Kevin and Gayle

Moffat Camping & Caravanning Club Site

Sun, 15 Feb 2026 13:39:45 +0000

Friday 13th February 2026

Our second trip of the 2026, it’s been five weeks since The Woods…we were at The Scottish Motorhome, Caravan & Holiday Home Show last weekend.

We’ve been to Moffat five times - it’s definitely one of our favourite sites, and we needed a bit of relaxation time, and early in January I’d contacted Moffat Community Observatory about visiting the weather was looking good.

We pitched up on the “new” pitches and it was still quite light and headed over to the Co-Op to grab some bits to accompany dinner, we had to be at the observatory by 7:30pm.

The Woods Caravan Park

Sun, 11 Jan 2026 17:16:10 +0000

Friday 9th January 2026

Our first trip of the New Year came in the midst of a cold snap in Scotland, but it had been 4 weeks since our last trip and we were excited to get away.

We headed off up the M74/M73/M80 and towards Stirling again on our way to “The Woods Caravan Park” which isn’t too far from Witches Craig.

We had been to the same site in January 2023 and it was also in the middle of a cold snap…

Hab Check and Larick

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 07:56:40 +0000

Friday 5th December 2025

Up early as we needed to be on the outskirts of Perth by 8:30am to get the annual hab check for the van.

We pulled into Dicksons of Perth at 8:10am and after a bit of thinking realised we should be at their after sales dept a short drive away.

We handed over the van and headed through the mist into Perth town centre.

Breakfast in Bob and Bert’s - I went for their festive berry french toast with a flat white and it was very nice, definitely worth it.

Keswick

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 09:32:38 +0000

Thursday 20th November 2025

We were late getting away and down the M74 and A66 - it took almost 3 hours to get there.

Upon arrival we were taken round to pick a pitch in the Lakeside area, but it was so dark we couldn’t really see anything…we picked Pitch 174 - there weren’t many pitches left.

After hooking up and putting the screen cover on we set off into Keswick - the town felt deserted, only a few pubs and restaurants had much life - in fairness, it was bitterly cold outside and at the end of November.

Witches Craig

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 06:18:57 +0000

Friday 24th October 2025

We set off while it was still barely light, and headed off up the M74/M73/M80 route towards Witches Craig campsite - this was our second time here, having been here the same weekend last year.

The roads were busy, and so it took us over 40 minutes to get to Stirling - we popped into the Waitrose and picked up some chicken kyivs, rostis and butter beans for dinner.

Moray Coast Trip

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 07:39:02 +0100

Sunday 5th October 2025

Gayle had a big birthday and we had a really enjoyable meal with family on the Saturday, so we got away for our October break on a Sunday.

We weren’t sure how navigable some of the more northerly roads would be after “Storm Amy” the first storm of the season had smashed through and so we set off around 9:30am and the roads were very quiet and we got to Aviemore and picked up some food then off on the last part of the trip, the A98 was closed so it took a bit longer than expected and we arrived at Strathlene Holiday Park around 2pm.

Parkdean Resort at Southerness

Sun, 21 Sep 2025 15:21:52 +0100

Friday 19th September 2025

I booked this a couple of months ago (before we went to Silloth) when it was warm and sunny and while the reviews are mixed I was hoping that it’d be out-of-season for most folks.

We set off down the M74 towards Moffat and then onto the A701 for a drive towards the Solway Firth - yellow warnings of rain were on the motorway signs so we knew we were in for a wet weekend.

Larick Campsite

Sun, 14 Sep 2025 17:07:49 +0100

Friday 12th September 2025

We were due to be here last week, the weekend of the 5th, but I had asked to move our booking back a week and were at Tabletop Scotland last week instead.

We set off from windy and rainy Glasgow and headed off via the M73/M80/M876 and M90, we passed through some rain but by the time we got there not long after 6pm, it was dry and pleasant in Tayport.

Hillcroft Park

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 06:08:57 +0100

Friday 29th August

Off down the M74 and M6 and off at the Keswick exit and then the short drive down to Pooley Bridge which was our favourite site last year, it took around 2 hours 15 minutes to get there - not bad for a late August friday evening.

The weather wasn’t expected to be as nice this year, but we hadn’t been away for three weeks so we were really looking forward to it.

St Monans Holiday Park

Sun, 10 Aug 2025 17:23:11 +0100

Friday 8th August

It took over two hours to get to St Monans, we went the M8 route and it was pretty busy getting off at Edinburgh, presumably swelled by the Oasis gigs at Murrayfield.

We were then on the m90 and even getting across the Queensferry Crossing was slow going.

We did pass right by some of our favourite sites…Elie and Silverburn Park St Monans Holiday Park

When we booked (at the start of June) there was only one pitch remaining, H8 and we pitched up pretty easily, they have a water tap right beside the pitch which is handy for getting fresh water.

Silloth and Moffat

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 06:30:34 +0100

Friday 25th July 2025

It took around 2 hours 20 minutes to drive down the M74 and then through northern Cumbria to get to Silloth on the Solway Firth coast.

Rain stalked us for a large part of the journey but it was surprisingly dry in Silloth when we arrived.

We pulled into Solway Holiday Park and followed the email instructions to report to the main reception who sent us round to the touring reception.

Highlands End Holiday Park

Sun, 13 Jul 2025 20:03:13 +0100

Thursday 10th July

I was up at 5am to grab some photos (and take advantage of the coolness) and we got up around around 7am and boiled the kettle on the Trangia for coffee for both of us.

The Trangia stove has really proved really useful this trip, not having to add additional heat to the van.

The van was facing east so we had a lot of sun first thing, I remembered that I brought a DD Hammocks campervan tarp with me which we slid into the rail of the extended awning for some additional protection from the hot sun…

Pebble Bank Holiday Park

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 21:03:56 +0100

Monday 7th July 2025

It rained heavily overnight, fortunately we had packed most things away and so we didn’t have to dry much off, the screen cover did have to get packed away wet.

We were up and in the shower by around 7am, it was a pretty grim looking morning, rainy and windy, the weather was due to pick up over the rest of the week so we weren’t too upset.

Durdle Door Holiday Park

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 21:46:39 +0100

Thursday 3rd July 2025

We loaded the van for a week away and after work we set off south, heading back to Little Acre Holiday Park.

It took around 2.5 hours, straight down the M74 and onto the M6, heavy rain stalked us the entire journey.

There were also a lot of roadworks which slowed us a bit, but we pulled off at Junction 36 and it’s a very short journey from the motorway to the campsite.

Coldstream Holiday Park

Sun, 22 Jun 2025 15:46:11 +0100

Friday 20th June 2025

A long 2hr20 drive in sweltering heat, we headed east along the M8 and then onto the A720…and that’s when things stopped for a while, I dunno if we’re unlucky or not, but any time we get onto the A720 it’s always really slow going.

Once we got onto the A68 it was pretty empty (apart from a really slow moving lorry who did at least pull into a layby), one thing we did learn is that the AC in the van is very good.

Blair Atholl Caravan Park in Summer

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 07:09:40 +0100

The first campsite we ever went to together was Blair Atholl, back in late November 2021 in a hired VW Transporter conversion.

It was bitterly cold, but we had a lot of fun and we returned in late February 2022 to one of their lodges and a week later we ordered our first campervan.

And so…we really wanted to see Blair Atholl during the warmer months and booked up in January!

Lomond Woods Holiday Park

Sat, 07 Jun 2025 12:08:56 +0100

Friday 4th April 2025

The weather had been good this week and, whilst it wasn’t expected to be as warm this weekend, we were really looking forward to our stay at Lomond Woods campsite in Balloch. We’ve been to Balloch a few times recently on day trips and have really enjoyed it each time.

We got away a bit later then expected due to work calls running on, but we were still on the road in plenty of time and were pitched up on pitch 74 and ready for a walk through town by 5.30pm.

Drummohr Camping and Glamping Site

Sat, 07 Jun 2025 11:49:16 +0100

Friday March 21st 2025

Off again for another adventure, this time heading to Drummohr Campsite, which is one of our favourite campsites due to its location on the East Lothian coast - this is our third visit.

It was an easy drive along the M8 - as always a bit busy at the A720 (Edinburgh Bypass) but before long we were heading through Musselburgh and the campsite is just a bit further along the road.

Belhaven Bay Caravan & Camping Park, Dunbar

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 17:33:47 +0100

Friday 30th May 2025

After a very hectic work week we headed east along the M8 towards Dunbar, it’s not a long trip but as always we got snagged up around the A720 Edinburgh Bypass and it took around 2hrs to get there.

We’d been to Belhaven Bay once before, in March 2023 and it was bitterly cold and windy and so we wanted to see it in more summery weather.

