The Scottish Highlands

by Unknown November 04, 2015 0 comments Food Highlands Scotland Sites Trips

So after many, many months of thinking about and looking for a campervan, we finally realised that living in Scotland, with three kids, a dog, surfboards, bikes and an inflatable kayak, finding a campervan that would work for us as a family just wasn't likely to happen anytime soon. Those with five seatbelts didn't have space in the back for the dog (we want to keep muddy paws out of the living area if possible) and the limited number that have space in the back for the dog don't have enough seatbelts. Coupled with the fact that we could be buying a van with potentially a non crash tested rear seat with aftermarket seatbelts fitted, how could we be sure that the van we buy is safe for our kids if, heaven forbid, we are involved in an accident?
We've decided to focus on looking for a panel van and converting it to meet our own needs.  From doing the figures, it should work out roughly similar cost, possibly slightly more expensive, but at least it would be built to meet our needs, rather than trying to retro-fit ourselves into a 'not quite right' van.
Given this decision and an upcoming birthday, we decided to hire a T5 from Roseisle camper hire for a long weekend for the two of us (kids are going to Grandmas) and test the waters, with a view to seeing what we works for us and what our priorities will be for our own van when we get it.

We left home in East Lothian around lunchtime on Friday and after stopping a couple of times we made it to the most North Westerly point of Scotland, Durness, around 7PM. Driving through the village in the dark, we weren't even sure if the site we drove onto was the one we were aiming for, Sango Sands, but luckily it was. Given it was pitch black, we weren't sure were to park up, but when we woke on Saturday morning, we realised we had been spot on. Right at the top of the cliff, with views to die for.

Saturday morning started with a trip to the beach, then hot chocolate in Cocoa Mountain. We found this on a reviews website and it was made to sound like the most amazing place on earth. It didn't quite live up to that description. It may just have been the fact it was November and the other shops around it were shut up for winter, but the drive into it wasn't inspiring at all, especially given the surroundings. Once inside though, things improved mightily. Although it wasn't the best hot chocolate ever had, it was definitely up there and the chocolates were worth the trip. Leaving Durness, we drove down to Lochinver. To say we were blown away by the landscape would definitely do it an injustice. As we had come up this road the previous night in the dark, all we had seen was the view in our headlights (which were standard T5 and very limited!), so this was all new to us. Every corner we turned just blew us away.  It's like walking through Verona and every little alleyway you walk through, being in awe of another beautiful building and more amazing architecture, except here - it's just awe inspiring as nature has created it, not an artist. If you are lucky enough to come to Scotland and have limited time - skip Edinburgh and Nessie, get up to the road between Ullapool and Durness. You won't be disappointed.

In Lochinver, we stopped off at the Lochinver Larder, a really nice and homely spot with award winning pies. This place is on the list of must go to again.  After lunch we had a walk around Lochinver. Not a huge amount to do, but guess it would be different in the summer.  We didn't mind though, an excuse to get back on the road again and back into the amazing scenery. We took the coast road back up to Durness and a huge stag almost ran us over at dusk, passing yards in front of us and stopping on a small crest about five metres away for a good few minutes, with his head held high and a look of "look at me - aren't I the most amazing thing you've seen today?" I must say - it was a close call!

We made it back to Durness later that evening, although we had another run in with deer, this time around five or six that ran out in front of us. Must remember to drive more slowly at dusk in the highlands!

On Sunday we drove over towards Thurso, in search of waves and a bit less wind. Another stunning drive.

Thurso was OK for a comfort break, but didn't see much worth stopping for. We made our way around to Dunnet bay and parked up beside another couple of T5s and while Han made the lunch, I took a walk to the top of the dunes to see if there was any surf.  It looked fairly good, so after a quick bite to eat, I headed off with my board and Han came down to the beach to do some writing.
After the surf, getting changed out of my wetsuit in a warm campervan, being able to stand up - my mind was made up. We were definitely going to get our own one! All was going swimmingly until Han said "I think I've cut my hand". Realising it was quite a big cut, with quite a lot of blood she fainted! Half out of a wetsuit - this was not a good time!!
Drama over, we headed down to Dunbeath and stayed at Inver Caravan Park. The site was really pretty - with a field full of highland cows right beside us! We went for a bite to eat at The Bay Owl, only five minutes walk down the (busy!) A9. The menu was uninspiring, Think prawn cocktails and chicken kiev, but the food was good and the beer was better. Driving through the village the next morning, I don't think there was anywhere else to eat anyway.
On Monday morning, we headed home via the Culloden Battlefield. Well worth the money and give yourself a couple of hours at least. We had an hour and it was nowhere near long enough, although we did have lunch in that time in the cafe, which was really good. We'll definitely be coming up this way again with the kids.
So, after an amazing weekend, we sat down an went through what we wanted in our own van. Two things were top of the list. First was a pop up roof. The T5 is just too low. On our first two nights in Durness, it was blowing a gale, so we took the roof down both nights while we were sleeping, to lessen the noise more than anything. Waking up in the morning, crouched over trying to get out of bed, we couldn't get the roof open quick enough!  So the pop-top is number one. Next on the list is a heater. Given it's November in the North of Scotland and it's blowing a gale - it's fairly chilly. Getting into the van though, it's really comfortable with the diesel heater. We really don't want to be restricted to camping between April and October, so a heater is next on the list. Others we came up with were swivel seats, lights on a dimmer switch (we ended up using a set of Christmas lights as the lights in the van were so bright!), access to the cupboard storing the tea and coffee while the bed is made up, storage for the table so it is easy to access and just much better thought out storage altogether. I mean, why is there a rail for hanging up clothes?? Who in a campervan needs to hang up clothes? Put in shelves and you could fit in twice as many clothe folded as hung up! The only other thing we thought of was USB charging points, rather than just the standard three pin plugs.