So we decided to sell our Hymer 640 primarily due to lockdown, as the European travel restrictions mean we will be touring the Scottish Highlands instead of Europe and we felt the Hymer was too large for what we will be doing. So we’ve bought a Fiat Ducato campervan and had our first weekend away in Moffat.
We are now looking forward to touring the Scottish Highlands in the summer, and then touring Europe when that’s allowed.
We also have the advantage that we can keep our campervan on our drive and so we plan on getting away more often now.
So we spent four days at North Ledaig, near Oban. We’ve been here many times over the years and we love it here. You can’t beat this view from Hylda’s windscreen…
The pitches are all staggered so almost everyone has a view of the sea. The drone picture below shows the site layout quite well.
It’s Scotland so we get a lot of rain, but the sunsets are spectacular here –
The water in Ardmucknish Bay is crystal clear
Oban airport is adjacent to the campsite, so you can also watch light aircraft if that interests you. The video captures most of what North Ledaig and Ardmucknish Bay has to offer, there’s also forest walks accessed from nearby Benderloch. This is around fifteen minutes walk from the campsite, along the paved cycle track.
Permission to fly my drone was granted by Oban airport.
This weekend we spent our first night away in Hylda.
Since collecting Hylda two weeks ago, she has spent her time in storage. We have spent that time emptying the hut and gathering together all our camping equipment that has lain dormant for the last eighteen months. We even managed to visit the Scottish Caravan Show and pick up a few bit and pieces that we had let go when we sold the caravan. Ian also purchased a reversing camera for the van. We visited the same stand and ended up buying the same one we installed in the Sprinter.
So this weekend, despite the best efforts of Storm Dennis, we brought Hylda home from storage, packer her up and headed off to Lomond Wood campsite in Balloch. The rain was relentless and the wind made for an interesting journey but we made it. The campsite is only 40 minutes from home and the last time we visited was 26 years ago when we went to try out our first caravan.
Whist filling up the water we decided that the gauge was not working. It rose to 1/4 full then stayed there for ages. As we were only there for a night we thought we’d have plenty of water. How wrong we were. Very early in the evening we ran out of water. As it was so wet and windy we decided not to drive back round to the motorhome point. We filled the kettle from the nearby tap and in the morning made use of the excellent on site facilities.
We were really pleased with the van. Everything we tried worked as it should. The only thing we didn’t get to try was the shower, see above for the reason. We had purchased a new trigger head for the shower but that will just need to wait til the next time.
In the evening we put up the silver screens and settled for the night. We had a stream right behind the van so we were able to relax to the sound of running water. The drop down bed was very comfortable and we all slept very well. This included the dogs who did not waken until 6.25. This is almost an hour later than they usually get up at home.
In the morning we showered on site. The facilities were very clean, warm with plenty of hot water. One of the many things on the list of forgotten items was the frying pan. Breakfast was made in a pot but was fine.
We knew the wind was due to pick up from lunchtime so we packed up early and left the site at 10a.m. You have to vacate your pitch by 12. There were plenty of gusts on the way but we made it back to the storage compound safe and sound. All in all it was a great first trip. We are much more familiar with the workings of Hylda and can’t wait until the next opportunity to get away.
McNaughts On Tour 