Mull - Port nan Gael

Sun, 11 May 2025 14:21:37 +0100

Friday 9th May - Day 8

We could have happily stayed on at Fidden but we were also looking forward to our final stop so after granola for breakfast, we started to tidy up the van and then had a final walk round the other side of the site. As we were getting ready to leave another van spotted that we were about to move on from our prime spot so we reluctantly moved on from what was a pitch-up highlight.

Mull - Fidden Farm

Fri, 09 May 2025 13:01:19 +0100

Wednesday 7th May - Day 6

We were up and off to Fidden. We stopped at Glen Forsa on the way which was more of a cafe than a farm shop, so we didn’t spend long there before getting back on the road. The majority of the road to Fidden was single track but there were plenty of passing passes with mostly decent visibility so no problem. We stopped in at the Port nan Gael shop and got some supplies then continued on to Fidden.

Mull - Tobermory

Wed, 07 May 2025 21:52:52 +0100

Monday 5th May - Day 4

For breakfast, we had a peach & almond pastry and Kevin took the opportunity to get some drone footage whilst I got the van packed up ready for the next part of our adventure.

Thankfully, the van started first time - I’m hoping that I just did something stupid when trying to leave the ferry - and we set off for our drive up to Tobermory.

Mull - Craignure

Sun, 04 May 2025 06:52:52 +0100

Friday 2nd May - Day 1

When we booked our trip to Mull, the intention was to drive up to Oban on the Saturday morning for the ferry but as we got closer to the trip we decided to head off on the Friday evening and booked a pitch at By The Way Campsite in Tyndrum. By doing this, it reduced the drive on the Saturday morning to one hour.

St Andrews Holiday Park

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 19:30:23 +0100

Friday 18th April 2025

We set off around lunchtime as we both had the day off for Easter, so we decided to head via Loch Leven’s Larder which was very busy.

I grabbed a couple of very local Abernyte Brewery beers and a scotch egg and sausage roll and some gjetost cheese!!

Gayle waited an impressive 10 minutes for sandwiches which we scoffed in the van before heading on to St Andrews, they were nice enough.

Braids Caravan Park, Gretna

Sun, 09 Mar 2025 14:20:16 +0000

Friday 7th March 2025

It’s a really easy drive down the M74 towards Gretna, we’ve popped into Gretna Green several times on our travels south, but never made it into Gretna proper.

For dinner we had Chicken Parma and salad, our air-fryer isn’t very big but we were able to double up using an extra stand and it worked well.

Then we took a walk into Gretna, dark and wet we walked as far as the outlets, not unexpectedly they were closed, it’s not a long walk, maybe 15 minutes all-in.

Melrose Gibson

Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:20:16 +0000

21st February to 23rd February

Another Friday, another weekend away in the van.

For this second trip of the year, we picked Melrose Gibson Park CAMC as we had been before and enjoyed that trip & had also picked up a Treasure Trail for the town and decided this would be a good time to put on our detective hats and take on the spy tour … spoiler alert there was one clue that evaded us!

Silverburn Park

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 07:18:52 +0000

31st January to 2nd February

First trip of the year and our second trip in the new van and it almost ended before it started as we forgot to unhook the electric cable before driving off! What a disaster!!

Thankfully I noticed the cable in my side mirror as I was pulling out the driveway and was able to stop immediately whilst Kevin jumped out to unhook the cable and inspect the damage. I pulled over to the side of the road and waited for quite a while and was starting to fear the worst but whilst the cable tidy reel had been shredded as it was pulled out through the garage door and the garage door had been forced of it’s track there was no damage to the van … phew!

2024 Campervan Round-up

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 14:00:27 +0000

It’s the end of another year of amazing adventures in our campervan and time for our 2024 round-up.

Our year started with a week away in North Wales in January through to a one night getaway in December to test out our new van. In total we spent 63 nights away, staying in 27 campsites and February was the only month that we didn’t manage to get away.

We have scored our trips again this year - we came up with 4 nominees for each category which we then ranked and there are also many honourable mentions as limiting our nominations to only 4 per category was very difficult!

The Paddocks

Sun, 08 Dec 2024 13:40:40 +0000

Sunday 8th December

We’ve been busy with life since we picked up the van, it’s sat on our driveway, and we’ve migrated the stuff from the old into the new one.

For all they’re both 6.4m vans, the storage is very different, we had to make some tradeoffs in moving things around and while there is a lot of storage - it is configured very differently.

We couldn’t quite get away for a full weekend but fancied a nice night away with some good food, so we made the short drive along the M8 to “The Paddocks” in Bishopton.

New Van!

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 19:58:23 +0000

Friday 29th November 2024

After nearly 10,000 miles, 135 nights, and a lot of searching (and a lot of money), we have picked up our new van!

“The Flying Fox” as our WXL was quickly named, took us to so many places that we’d never been before and we learned so much.

After a few trips in the Fox, we realised two things:

We would have traded our fully-separate shower for a half-dinette, the tables in the van were never very good.
We would have loved to have a separate bed and seating area - while the long sofas are great for lounging, you are spending the entire time on them.

We ordered the van at the tail end of the COVID pandemic, when availability was scarce, because the underlying vans were scarce, we didn’t know much, and we didn’t have a lot of choice, so we chose the Warwick XL, and I think we chose very well.

Keswick Brewery Tour

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 15:28:47 +0000

Saturday 16th November 2024

We were up quite late, I jumped in for a shower and after getting ready, we headed out to the village shop, ostensibly to get something for breakfast and while they had a lot of nice things, nothing we quite fancied for breakfast.

We ended up in Jaspers, which I’d spotted the day before, and I had their hashbrowns with chilli jam and a fried egg, very, very nice breakfast.

Keswick Xmas Lights

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 15:04:11 +0000

Friday 15th November 2024

We had a light breakfast of pastries and tea, and we got up and headed off into Keswick by bus.

It was a misty morning, with intermittent light rain so we we opted to wander around Keswick and down to Derwentwater.

Late morning, we had a coffee and pastry in the Cornish bakery, just a nice as they were in Whitby.

We wandered back into town, where they were setting up the market and stage for the Xmas light switch on.

Braithwaite Village

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 14:54:44 +0000

Thursday 14th November 2024

It has been a long three weeks since the last time we were away at Witches Craig, and booking into any site around Keswick is harder than might be, but we took a Friday off and departed on a Thursday evening for a change.

We arrived pretty late to Braithwaite Village Camping and Caravanning Club site, it was a dark and pretty foggy drive down the M74 and then A66.

Autumnal walk in Stirlingshire

Sun, 27 Oct 2024 14:15:26 +0000

Saturday 26th October 2024

We were up quite late, and it wasn’t particularly cold in the van. We had a tasty breakfast with honey yoghurt and granola.

In the daylight the site is nice, it was surprisingly busy for the end of season.

The facilities were good, maybe a little dated, but we have been to some amazing sites this year, and they are definitely good.

We set off towards Balmains Farm shop, it’s a nice easy walk along the A91, along the pavement.

Witches Craig

Sun, 27 Oct 2024 13:39:24 +0000

Friday 25th October 2024

It’s a short drive to Witches Craig just outside Stirling at the foot of the Ochil Hills.

We arrived early, but not long before sunset and pitched up on pitch 9 which backs onto the hills.

Dinner was a sausage casserole cooked in a Trangia billy pot - sausages, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, celery, chorizo and chopped tomatoes!

We had prechopped most of the veg and cooked the sausage in advance.

Stargazing at Twice Brewed

Mon, 21 Oct 2024 19:32:44 +0100

Saturday 19th October 2024

On Thursday I looked at the weather and noticed that it was expected to be clear on Saturday evening, and Gayle had wanted to go to the Twice Brewed Stargazing event for some time.

So a quick phone call and had two spots booked and they booked in our van to stay overnight.

We were up early on a Saturday morning and headed off to AdventureLV in Tebay to see a possible new van.

Home from Culzean Castle

Sun, 13 Oct 2024 19:10:10 +0100

Sunday 13th October 2024

We were up around 8:30am, the wind had died down overnight, but it was grey and overcast when we woke up.

Light breakfast of raspberry yoghurt and chocolate granola for a change, still a van favourite.

We packed up and headed back ia Humeston Byre Farm Shop which is just a five minute drive away, we picked up some dinner and lunch items and we’ll definitely be back.

Windy Culzean Castle

Sun, 13 Oct 2024 19:00:37 +0100

Saturday 12th October 2024

I slept ‘til after 6am and we were up at 8am, a light breakfast of crumpets with marmite and cheese toasted in the air fryer, very tasty.

We headed off towards Culzean castle, out the side other from the site and followed the tree line down to the farm shop.

