Compendium

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.

 

Poste Restante

When we contacted our solicitor to advise him that we have a property sale in the offing, we told him that we are going to France, possibly before the sale completes. He took this news in his stride and indicated that we could do most of our signing before we go and then deal by  post with anything that arises later.

Of course we shall be travelling and we will not have a postal address.

I had a hazy idea about what to do but I think Mr Snail was a little more concerned. I glibly shrugged my shoulders and said we could just use a Poste Restante address. 

Did I really know what that meant – perhaps not but my vague notions turned out to be good enough. I had said that I believed that Poste Restante, being a French term, was probably something more readily achieved in France than here at home. It proved to be so.

Briefly, your mail is addressed to your name, with “Poste Restante” on the second line of the address, followed by the postal address of the Post Office where you intend to collect your mail. A small charge is levied, of course. Mail is held for  a limited time.

Not all services use the term Poste Restante (the USA calls their service General Delivery, for example) this and other details vary by country but Wikipedia has a useful reference list.

Post Restante in France

In France there is no requirement to do any setup, unlike here in the UK.

The service is offered by Le Poste and is available at any Post Office.

The name on the envelope should match the name on whatever form of ID one is using to collect the mail – typically a passport when travelling abroad. The collection charge in France is €0.85 per letter, more for a package.  In France mail is kept  for 15 days before returning to sender.

That should do us nicely, I think.

 

The Traveller’s Compendium

Just a note about a new Post Category “Compendium” and a Page to go with it.

 Some new posts regarding useful information for travellers will be categorised as  “Compendium” and those posts will (if I remember) be indexed on  a Page named The Traveller’s Compendium of Useful Stuff.

I am not sure how I dare to assert myself regarding blog organisation when I am so very far behind. I will catch up though. I promise.