Scotland found!

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Our last blog saw us driving though snow and sleet north towards Scotland. As we crossed through the border towns the snow got heavier and heavier and we really started questioning the logic of a van trip at this time of year.

Once we reached Glasgow however, the snow disappeared and before we knew it we were disembarking from a ferry at Dunoon and driving alongside Loch Eck. Something very good began to happen when we started driving through the Argyll Forest Park - most of the cars disappeared, the clouds started to lift and everything started to feel a lot more relaxed. Yay, finally, this is what we had been waiting for - welcome to Scotland!

After spending a freezing night in a pretty uninspiring campground in Oban, we headed off towards Glen Coe. This was the sort of travelling we both had in mind - Glen Coe is riddled with beautiful walks, mountain streams, waterfalls and stunning viewpoints - it was exactly what we had been searching for and we couldn’t stop grinning for the next couple of days.

Our first stop was the National Trust for Scotland visitor centre where we watched a documentary about the massacre of the McDonald clan that happened back in the 1600s. The history of the area is fascinating - how anyone managed to survive in this hostile place without Gor-tex is beyond me!

After the tour busses arrived we set off up Glen Coe to find a beautiful spot for cooking and eating lunch. We actually parked up in a car park near some forest tracks. As far as car parks go, this was a pretty darn nice one I don’t think we’ve ever eaten 2 minute noodles in such a beautiful place!

Our next stop was the tiny car park up the top of Glen Coe where we changed into our hiking clothes and left ‘Brian-not-sexy-but-good’ as we headed up the Devils Staircase. What a beautiful walk. It is only short stint of about an hour return, but for us, hiking through knee deep snow was so novel that we dragged it out for as long as possible. We were so fortunate to get the rare combination of crisp white snow and stunning blue skies at the top. The views of the surrounding mountains were stunning. More Heaven on Earth as opposed to Devils Staircase! I guess it makes up for the rubbish view from the top of Scarfell!

Our second walk that day was planned for the ‘Lost Valley’ of Glen Coe but since the clouds had lowered and fierce snow showers were blowing in, we decided to skip this in favour of hot drinks and biscuits served inside the warm confines of Brian. Ahh the joys of van travel. Having the freedom to stop and set up camp for a few hours can’t be beaten. I’m not sure how we’ll manage travelling again without a van, especially when we head back to New Zealand!

We stayed in an awesome little campsite called The Red Squirrel. Our pitch was right next to a gushing river at the end of the site. Even waking up absolutely frozen the next morning seemed less of an issue in such beautiful surroundings.

We spent the evening in the company of a couple of nice Glaswegians at a fantastic mountain pub about 15 minutes walk from the site. I really can’t get enough of those Scottish accents. They would honestly say things like “ah aye, there’s a wee loch down the end of the road…” which I found so entertaining. They admitted that they couldn’t tell the difference between Australian and New Zealand accents but we forgave them eventually. For a new take on an old tradition, the pub actually served vegetarian haggis. They use kidney beans instead of offal.

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our couple of days spent in Glen Coe and we would have liked to have stayed longer. But we decided to take full advantage of the forecast for good weather and set off the next day towards the snow-covered slopes of Ben Nevis.

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Photos

Scotland rocks!
This one is for you, Shannon!

Comments

[Nicola]

Looking good guys
Hello hello. Love the blogs - keep them coming. Counting down till your trip home.... I'm looking forward to giving you a hard time for missing Xmas in Auckland. See you soon. XO

[marth]

Your blog was on the home page and as a lover of Scotland I had to view it. Although not a citizen of the U.K, I have the wonderful privilege of living in Scotland for several years. Glencoe is one of my favorite place. I think I left my heart there. It looks as if some things have changed in the 35 years since I have been there, but it still calls to me. Thank you so much for sharing your lovely pictures.