It was a muddy walk but we passed through the castle down to the beach and wandered along a little bit of the Ayrshire coast path.

Off to Culzean Castle

Sun, 13 Oct 2024 18:41:10 +0100

Friday 11th October 2024

We arrived early evening after a slow drive down the M77 through some heavy rain at times and road-works slowing folks down.

It was dry when we arrived and we were greeted by Nathan the site warden who showed us to a sea view pitch, the last available but still a prime spot.

This was the first C&C club site we’ve been on this year, but it was the same friendly welcome.

Home from Rosneath

Mon, 30 Sep 2024 07:28:20 +0100

Sunday 29th September 2024

Up early to get some sunrise photos and we wandered round to the other side of the site which is quite different to the parts we visited yesterday, it felt less sheltered.

It’s quite a big site, definitely worth a visit.

The food in the bar was good value, the drinks were cheap.

The facilities were great, and the pitch space was good too…cars were ignoring the 10mph signs, especially on the longer section out towards the main road which wasn’t great, I guess not many folks walk out of the site.

Clach MacKenny

Sun, 29 Sep 2024 18:16:33 +0100

Saturday 28th September 2024

We woke around 5am and chatted for a bit before going back to sleep and woke again just before 8am

Very nice facilities, Gayle immediately put it up for facilities of the year.

They have four self contained toilet and shower units, nice and warm, great showers, and very clean.

It was a grey morning, the sky was very much all one colour.

We headed off for a walk to Clach Mackenney which is a nice walk up through the forest to the nearest trig point.

Off to Rosneath Castle Caravan Park

Sun, 29 Sep 2024 18:02:12 +0100

Friday 27th September 2024

Unusually we headed west on a Friday evening, along the M8, and after we got past the busy part of the road, it was a nice pleasant drive up the A82 and then onto the A817, down the B872 which tracks the Gare Loch for the last few miles.

The weather was dry, and it only took around around eighty minutes to drive the fifty miles.

Home from Whitby

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 18:26:32 +0100

Sunday 15th September 2024

It took nearly five hours to get home, both the M1 and M6 had road closures, so it was a bit of a slog.

We did fuel-up at Tebay Truckstop, and press on up the road, dodging the rain.

Saturday was our 52nd night away in the van this year and we covered over 600 miles on that last trip, and nearly 9000 miles in total.

Robin Hood's Bay

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 18:21:14 +0100

Saturday 14th September 2024

We were up late, didn’t fancy breakfast in the van so we headed off to the local shop for rolls (the on-site shop didn’t have any) and ended up in the centre of Whitby.

We popped into the Cornish Bakery again for breakfast, their cheese and bacon croissants are amazing and I had a slice of Cornish pudding, I enjoyed both.

Gayle had a raspberry and white chocolate bronut, apparently it was a bit dry, but she loved the bacon and cheese croissant.

In Stoker's Footsteps

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 18:16:07 +0100

Friday 13th September 2024

Up late, slept well, back a bit better.

Our favourite breakfast in the van, cherry yoghurt with dark chocolate granola.

Beautiful blue skies and wind had dropped a bit.

Walked into town and started the treasure trail “Bram Stoker’s Whitby”, the Treasure Trails were a gift from Gayle, and they’re definitely worth it and a great way to get around, and fun too we found none of the clues were too hard to find.

On to Whitby

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 18:03:12 +0100

Thursday 12th September 2024

Up and prepping to head on from Kip and Nook.

We had problems with our cassette toilet, I suspect it was jarred during the drive from Castle Howard and we needed to do a bit of cleaning.

Again it was sunny, cold and windy, but dry!

We left just after 11am to head to Whitby via Catterick.

Gayle wanted to head to Saltburn-on-Sea but we couldn’t get parked up at the car park which is listed on Brit Stops.

Relaxing in the Hot Tub

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 17:43:17 +0100

Wednesday 11th September 2024

Up early for breakfast and heating the hot tub, it’s a wood-fired heater, so it takes a wee while to get warm and the fire needs to be looked after.

We had pre-booked breakfast and I had amazing French toast with biscoff while Gayle had and excellent bagel and scrambled eggs.

Back to fire up the hot tub, it took around an hour for it to be hot enough for us to jump in.

Kip & Nook

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 17:10:06 +0100

Tuesday 10th September 2024

We were up early with honey yoghurt and granola for breakfast.

We packed up and headed back into Malton, returning to Wentworth St car park.

Popped into Derek Fox butchers picked up some great food:

Peppered beef rolls
Beef truffle
4 Yorkshire sausages
Bacon and cheese scotch egg

Nice wee haul that will do for a breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We then proceeded to Kemp’s bookstore where Gayle picked up “The Salt Path”, looks like a cheery wee tale.

Malton Treasure Trail

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 15:54:29 +0100

Monday 9th September 2024

I got up with a really sore back and had to take some ibuprofen in the hopes of easing it.

We hiked up to Castle Howard to get bus into Malton, it’s an ok walk, because there are quite big verges and not a lot of through traffic.

But, the bus arrived minus a wing mirror which it lost coming through the arch coming into Castle Howard.

Onto Castle Howard

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 15:45:42 +0100

Sunday 8th September 2024

Up early because we had a fairly long drive east to Castle Howard, the weather was dry, but it was clearly changing for the worse.

We headed off around 10am and popped into Booths in Kirkby Lonsdale and then Country Harvest just outside Thornbrook Barn where we spent three nights in June, good food acquired we set off on the long drive.

It started raining heavily and it was a bit of a slog, not helped by Google maps sending us down a road it knew was closed (even asked us to confirm it was still closed) and we had a five mile detour to get back on the right track.

Lancashire Canal

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 15:34:37 +0100

Saturday 7th September 2024

We were just up just after eight to beautiful blue skies, as is normal in September it was a wee bit chilly first thing, but the forecast was for a warm day.

We had a light breakfast of some leftover teacakes brought from home, toasted with our tea.

We packed the camera and headed off along the canal, it’s not in great condition but it’s a nice walk in the hot sun and very easily accessible from the campsite.

Little Acre Camping

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 15:09:52 +0100

Friday 6th September 2024

We arrived early evening, it was a warm drive straight down the m74 and m6 and the site is just off the motorway, surprisingly, it’s not particularly noisy.

We pitched up on pitch 28 after a friendly welcome, then freshened up and headed straight over to the Crooklands Hotel for a cold drink before our dinner booking at 8pm.

It was lovely and warm and we watched the sun go down from our seat outdoors with a nice cold pint of cider.

Rainy day in Elie

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 19:21:22 +0100

Sunday 25th August 2024

We were up quite late, after 9am, and had our favourite breakfast of yoghurt and granola.

It was very windy and rainy overnight and this was to set the tone for the day.

We lay reading most of the morning but eventually we had to get out, so we pulled on our walking gear and headed down to the beach and wandered around Ruddon’s Point again.

Windy Elie

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 18:22:52 +0100

Saturday 24th August 2024

We woke around 8:20am and had a light breakfast with danish pastries.

It was windy so we decided to go for a local wander around the site and Ruddon’s Point maybe as far as Largo Bay.

It’s a beautiful bit of the coast and we really enjoyed it, it’s an easy walk along the beach and Ruddon’s Point overlooks the bay and Leven in the distance.

Return to Elie

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 18:01:43 +0100

Friday 23rd August 2024

We followed a well-trodden path east towards Fife for the third time this year, through Kincardine and along the A985 towards the East Neuk.

The weather forecast wasn’t great, with warnings of rain and wind, and if I’m honest, we were a bit nervous about going here after we’d wandered through it en-route from Silverburn Park to Elie and Earlsferry.

We didn’t really know what to expect, back in July it was very busy, but it is on the Fife Coastal Path route and we love the area…and we were looking for a long relaxing weekend.

Home from Killin

Sun, 11 Aug 2024 16:13:48 +0100

Sunday 11th August 2024

We woke to beautiful sunshine, and Killin looks much nicer in the sun.

We had a light breakfast of yoghurt and granola, and watched a bit of TV.

As always, Sundays are departure days on campsites, weekenders like us breaking down their units and moving on, and the site was busy with folks preparing to leave.

The weather was so nice, we really wanted to stay another night, and if it wasn’t for the fact that it was a nearly two hour drive home, we might have asked to stay another night (there was plenty of space).

Loch Tay walk

Sun, 11 Aug 2024 15:26:30 +0100

Saturday 10th August 2024

We were up around 8am with chorizo and pepper omelette for breakfast, I was awakened around 1:30am by very heavy rain.

We pulled out walking gear on and headed off towards the head of Loch Tay

It’s a very nice walk especially on the shore of the loch, looking back towards Ben Lawers and Beinn Ghlas.

