Parking at Brahan is between the oak trees lining the drive

We dodged the showers and walked the dog by the river and I tested out the basic functions of the camera using the kit lens and full auto settings. Important that I get this right as this blog will depend on it!

Out with Nell by the River Conon

On Saturday I was disinclined to be dragged from my idyll and to drive into Inverness in the lashing rain in order to go shopping. 

Halford’s came first, and some new speakers for Vincent as he had blown one. Then next door to Cotswold Outdoors for new walking shoes for the pair of us.

New Shoes

We also purchased some packing “cubes”, some head nets, a rain mac, Bridgedale socks and a collapsible kettle! More on these later.

COMPENDIUM FACT: Cotswold Outdoors offer a significant discount (15%) for holders of CMC or National Trust cards. This came in very handy indeed.

Tesco followed, as Tesco seems always to do so, and Argos, and then we settled at Culloden Moor for two nights, of which tonight is our second. For the first time this week we have the full trinity of  EHU, Internet signal, and showers.  also laundry facilities, though this is a matter that I struggle to be excited about.

There we are then. Up to date. At least as far as our latest adventure goes. I have not forgotten that there are older ones to document.