further than you think

Sunshine start

It’s time to leave the glorious sunshine start of Morecambe behind this morning. Today I’d be continuing north on my way up to the Outer Hebrides. I expect I won’t be wearing my shorts for too much longer the further north I get, we’ll see. Before I head off anywhere, it’s time to grab some breakfast, fill up with fuel and stock up the Waeco coolbox with some food for the week ahead.

This section of the journey took me along the edge of the Lake District, and we all know what that means. Hard to resist having a break and grabbing something to eat at one of the farm shop services along the route. This time I pushed on to Cairn Lodge services to have a break. I was aiming for a bit of a longer drive today, so this made a great place to have a bit of a break. Once rested, it was time to push on for a final fuel top-up in Glasgow.

Magnificent mountains

Tonight’s destination was to stop over in the mountains of Glencoe. The route getting there is equally great as it takes you through the beautiful Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. From here on in, the Scotlands landscape just keeps on giving! The scenery here is breathtaking, even if you sometimes wake up to some surprise to find snow on the roof and being surrounded by hundreds of mountain bikers! We weren’t quite expecting that on our last trip here in the splitty!

Fortunately, there was no snow when I arrived at Glencoe this time. That said, it was time to swap my shorts for trousers as it was both windy and wet! I have left the South’s summer well and truly behind. This is Scotland and it’s near winter here and now!

Hebrides or bust

One of the benefits of staying at the Glencoe Mountain Resort (apart from the stunning surroundings and activities offered!), is they do really good hearty food at their on-site cafe. It was an early start for me as I had to get to Skye by early afternoon. Not before I had a good full Scottish breakfast with Lorne sausages though!

There was an afternoon ferry from Uig on the Isle of Skye to Tarbert on the Isle of Lewis and Harris I was hoping to catch. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to book anything earlier, as I had no idea about my arrival times etc. Plus because I was so near the departure date, it wouldn’t let me book for some reason. So it was a case of driving up to Skye and the ferry port at Uig to see if there was space to book myself a ticket for the afternoon crossing.

Spectacular Skye

This wasn’t the first trip to Skye in the split-screen camper. It is an amazing location for a road trip with truly jaw-dropping landscapes to lose yourself in. Had a great time here previously, but this time I was merely passing through on the way to the ferry and the Outer Hebrides. Shame as it doesn’t do it justice. Still, there are worse places to be driving through – eyes on the road!

I made it to Uig with about an hour to spare! Once again the helpful staff at Calmac managed to sort me a ticket for the next crossing. Once parked up in the lanes waiting for boarding time, the splitty proved to be quite a popular sight and talking point with fellow travellers.

Social magnet

I met several interesting people who wanted to come up and have a quick chat. I met a classic car collector from America with a passion for classic British cars and a very cool young lad with his Grandma who wanted his photo taken by the bus – how could I refuse? Maybe one day he will be the next generation of road trippers touring around in a split-screen camper?!

Joy of the journey

It’s these chance encounters and random meetings that help to make road trips so rewarding and interesting. Even if you are travelling solo, you are never really that alone. You always end up bumping into interesting people on your journey. Hopefully, the young boy will get to see his picture as I promised I would post it here for him to see.

Meeting people and of course, seeing fantastic sights along the way. What could be a better way to spend some time?