After our walk around the head of the loch, we walked back through Killin, past the Falls of Dochart, which were in good flow.

Return to Maragowan

Sun, 11 Aug 2024 15:08:50 +0100

Friday 9th August 2024

Maragowan Club Campsite was the third site we visited in the van, back in mid August 2022, this weekend was exactly two years since our last trip.

We have memories of a beautifully warm weekend in Killin, and while we haven’t raced back there, we had fond memories of our weekend there.

We set off on Friday evening, and the roads were busy and there were several accidents en-route to the site, we took the M80, M9 route then onto the A84, which becomes the A85.

Home from Hawick

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 16:44:12 +0100

Sunday 4th August 2024

We got up after 8am, it had rained overnight.

Jumped into the shower on the site, nice and clean, and good ratio of showers to pitches.

A light breakfast of strawberries and honey yoghurt with pancakes.

We tidied up, and discovered a water leak, not quite sure what’s leaking, somewhere around the water pump, so we’ll need to get that fixed.

A bit annoying after it had a hab check four weeks ago…

Walk to Hawick

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 15:10:08 +0100

Saturday 3rd August 2024

We woke late, around 8am, to beautiful blue skies and sun.

A light breakfast of tea and scones before pulling on our walking gear and changing plans.

Originally I had a circular walk planned towards Denholm, but we realised that would be a good 5 hours and then we wanted to get into Hawick.

So, we headed towards Hawick along the Teviot River, it’s a really nice walk through forest and grass then into a light-industrial bit that isn’t quite so nice (the local refuse collection point is a bit smelly).

Riverside Caravan Park, Hawick

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 14:51:59 +0100

Friday 2nd August 2024

It’d been a long two weeks since our last trip.

We headed off, via Moffat because we needed diesel…and honestly, we were tired and it would’ve been nice to just pull into the Moffat site which is definitely one of our favourites.

Instead, we continued on the A708, along a pretty rough road, past the Grey Mare’s Tail, it’s a long road, over 30 miles of single-lane road, through some beautiful countryside.

Silverburn Park Walled Garden and Home

Sun, 21 Jul 2024 20:56:58 +0100

Sunday 21st July 2024

We got up after 8am, feeling the effects from yesterday’s hike in the hot sun, we were both pretty cooked with red arms and necks.

Breakfast was yoghurt, strawberries and granola, we keep a bag of granola in the van which is handy for something tasty (and mostly healthy) for breakfast.

After the dishes were washed up we wandered round to the Walled Garden at Silverburn Park, it’s definitely worth a visit with beautiful plants and flowers and really peaceful too.

Fife Coastal Path from Leven to Elie

Sun, 21 Jul 2024 20:15:18 +0100

Saturday 20th July 2024

We were up fairly early, after a tasty breakfast of strawberries and pancakes and yoghurt outside, we packed up and headed for the Fife Coastal Path.

Gayle packed a tasty picnic with ham rolls and maple-bacon quiche.

We headed out of the site, through the car park, and onto the golf course, following along the path running parallel to the beach.

We walked along the sandy beach, with very few other folks on the sand, until we got to Lower Largo, lots of jelly fish and other beach detritus.

Silverburn Park

Sun, 21 Jul 2024 17:27:25 +0100

Friday 19th July 2024

It’d been three long weeks since we were last away at the awesome Tantallon Caravan Park, the van has been for a hab check and service and everything is good.

We arrived at the site in the early evening, it’s not a long drive, and not as far as Silverdyke Caravan Park, we opted for the route via Kincardine and had no real problems getting there.

We parked up on Pitch 2, and it’s a really nice site, with a golf club behind us.

Two years of van ownership

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 06:27:01 +0100

Celebrating two years of owning our van!

Two years ago tomorrow we took delivery of our Autosleeper Warwick XL.

We are celebrating family birthdays this weekend, so we’re not away (but we are away next weekend!).

We’ve had so many great trips and learned so much even in the past year, our recent week away in Northumberland, Yorkshire and Cumbria was fantastic and our trip to Tantallon Park was one of our best ever!

Home from Tantallon

Sun, 30 Jun 2024 17:00:20 +0100

Sunday 30th June 2024

We got up late, I didn’t wake ’til 7am, we lay chatting and watching a bit of TV, nice leisurely morning, the skies were ominously grey.

I cooked sausages, bacon grill, eggs and beans in the Trangia pans, it’s a bit of an effort to get right, but they came out pretty good, the bacon grill in particular was pretty tasty.

Definitely impressed by how the Trangia performs with gas in windy weather (at least in comparison to the Cadac).

Walk to Gullane

Sun, 30 Jun 2024 16:28:24 +0100

Saturday 29th June 2024

We were up fairly early, and had a nice light break fast of cherry yoghurt and granola.

We set off with no particular plan, off down the path into town along the side of the beach, and then onto the sand.

It was very windy, but warm and sunny.

The tide was going out, so we walked along the receding waterline, and then into town.

We poked our heads into Bostock Bakery, but we weren’t hungry, and couldn’t make up our minds so…we set off again for the water.

Tantallon Park again

Sun, 30 Jun 2024 15:59:13 +0100

Friday 28th June 2024

We set off on a warm but windy Friday afternoon for Tantallon Park. just outside North Berwick.

We were here in June 2023 and it was warm and windy then, the wind was dialled up a few notches when we arrived, it said “20mph, gusting to 38mph” and it definitely felt like it.

We were on Pitch 80 this time, and we reversed into the pitch, we had to reverse onto the levelling blocks for the first time, beautiful view of the Firth of Forth out our rear windows.

Home to Glasgow

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 08:24:27 +0100

Sunday 16th June 2024

We were up and had breakfast, the site was busy with folks breaking down tents and awnings etc.

The skies were dark, and rain threatened so we packed up and headed the long road back home.

We stopped off at two different motorhome dealers, we’re in the hunt for something that would put an end to making and breaking the bed every day, and more importantly, a front dinette, but nothing decided yet.

Haverigg Beach

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 08:06:50 +0100

Saturday 15th June 2024

Yeah, Scotland took a bit of a kicking at the football, dang.

Some new neighbours, caravan and campers arrived late Friday night, so the site was pretty full from what we could see.

The on-site facilities are great, individual shower rooms with toilets and plenty of space, easy to keep clothes dry.

We were up early, yoghurt and granola for a good healthy breakfast.

The weather outlook wasn’t good, it was windy and rainy, but due to clear later.

Hodbarrow Sea Wall

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 07:51:20 +0100

Friday 14th June 2024

Up early omelette with ham, peppers and mushrooms, again great van breakfast, really easy to make in the Cadac paella pan.

We donned our walking gear and headed for the sea wall.

It was windy and sunny, but we could see rain clouds coming up fast, and just as we got to the end of the outer break water, it started to rain heavily, we moved quite quickly, but got pretty wet.

Onto Cumbria

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 07:48:24 +0100

Thursday 13th June 2024

We woke up to the sun splitting the trees, despite worries that it would rain.

A light breakfast and we packed up and headed off from Thornbrook Barn, I made a rookie mistake and failed to lift the grating cover and we made a mess dumping our waste water. Oops.

We headed to Morecambe, which was dry and sunny, if not particularly warm, did a bit of shopping and hit the windy road to Millom. Unfortunately the rain started while we were wending our way.

Relaxation in Thornton-in-Lonsdale

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 07:42:41 +0100

Wednesday 12th June 2024

We were up quite late, after 8am, and the sky was blue with light clouds, we had a light breakfast in the awning, yoghurt and granola and sat reading for the morning, a bit of relaxing down time.

We popped out briefly to Country Harvest for the makings of lunch, tasty ham and a loaf, which with some cheese and slaw from the fridge made an impressive sandwich.

Ingleton Waterfalls Trail

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 07:37:49 +0100

Tuesday 11th June 2024

We were up late, headed to Country Harvest ostensibly to buy rolls for the sausages we bought yesterday, but their cafe proved enticing, and I had their full English and Gayle had her favourite: toast, scrambled egg and black pudding, both were very tasty, and my coffee was really good too.

We got ready for a walk and wandered into Ingleton for the waterfalls trail, we had planned to pop into the village kitchen for a packed sandwich, but it was closed, so we wandered round to the Seasons Bakery again and picked up supplies.

Onto Yorkshire

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 07:28:21 +0100

Monday 10th June 2024

We were up fairly early, it rained heavily overnight for a bit, and it was breezy and intermittently cloudy and bright sunshine, as it has been.

We had toasted crumpets and jam, butter and hazelnut spread for breakfast, using up some bits we had in the van.

