Island Hopping Scotland - Loch Lomond to Lower Wensleydale - and home

Nearly the last day of our Scottish Island Hopping holiday in a motorhome, and an early-ish start was required to pulll in a visit to the Maid of the Loch the other end of Loch Lomond. The Maid of the Loch was the last paddle steamer and the largest inland waterway passenger vessel to be built in Britain. Launched in 1953 – Coronation Year, it was built for service on Loch Lomond, the largest lake in Britain. Withdrawn from service in 1981, and vandalised thereafter, the Maid was rescued from dereliction in 1992 and as the first stage in restoring her to service is now open to the public in a static role.

As luck would have it, whilst not fully open on the day we were there, a group of school children were visiting the Maid, the Winch House and Slipway, and the boiler in the Winch House was actually in steam, so we were able to tag along and see things we would not normally have been able to. After a couple of hours anorak time, we needed to be heading south as time was pressing on, and we needed to be in Yorkshire by the evening. The SatNav was set for Leyburn - 205 miles and 5 hours later (after a detour due to roadworks), we arrived at the Caravan Club Lower Wensleydale site, near Bedale.

As soon as we came over the border from Scotland to England, the sun came out, and apparantly, most of England had had hot and sunny weather the whole time we were away. Typical.

This was our last stop and was nothing more than a pitch for the night before our last 125 miles home to Derbyshire the following day. The Wardens were extremely welcoming, the facilities, as ever with the Caravan Club, were excellent, but as we were late arriving, our pitch was one of the least popular, with our nose against one access road and our bike rack abutting the other. We were pleased M&S had changed their carrier bags to fluorescent green, as two were deployed to stop any passing site traffic catching us.

Once set up, we got the chilled champagne out of the fridge, lit the candles, and sat in the last rays of the evening sunshine, and celebrated what a totally wonderful holiday experience we’d had.

Isle of Arran

Apparantly, most folks just pass through the Isle of Arran, by arriving at Brodick then driving to Lochranza, for the ferry to Kintyre, without stopping. Big mistake. We wished we had longer on the Island, but two days was all we had, and we made the most of it.

Seal Shore Campsite is a very laid back site tucked away in the south corner of the island. The site owners sell absolutely delicious freshly caught lobster and crab (which you have to dress yourself) at very reasonable prices – and are well worth tackling with any tools handy – in our case a hammer and an axe! Why we were carrying an axe will be revealed when we get to Muasdale Touring Park.

There are two areas to the site – pre-booked and non-booked, the pre-booked area being nearer the sea, with hook-ups, and is mainly for caravans and motorhomes. Tents are pitched to the rear of the site. The weather was kind to us on Arran, with sunshine on both days, but midges could be a problem as evening appproached, despite being on the coast. We quickly learned how to deal with them – see later blog “Midges”.

One small niggle with this site was that motorhomes and tents turned up early evening and pitched up on the narrow strip right at the front of the site between the beach and the campsite, thus blocking the view for everyone else. So having picked a pitch for its great sea view, you found yourself overlooking the side of a campervan or acres of canvas. This could be solved by only allowing small, low tents along that area but ………………………..

A 20 minute walk or 5 minute bike ride from the site is a brilliant village shop and Post Office – Kildonan Store,– a veritable Tardis with a huge range of food and drink goodies. We even got an elusive bottle of sparkling red Ozzie wine, which we couldn't find in Tesco or Oddbins.

On the way to the ferry port of Lochranza, the departure point for the Kintyre Peninsula, we called in at several tourist places including the delightful Museum of Arran life, Arran Brewery and Arran Aromatics and had no problems parking the ‘van at any of these places. Arran in September was very quiet, and had we been on the island longer we would have had no quarms about taking the ’van out for the day.

The ferry port at Lochranza, destination Claonaig (on the Kintyre peninsula) is tiny, literally a small grid-like car park with a ramp down to the sea, and the ferry is not bookable. You just turn up and wait. We were first in the queue, and had plenty of time for a cup of tea and crab mousse on hot toast, (much to the envy of the motorcyclist in the queue behind us!).

This ferry was much smaller than the previous one, and was open air (to allow for larger, taller vehicles to be loaded). As we departed Arran for the short crossing, we left the sunshine behind, and approached the Kintyre Peninsula shrouded in mist. Our destination – Muasdale Touring Park, Muasdale, Kintyre.

Island Hopping Second Leg Ardrossan to Isle of Arran

Three hours and 166 miles after leaving Kendal, we arrived at the ferry port of Ardrossan, north of Irvine. Whilst we normally buy all manner of things online, because of the nature of this trip, we wanted to ensure that our plans would work, and needed to check ferry times/days – especially ferries for Islay, which were particularly confusing. The staff were very patient with all our questions, and pre-booked all our ferry crossings with the exception of Arran to Claonaig, which is not bookable. It's important to reserve crossings for motorhome/ caravans to and from Islay as these get booked up very quickly. £220 lighter and wanting to fill up with diesel before embarking on our adventure, we drove back down the port approach road and fuelled up. An Asda Supermarket being built adjacent to the port, which will be ideal for stocking up on essential before departing for the sticks. Back at the port, we were first in the queue, and first on the 5 pm ferry to Brodick, the main town on Arran.

Caledonian Macbrayne Ferries pretty much have the monopoly on the ferries in this part of Scotland, and run an incredibly efficient, and (we think), value-for-money service. The ferries hurry into the port, their front ramp coming down as they approach, the anchors are crammed on and within seconds of docking, vehicles of all sizes, including juggernauts, pour off. In no time, the waiting vehicles are loaded with expert guidance from port staff, and off the ferry goes on it’s return journey. We were both excited and nervous about taking our beloved motorhome on so many ferries, but there’s no need to worry about anything. It’s a whole lot easier than Cross Channel ferries, and really nothing like it. Dogs are allowed on board and there is a lounge where they are welcome with well-behaved owners, and you can walk them on deck too. The cafe on the larger ferries serves reasonable food relevant to the time of day, and there’s a small shop selling newspapers, sweets, gifts and books. It’s well worth having a look at the books – we picked up “Hebridean Island Hopping” by Martin Coventry, which became our bible for the islands we visited.

The crossing to Brodick, the main town on Arran, was smooth and took just 55 minutes. On arriving at Arran, we turned left and headed for Seal Shore Campsite, Kildonan, on the south of the Island – a pictureque journey of 12 miles, 40 minutes. We were nervous about travelling on narrow roads, but the journey was a doddle – we hardly met another vehicle, and there was plenty of room for passing at most places when we did. The short drive down to Seal Shore had us full of anticipation at what looked like a beautiful site......