We headed off not long after 10am, and headed towards Kendal to view a possible replacement van, it was nice, but “not the one”.

Lunch in Haltwhistle

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 07:17:21 +0100

Sunday 9th June 2024

Woke early went back to sleep and woke again after 8am.

Shower facilities are great, warm underfoot and not timed showers, really invigorating, definitely one of the best facilities blocks we’ve been in.

I started cooking the breakfast pack, 4 sausages, 4 slices of bacon, couple of slices of black pudding, 2 eggs and mushrooms and an unused tomato.

Cooked it on the large combi Ridgemonkey which is a bit too big for our hob, would have preferred to cook outside, but again, it was very windy.

Vindolanda

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 18:44:26 +0100

Saturday 8th June 2024

We were up late, healthy(ish) breakfast, dark chocolate granola with cherry yoghurt, really tasty, good van breakfast, keeping the breakfast pack ’til tomorrow.

We left the campsite just before 9am, out onto the road and wait for the 122 bus and down to Vindolanda, we paid for the ticket for both Vindolanda and the Roman army museum, discount for both and for getting the bus there.

Return to Herding Hill

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 18:37:29 +0100

Friday 7th June 2024

We arrived around 6:30pm after an easy drive down the M74 and along the A689 towards Haltwhistle.

When we arrived, it was windy and dry and I picked up a pre-ordered breakfast pack and BBQ pack.

We’d been to Herding Hill before, in November 2022, and the breakfast pack was one of the many highlights of the trip.

Before this trip I purchased a “Quest Screen House 4 Pro Shelter” to give us a bit of protection from wind and possible rain.

Home from Cruachan

Sun, 26 May 2024 20:36:12 +0100

Sunday 26th May 2024

I was woken by rain at 5am, but managed to get back to sleep.

We got up around 8am, it was rainy, and tents were packing up and leaving.

Breakfast was omelette with chorizo and peppers in paella pan, really tasty, and the paella pan makes it easy because it’s so non-stick, a van-breakfast favourite!

I booked for 3 nights, but we took the decision to to head home rather than spend a day inside the van, this is the first time we’ve left early.

Dinner by Loch Tay

Sun, 26 May 2024 20:22:25 +0100

Saturday 25th May 2024

We were up at 8am, a cuppa tea and cherry yogurt and dark chocolate granola, a great in-van breakfast!

I found the water point, lurking behind the van.

The weather prediction was for a dry day, we relaxed in the morning, a couple of games of scrabble, getting the hang of it

We went for a wander around the site, discovered additional facilities at the top of the hill, the pitches up there definitely look a bit nicer.

Cruachan Farm Caravan and Camping Park

Sun, 26 May 2024 20:02:28 +0100

Friday 24th May 2024

It’s been grim week of weather in Glasgow, regular heavy rain and generally dark and not very nice.

We had a conversation about whether we even wanted to head to the Trossachs, such was the weather prognosis, but, we decided to make the most of it!

It took nearly 2hrs to get to the site, “south” on the M74, M80 and then headed through Callendar along the A803, through Killin and onto the site.

Home from Pooley Bridge

Mon, 20 May 2024 07:32:21 +0100

Sunday 19th May 2024

I woke up briefly for a drink of water overnight and slept ‘til after 8am, something I never do at home!

A shower in the great facilities, and breakfast from the on-site catering van, sausage, egg and bacon for me, while Gayle opted for black pudding and egg, well worth the money, both were great sandwiches.

It was hot in the sun, so we had to arrange the chairs to give us a bit of shade.

Steaming to Glenridding

Mon, 20 May 2024 07:15:58 +0100

Saturday 18th May 2024

It was beautifully sunny when we woke, up early and a breakfast of hash potato, eggs and bacon cooked on the Cadac.

Gayle had plans for us to walk ten miles around Ullswater as far as Glenridding, but the sun was too hot.

So we decided to head for the Glenridding steamer, which is one of the last remaining Heritage Steamers in the world

We just made the 11:05 sailing, it takes around an hour to get there, and it was full of small boats, paddle boards and other craft.

Stay at Hillcroft Park

Mon, 20 May 2024 07:06:01 +0100

Friday 17th May 2024

Around a 2 hour drive beautiful weather, straight down the M74 then M6 and onto the A592 and we arrived in the small village of Pooley Bridge.

It had been warm all week, and we needed the van air conditioning for this one.

We were staying at Hillcroft Park, which is a sprawling site, with tent camping, motorhome and campervan pitches, glamping pods and static caravans overlooking Ullswater.

Home from Auchenlarie

Wed, 08 May 2024 06:38:20 +0100

Monday 6th May 2024

We woke late to light rain, it was “going home day” and you could see it all around the site, with caravans and awnings being packed away all over.

It rained quite heavily overnight, these are the weekends I’m glad we have a campervan and not a tent.

Gayle baked some “fresh” cinnamon swirls, these were great, and we’d buy them again, really nice with a good cup of coffee.

Auchenlarie Day 3

Tue, 07 May 2024 20:14:50 +0100

Sunday 5th May 2024

We were up late, and I got to try the showers on-site, the actual shower was great, but the cubicle had nowhere to stash anything, so…it was tricky keeping things dry.

We had a light breakfast, cherry yoghurt and dark chocolate granola, definitely a bit healthier than yesterday’s brioche.

We played Scrabble again, followed the rules this time, and it was great fun.

We had spotted that the on-site restaurant was serving Sunday Lunch, so we wandered down shortly after 1pm, they required bookings, and we didn’t have one, but the staff were very helpful in accommodating us.

Auchenlarie Day 2

Tue, 07 May 2024 19:50:26 +0100

Saturday 4th May 2024

We were up late, and had a tear-and-share vanilla custard brioche for breakfast, not our healthiest breakfast in the van, but tasty nonetheless…

It was murky and misty outside, and there aren’t many good walking routes outside of the site, so we broke out “pass the pigs” which is honestly great fun.

After a few rounds of the game, we switched to another game from our on-board stash, Travel Scrabble!

Auchenlarie Holiday Park

Tue, 07 May 2024 18:42:09 +0100

Friday 3rd May 2024

For the first time, we had consecutive weekends away, taking advantage of the early May bank holiday weekend.

It was a fairly long drive for a weekend away, down the M74 and then A701 and A75, through some very heavy rain.

All week I’d been hoping for some nice weather for this trip, and it looked like we’d get it, up until Friday, and then things turned, and at times the windscreen wipers could barely keep up with the rain.

Home again

Sun, 28 Apr 2024 20:56:03 +0100

Sunday 28th April 2024

We got up around 7:30am, it was beautifully sunny, there was an onsite coffee bar, and they sell rolls ’n’ sausage and bacon.

So, we wandered down shortly after 8:30am (it opens at 8:30am), and ordered coffees and rolls from Coull Beans, there’s a really nice bit to sit down, and we sat in the cold air, but with the sun on our backs.

Walking to Aberfoyle

Sun, 28 Apr 2024 20:18:35 +0100

Saturday 27th April 2024

It was very cold overnight, I’d put the “night” heating on to make sure it didn’t get too cold, but it dropped to around 1C and we definitely needed the heating to get going in the morning.

I didn’t wake ’til 8:30am, we had sausages for breakfast, and then on with the walking gear.

Quickly ordered pizza for later.

We set off for Aberfoyle, through Lemahamish forest, it’s a beautiful forest walk, with some great views, including one I’d never seen of Ben Lomond from the opposite side, very much up and down hills in parts, but a really nice walk, the sun was warm, but the air temperature was pretty chilly, only around 10-12C.

Cobleland Campsite

Sun, 28 Apr 2024 19:35:07 +0100

Friday 26th April 2024

We headed off after work to Cobleland, it’s only about an hour away.

Pitched up, on pitch 64, which is nicely secluded behind the main “meadows” pitches.

There’s a small shop on site, with the essentials, and plenty of water points, and we were advised that a Pizza van comes on a Saturday night.

The site looked pretty busy, there was an empty pitch beside us, but there weren’t a lot of empty pitches elsewhere.

Walking to Aberlady

Sun, 14 Apr 2024 15:38:27 +0100

Saturday 13th April 2024

We got up around 8am, and had a light breakfast of cherry yoghurt and dark chocolate granola.

I prepped sandwiches for lunch, and we set off through Prestonpans along the John Muir Way.

It was bright but windy, and a big chunk of the walk is along the shore of the Firth of Forth, with East Fife on the opposite shore.

This is one of our favourite places, and it’s a really nice walk, with a mix of road walking, beaches, dunes and some forest walking.

Drummohr Camping & Glamping Site

Sun, 14 Apr 2024 15:26:37 +0100

Friday 12th April 2024

We set off along the M8 East again, towards Drummohr Campsite.

We’d been here in September 2022, in only our fifth trip in the van.

Back then, we’d spent a warm weekend in Musselburgh and Portobello, the site was nice, and in a great location for walking along the Forth into Edinburgh.

This time, we’d resolved to walk along the John Muir Way into Aberlady.

We arrived around 6pm after an uneventful trip along the M8 and A720, we got pitched up on B27, and the site seemed pretty busy.

Beautiful day in Fort William

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 06:47:33 +0100

Sunday 31st March 2024

We woke to beautiful sunshine, so after a light breakfast (yogurt and granola) we pulled on our walking gear again and headed out towards Neptune’s Staircase.

We walked along the other side of the river, which brought us out into a slightly residential/light industrial area which is Lochaber, after crossing the A82 we followed the Great Glen Way towards Neptune’s Staircase.

It was sunny and quite warm (well, this is Scotland at the end of the March, so 12C), it took about an hour and a half to get there, and it was pretty quiet when we arrived.

Rainy day in Glen Nevis

Sun, 31 Mar 2024 07:48:17 +0100

Saturday 30th March 2024

It rained quite heavily overnight, I was awoken by the noise of the rain on the roof, but got back to sleep.

We finally got up at 8:30am, and Gayle volunteered to go to the on-site shop for breakfast, returning with rolls and egg, sausage, potato scone and bacon, very tasty.

We got boots on and set off for a walk up the glen, it was quite wet underfoot, and we wandered for a couple of miles then headed back towards the Glen Nevis Visitor Centre.

Glen Nevis

Sat, 30 Mar 2024 08:48:17 +0000

Friday 29th March 2024

After a three week hiatus, we were back on the road for the Easter holiday break.

We were up early, got the van packed, and set off around 8:30am because we needed diesel, we got back to Glasgow last time with around 29 miles of range.

We headed off up the A82, spotting lots of motorhomes and campervans on the road, we pulled into, the Green Welly for brunch nice toastie not too greasy and ok coffee, Gayle had a toastie too.

Silverdyke Caravan Park

Mon, 11 Mar 2024 06:02:20 +0000

Friday 8th March 2024

We didn’t get away during February, so we were excited to get away at the start of the new season.

I’d spotted a place called Bowhouse on our way down the Fife tourist road in 2022, and I had looked up their website and spotted that there was a market on in early March…Silverdyke Caravan Park was on our list of places to go, and it was opening up the same weekend as Bowhouse, so…decision made!

Heading Home

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 19:31:20 +0000

Friday 26th January 2024

It was a windy night, we were pretty exposed to the wind coming in off the sea, and it was very loud, hard to sleep overnight.

I’m not sure if parking facing into the prevailing wind direction would help (aerodynamics of the van?) but it was definitely pretty wild.

We parked nose-in (which is unusual for us) because we wanted a view out towards the sea from the rear.

Red Wharf Bay

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 20:03:44 +0000

Thursday 25th January 2024

Up and used up some yoghurt and granola for breakfast, walking gear on and down to the beach.

It’s a fairly short walk from the campsite down to sand, but it was high tide so no walk round the bay for us.

It was cold and grey, but dry at that point.

Walked along the main road, mostly on pavements, popped into the boathouse for caramel cake ‘n coffee and mocha and Bakewell tart, very windy and a bit of rain, looked like it’d be nice in summer.

Moving Day

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 21:32:57 +0000

Wednesday 24th January 2024

It was very windy overnight, felt a lot worse than Sunday night (Isha), this was storm Jocelyn, and the van was definitely rocking, with long gusts of wind.

At one point, our screen cover was pulled off the van, so it was a mad race out to grab it before it blew away and stuff it into its sack, we didn’t sleep well at all.

That was our fourth night at Chirk, and we got up at 8am, had hot cross buns and coffee for breakfast, and jumped into the on-site showers (which are really nice).

Burgers in Shrewsbury

Tue, 23 Jan 2024 19:42:13 +0000

Tuesday 23rd January 2024

Gayle wanted to visit Shrewsbury, so we were up and had a light breakfast of pancakes, strawberries and cherry yoghurt.

We wandered down to get the train to Shrewsbury, it was a miserable morning, dark and wet, another storm was heading in.

First stop was the Shrewsbury Market Hall, really nice, it was just opening up as we arrived, so we picked out some places to take a look in later.

A rainy day in Wrexham

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 21:19:40 +0000

Monday 22nd January 2024

The day started dry and bright but windy, it had been windy overnight, but not sure if it was how the van was angled, or our location, but it wasn’t too bad, we were surprised, it was definitely windy, but we’ve experienced worse in the van before in Galloway in September 2022.

Yoghurt and granola for breakfast with a cuppa, good start to the day.

The showers on site are nice and modern, and they have a new “split” mechanism, which means they could close off half of each toilet/shower block, which seems to stop the usual “toilets are closed from 10:30am ’til 12pm” that is a feature of most sites.

Chirk

Sun, 21 Jan 2024 20:43:13 +0000

Sunday 21st January 2024

We got up fairly early, knowing that it was due to be stormy, we had an incentive to get out and about.

Reading the information provided onsite, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct was closed because it was drained for some work.

But, just outside the campsite, you can walk down to the Llangollen Canal, and you can walk through the Chirk tunnel.

It’s pitch dark for a bit, so I’d recommend taking a torch (we didn’t think we’d be going, and my iphone light worked well enough), it’s mostly level, but there’s a slight turn that makes it hard to see your feet in bits.

Lady Margaret's Park Caravan and Motorhome Club Campsite

Sat, 20 Jan 2024 21:20:56 +0000

Saturday 20th January 2024

We set off in the rain for our first ever trip to Wales.

We fuelled up at Moffat en-route and then stopped at Tebay, the southbound services is a bit smaller than the northbound setup, but the rain was so heavy we didn’t get out of the van, we had picked up sandwiches in the Co-Op at Moffat so that we could stop for a shorter time if we had to, and that turned out to be the right decision based on the rivers of water running down the ramps at the service station.

2023 Retrospective

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 14:20:56 +0000

2023 Retrospective

We spent 50 nights away in the van between January and November last year, across 25 different sites.

For fun, we decided to give out some awards in a few categories for our favourites of 2023.

We figured out four nominations in each category, and then gave us both three points in each category to vote (to avoid 1-1 deadlocks).

Best site overall

Which site was our favourite this year?

Moffat - Camping and Caravanning Club Site

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 19:59:06 +0000

Saturday 25th November 2023

We set off on a bright cold late November morning, it’s only just over an hour to Moffat and the site’s very close to the centre of the town.

First things first, we headed to Mutchies Munchies for a soup and a sandwich, and it was great.

Moffat is the only site we’ve been to more than once, and this was our third time there, but first in 2023.

Luss Campsite

Sun, 05 Nov 2023 21:39:10 +0000

Friday 3rd November 2023

We didn’t quite have a month off after our travels, but this was our first planned weekend since our November trip.

We’re now into the long dark nights and short days, we arrived at Luss in darkness, and pitched up.

I had opted not to pay an extra £15 a night for a lochside pitch, so we were on pitch 59, right beside the toilet block, which we didn’t mind.

Yorkshire Trip

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 20:34:49 +0100

Yorkshire Summary 2023

We covered over 500 miles, visited five campsites, for ten nights.

Castlerigg Hall was the 44th and 45th nights away in the van in 2023.

My highlights of the trip were York and Masham, with Hawes close behind.

In particular the Food Festival made an already great York fantastic for us, and the Sheep Fair was a fascinating insight into Yorkshire life.

We did two “boat trips” on this journey, but didn’t get as much walking in as we wanted, mostly due to COVID exhaustion.

Leaving Keswick

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 18:04:02 +0100

Tuesday 3rd October 2023

Again, hard to sleep last night, a lot of rain and wind.

We had to be off the site by 10am, so a quick shower, van packed up, and parked up in Keswick.

I’ll say that the showers were the best on this trip, and maybe as good as “Milton of Fonab” at Pitlochry.

We were able to get the van parked up behind Brysons, in the “Bell Close Car Park”, handy to know if you have a 6.36 metre van…

A launch on Derwentwater and Afternoon Tea

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 21:30:49 +0100

Monday 2nd October 2023

We got up and headed into Keswick, we’ve been coming to Keswick since 2014, and while we’ve been to a lot of places, Keswick is still up there as one of our favourites.

We were last here at the end of February, and it was bitterly cold, but really enjoyed it.

Despite having been here so often, we’d actually never been out on a boat on Derwentwater, so, after a light breakfast, we wandered down along the old train track into town, and then down to the lake and booked a tour.

On to Keswick for Birthday Lunch

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 20:13:32 +0100

Sunday 1st October 2023

We started the day with Gayle’s birthday and had breakfast at the Station Cafe on the site, it was very good, I had the toast and bavarian ham with fried eggs and a coffee, very tasty.

But the day was setting up for drizzling rain, so we packed up the van and headed up the M1 and along the M66.

We were staying at Castlerigg Hall, which has great views overlooking Derwentwater onto Cat Bells.

Masham Sheep fair

Sat, 30 Sep 2023 19:41:56 +0100

Saturday 30th September 2023

Up late, had a light breakfast and we started the leaves walk, but the sheep fair was in full swing and too attractive.

The town was mobbed, and we wandered around had a coffee and caramel cake from one of the stalls.

We caught the Sheep Show which was both interesting and entertaining.

Waited in a very long queue for a burger from the Swinton Estate van, and honestly, it was worth it, a really tasty burger!

On to Masham

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 21:49:14 +0100

Friday 29th September 2023

A quiet night’s sleep, up and in the shower, you need to be offsite by 11:15 from York Rowntree.

We drove to Masham via the M1 and a stop to get some cassette toilet pods at Leisure World York, took the opportunity to take a peek at their current stock, some nice looking vans.

We arrived at “Old Station Holiday Park” just outside Masham, nice wee site, and a lovely walk into the town.

Wandering York

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 20:09:37 +0100

Thursday 28th September 2023

Up early, and breakfast from a couple of Yorkshire tea cakes each.

We wandered into the town centre along the river, I knew there were boat trips along the Ouse, so we decided we’d do that.

First, we wandered around the beautiful York Museum gardens finding their Ghost Statues, the gardens are beautiful.

After that, we wandered back to the pier for a boat-trip, and just as it was ready to depart, £13.50 each and we were off, about a 50 minute tour of the centre of York by river, Andy the skipper gave an entertaining history lesson, really enjoyable (and you can buy drinks onboard).

Arriving at York Rowntree

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 21:13:20 +0100

Wednesday 27th September 2023

Up early and light breakfast, packed up the van and headed to York, via the very pretty town of Knaresborough.

We stopped off in Knaresborough because we had some time before we could get into York Rowntree, wandered around the city centre, looked very nice.

We headed onto York, and arrived to a very full site at just after 1pm, got pitched up and headed into the city.

Wharfedale to Hebden

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 20:05:47 +0100

Tuesday 26th September 2023

Breakfast was fried spam and eggs and toast and beans, well fuelled up, we decided to walk into Hebden along the river Wharfe.

It’s a lovely walk from the campsite, down to the edge of Grassington, and turn right just after the bridge and along the riverside.

Just as we arrived at Hebden, it started to rain and we found our way into “The Old Schoolhouse” cafe, and had a really great lunch, their “special fries” with chili jam and mayo were very nice, and I had the bacon and brie with cranberry, while Gayle opted for the tuna melt.

Onto Wharfedale

Mon, 25 Sep 2023 20:49:08 +0100

Monday 25th September 2023

We were up fairly early, didn’t sleep well, it was very stormy overnight.

By morning it was windy but dry, the site was clearning out, so we wandered into Hawes, it’s a nice walk from the site, and so we popped up to the creamery and bought our favourite cheeses from the tasting session.

Popped into the sweet shop, and got some goodies, and finally into Crocketts the bakery (and butcher).

Hawes Day 2 - Wensleydale Creamery

Sun, 24 Sep 2023 19:01:47 +0100

Sunday 24th September 2023

Yorkshire Day Two!

Up early, and a light breakfast with granola and yoghurt and some toast, keeping it healthy!

We wandered up to the Wensleydale Creamery for their 10:30 tour, and managed to join a large bus tour for the cheese making demo.

It was well presented and interesting, we’ve seen cheese made before, but it was entertaining, and interesting to learn about the history of the creamery (and how they were probably saved by Wallace and Grommet!).

Hawes Caravan and Motorhome Club Campsite

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 20:34:14 +0100

Saturday 23rd September 2023

This was the start of our Yorkshire tour, which is really only small part of Yorkshire, as we didn’t even get to the coast!

We were up bright and early on Saturday, Gayle was getting over COVID (tested negative on the Monday), and we finished loading the van and set off at 9:40am, we needed fuel, so…dilemma…do we go somewhere local, grab breakfast, and fuel the van too, or do we try and get to Moffat, and eat in one of the many great eateries in the square?

St Andrews Holiday Park

Sun, 10 Sep 2023 20:34:24 +0100

Friday 8th September 2023

Due to family things, we haven’t been away in four weeks!

We were last in St Andrews in August last year, detouring there on our way home from Forfar to get to the legendary “Cheesy Toast Shack” on the sea front (which is definitely worth detouring from Forfar to Glasgow for!)

At the time, we’d looked up and spotted the characteristic green of static caravans perched high on the cliff above the sea, and said “oh, it’d be nice to be there”, sure enough, Gayle organised it!

Blairgowrie

Thu, 17 Aug 2023 07:24:57 +0100

Friday 11th August 2023

When we were at Callander Woods last month, we were trying to figure out where to go next, and decided that if Callander Woods was ok, we’d go to Blairgowrie Holiday Park.

It was a nice drive, up the A9 for a big chunk, and it took around 1hr50 to get there.

When we arrived, we were on pitch 5 which was a good size, and there were only three campervans/motorhomes on site, the rest were caravans.

LoveTouring Expo and Jedburgh

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 08:02:00 +0100

Friday 28th July 2023

For a change, we weren’t going after work on a Friday, instead, we were on the road by 9am heading through to Edinburgh.

The roads were quiet, and we found our way to the Royal Highland Centre, near Edinburgh Airport.

We could’ve stayed on site for the weekend, but we’d been to the two previous Love Touring Expos in Aberdeen, and so…weren’t sure what to expect.

First Year in the Van

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 21:18:00 +0100

Celebrating one year with our camper van!

The trip to Callander was exactly a year after our first trip in the van.

We’ve been to twenty four sites in a year, one of those twice.

The trip to Callander was our 28th and 29th nights away in the van in 2023 alone!

As Gayle says, it has helped us discover our country, and given us the freedom to nip away at the weekend to discover places we wouldn’t normally go to.

Callander Woods Holiday Park

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 20:57:00 +0100

Friday 14th July 2023

It’s not a long drive to Callander, but it was mostly in very heavy rain.

We arrived on site in time to order pizza from the on-site pizza stall, and set out to the nearby Esso station to pick up some essentials.

On the way back in, I was pleasantly surprised to meet my aunt and uncle, one of my dad’s younger brothers and his wife, I haven’t seen them since my dad’s funeral last year, so it was a nice surprise.

Milarrochy Bay

Tue, 11 Jul 2023 19:48:46 +0100

Friday 30th June 2023

It took us about an hour and 20 minutes to drive there, via the Asda in Bearsden to pick up some food.

Unfortunately, the beautiful weather we’d been having had decided to give up, so it was a return to traditional Scottish weather.

We arrived at the site, it’s almost at the end of the road on the east-shore of Loch Lomond, and the last bit is through some quite nice scenery.

Tantallon Caravan Park

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 06:49:11 +0100

Friday 16th June 2023

After three weeks off after our North East England trip due to my birthday and other things, we were at Ayr Craigie Gardens a couple of weeks ago, but it was hot and I didn’t take any notes, other than that you want to be near the toilet blocks and facing away from them if you want to get the most sun, otherwise it might be a bit chilly in the evenings.

Homeward bound

Sun, 07 May 2023 19:02:41 +0100

Sunday 7th May 2023

We were up early to get ready to head back home, it’s a nice drive back up the A1 and back along the M8, only took around 3 hours.

We arrived home around 1:30pm, unloaded the van and sat down to relax a bit.

It was a great week in the North East of England, we were never much further south than we live in Scotland, which is mildly amusing to us.

Amble

Sun, 07 May 2023 06:45:58 +0100

Saturday 6th May 2023

We set off with our walking kit on, heading initially for Warkworth, it’s a nice walk out of the campsite, we walked down the road, and we came to something I’ve never seen before, a “ford”, a shallow spot of the river for vehicles to cross, we crossed on the pedestrian bridge, and to get there we had to walk alongside the river for a bit, the smell of the wild garlic was pretty impressive.

Walkmill Campsite

Sat, 06 May 2023 06:21:24 +0100

Friday 5th May 2023

We had a lazy morning at Dunstan, the showers were good, and not busy despite one of the blocks being out-of-order.

It was a misty start to the day, and it had rained a little bit overnight.

Finally the wind died down, for the first time in a few days, and it was nice.

Gayle won a chess game!

Our most difficult decision was where to go first thing?

Alnwick

Fri, 05 May 2023 07:33:55 +0100

Thursday 4th May 2023

We had an uncomfortable night in the van, first one ever I think.

Turns out that we really weren’t particularly level, and especially a left-to-right slope, which meant that it was uncomfortable.

It was a cold and windy drive into Alnwick, which is very picturesque, we parked up at the Castle Gardens, good spaces for vans, and wandered into the walled town.

I learned about the Bondagers which was an odd scheme for labouring in the border regions.

Dunstan Hill

Thu, 04 May 2023 07:09:20 +0100

Wednesday 3rd May 2023

Beadnell Bay is a really nice site, broad and level, and the staff were excellent.

We wandered into Beadnell itself, the Chip Shop Van had updated its times to say that it was closed on Tuesdays…

Down to the bay itself, and it is a really nice Bay, we’d missed it when we arrived as we walked along the beach just across from the site, but Beadnell Bay is great.

Bamburgh Walk

Wed, 03 May 2023 07:45:21 +0100

Tuesday 2nd May 2023

We were up early, it was overcast, and it was on with our proper walking kit.

We decided we’d probably be knackered at the end of the walk, so…we’d treat ourselves to dinner at the Craster Arms in Beadnell.

The rough plan, was to walk from Beadnell to Seahouses, maybe get a boat from Seahouses around the Farne islands, and then walk onto Bamburgh, and depending on time, get the bus back or walk back.

Lindisfarne

Tue, 02 May 2023 07:32:31 +0100

Monday 1st May 2023

It was a beautiful morning, and we were up early again, breakfast and headed to Lindisfarne, it’s a very short drive from the Barn at Beal, and across the causeway.

The causeway is narrow, space for a single vehicle with passing points, and it’s an impressive sight looking out across the sand to the left and right of the road as you cross.

It doesn’t take long, and only the first mile is the bit that is under water when the tide is high, still, a mile of road that is submerged twice a day is fascinating, and in the bright sunshine that we got when crossing, it was really beautiful.

Chess and Sunday Roast

Mon, 01 May 2023 21:03:11 +0100

Sunday 30th April 2023

We were up early, ready to head to Lindisfarne.

Breakfast was the “singing hinny” from yesterday toasted with butter, it was like a fruity soda scone, really tasty, I appreciated the fruitiness.

We had planned to go to Lindisfarne and the tide times were pretty good, but it was pretty rainy at the time we had to leave, and we knew we’d need to do a fair bit of walking around the island, so…tough decision, but we opted to go on Monday.

Berwick and Barn at Beal

Sun, 30 Apr 2023 08:43:27 +0100

Saturday 29th April 2023

We got up early and had a quick breakfast and set off into Berwick.

It was a cold and grey morning, but it’s an easy walk from the site down through Spittal and across the river on the “Old Bridge” into the town.

We initially set off in search of the Market, but when we got into town, we discovered that it was The Riding of the Bounds that day, and the town centre was being setup for this.

Berwick Seaview Club Campsite

Sat, 29 Apr 2023 08:42:33 +0100

Friday 28th April 2023

It took us about 2 hours 15 minutes to drive from Cambuslang to Berwick upon Tweed, along the M8 and then the A1.

For such a “major road” the A1 is surprisingly not a motorway, and after you leave Edinburgh, it is actually a pretty nice drive, passing along the coast at points and through some nice little towns.

We arrived early evening, and the site was pretty busy, after driving around, it looked like pitch 50 was our best bet, the site is pretty sloping towards the sea, and yes, we got a sea view.

Campervan Bits

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

These are the most useful things we have got for the van:

Stanley Camp Mugs These are great, solid, and keep your drink hot, so good that we got the tumblers too, one big benefit of these in a van, is that you can make your tea/coffee and then cook your breakfast, and your drink will still be hot, handy if you have limited cooking resources…
Lakeland Semi Skimmed Milk Sticks - these are handy to have for a quick cuppa in the van.
Colapz “Collapsible 2-in-1 Water Carrier & Bucket” this is useful for filling up onsite, we also fill it with water and drink from it (it has a tap) rather than drinking from the onboard water supply. We also have the Flexi-Pipe Kit which has been useful on the couple of fully-serviced pitches we’ve been to.
USB rechargeable fan - really handy for cooling down the fan before sleep time
Outwell Collaps washing base w/handle & lid - great for carrying dishes to and from the washing up area on-site, the top doubles as a tray!
~~Ridgemonkey Connect Deep Pan & Griddle Edition perfect for cooking pasta in~~
- We have replaced this with a GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Base Camper I love the Ridgemonkey gear but the Pinnacle set has lids with integrated straining holes, which are nice and easy to use, we tend to drain our pasta outside the van, rather than putting starchy water down the sink and so the integrated lid is definitely easier than using a colander and tipping back in.
Cosy blankets for the seats - we bought a couple of warm blankets which go on top of our sofas mostly to protect the buttons, but they can also be used to keep warm outside
iBeanie Quishion these sound a bit odd, but they are solid enough cushions, and during the coldest nights away, I did unzip it and pull it over myself as a quilt!
~~Vango Star 300 rechargeable lantern, this provides a nice soft light for in the evenings, and it’s portable so we can take it outside and we use this as our main lighting in the van in the evenings.~~ I dropped this while a USB cable was plugged in to charge and broke it. On the upside, the lighting in the new van is way nicer so we don’t need it.
~~Panda Bamboo mattress topper this has made a huge difference in the comfort of the bed, it is heavy (we have a super-kingsize) and bulky, but we couldn’t do without it.~~ We don’t need this because we have fixed beds in the new van.
Cadac Paella Pan 30 this is a great frying pan, coming with a lid, and it can be used on a Cadac Safari 30 BBQ, or on our gas hob, cleans up really well, only one downside, the handles heat up which you need to be careful of.
Cadac Safari Chef 30 - this packs up into a bag that fits under our sofa.
Trangia 25 stove kit, we’ve got the gas burner for this, and it definitely performs better than the Cadac in windy weather.
Duvalay sleepings bags - they’re not cheap! But they are comfortable and look good, bonus points for being able to slot any single quilt into the bag, we bought it with a 4.5 tog “summer” quilt, but we’ve put in a 2.5 tog quilt as it’s been warm in the van.
Peggy Peg Quick Release clamps and Croc-adapters
- These are great for hanging towels out to dry on an extended roll-out awning.

Places we've been

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

We’ve been to a lot of different sites over the past three years…and written about a lot of them.

This is a breakdown by area:

Scottish Highlands

Glen Nevis Caravan & Camping Park

East Fife

East Lothian

Station Park Touring Site @ East Fortune Farm
Drummohr Camping & Glamping Site
Belhaven Bay Caravan & Camping Park
Tantallon Caravan Park

Dumfries & Galloway

Moffat C&C Site
Glenearly Caravan Park, Dalbeattie
Garlieston C&C Site
Sands of Luce
Auchenlarie Holiday Park
The Braids Caravan Park, Gretna

Perthshire

Maragowan CAMC Site, Killin
Milton of Fonab, Pitlochry
Blairgowrie Holiday Park
Cruachan Farm Caravan & Camping Park

Angus

Forfar Lochside C&C Site

Aberdeenshire

Stonehaven Queen Elizabeth Park CAMC Site

Clackmannanshire

The Woods, Alloa
Witches Craig Caravan & Camping Park

Borders

Ayrshire

Ayr Craigie Gardens CAMC Site
Culzean Castle C&C Site

Loch Lomond

Milarrochy Bay C&C Site
Lomond Woods Holiday Park

Stirlingshire

Callander Woods
Cobleland Campsite

Argyll & Bute

Luss Caravan Park
Rosneath Castle Park

Renfrewshire

The Paddocks Motorhome & RV Park, Ingliston Estate

Mull

Shieling Holiday Park
Tobermory Campsite
Fidden Farm Campsite
Port nan Gael Campsite

England

Northumberland

Herding Hill, Haltwhistle
Berwick Sea View C&C Site
Barn at Beal
Dunstan Hill C&C Site
Beadnell Bay C&C Site
Walkmill
Twice Brewed Inn

Cumbria

Derwentwater C&C Site, Keswick
Castlerigg Hall
Pennine View
Hillcroft Park
Harbour Lights
Little Acre Holiday Park
Braithwaite Village C&C Site

Yorkshire

Hawes CAMC Site
Wharfedale CAMC Site
York Rowntree CAMC Site
Old Station Holiday Park, Masham
Thornbrook Barn
Castle Howard Lakeside Holiday Park
Kip & Nook
Sandfield House Farm Holiday Park, Whitby