Anyhoo, as mentioned elsewhere this summer holiday was camping in Oban. Despite the announcement of storm Floris, we threw caution to the wind (ahem) and headed off as we had prebooked accomodation...
Car was a tad stuffed as always, but the Tardis-like nature of the Galaxy meant we still squeezed in everything we needed.
This was just some of the items we managed to fit into it.
Soon this sign greeted us,
and we were on our way to experience the fantastic hospitality of Mr and Mrs @mik who fed us, put us up for the night, fed us again, and in-between let the kids loose on the dugs, ducks and Project Cars 2, with reckless abandon. The boys got their first taste of what a performance car actually is. They both looked like this coming back
, and I revelled in the aural pleasures of the Evora's midrange shove. I too was reminded of what a fast car is (who would have thought that driving a small bus with barely 160hp would dull the perception of speed?), and we're very grateful for the hospitality and entertainment, if we can repay the favour we will!We didn't actually throw caution entirely to the wind, as we decided that a last-minute static caravan hire on a sheltered holiday park seemed better than trying to pitch the tent in a storm on a camp site facing the sea.
So, we ended up near Dunoon on Loch Long, with a splendid view of the storage facilities for the UK's biggest things that go boom. Two days of short walks and sheltering from the wind and rain (the caravan's walls were flexing in the wind) was luckily made easier by there being enough signal to stream things on the telly, and the power outage was only for a few hours.
Although the wind hadn't died down, it was enough that we could go to Oban and set up, and from there, with the odd rain shower and windy night, it was a great holiday.
I managed a good loopy run into and back out of Oban, and some excellent walks over the hills.
view from above the campsite, facing west
Took the bikes around Kerrera on what turned out to be a walking path, but lured by cake the children still pushed on and completed the 17k trail. The gravel bike was excellent and rode beautifully.
Here shown in its natural element at our lunch stop, just over halfway round. We later did a 40k there-and-back from Benderloch to Appin turning round at Castle Stalker. Kids liked it better than Kerrera as it was mostly on tarmac away from roads, even the nephew (5yo) did the ride with ease.
They also swam and played in the sea at every opportunity, but at barely 14c the water was too cold for me. I dipped my toes, but that's about it. Should probably have done a dive or two, there was a dive centre very close by, but the sea only calmed down in the last few days, and I do not particularly like drysuit diving. Maybe next time.
The thing we kept coming back to is how amazing the scenery is on that side of the country.
View at a random stop on the way from Glasgow to Dunoon
(apologies for the potato lighting on the last picture)
Every walk was an occasion, and despite their general reluctance to go for long walks, the kids ended up enjoying them as the viewpoints made it worthwhile (and the snacks). We also met and conversed with some of the locals,
and sampled the local produce. The Green Shack in Oban served up a seafood feast like we've rarely had before. Even the middle one, who is obsessed with seafood had to give up, unable to finish the mountain of food he had requested.
While I am not much of a camper, my wife is the driving factor, the self-entertaining part is quite good. The kids rode their bikes in endless circles of the campsite, played in the playground with their new best friends and slept like they'd been knocked out every night. Fresh air FTW.
As it had turned into a major family outing (us, in-laws, S-i-L with family, wife's aunts and uncles, a cousin with partner, B-i-L's parents and sister with partner, and finally my dad) finding something that catered for ages 2 - 78 proved a bit tricky, so we did lots of little bits to suit people's comings and goings. The highlight was the sea tour we took, spotting lots of seals and a pod of dolphins that played around the boat. With the sun beaming off a glass-smooth(ish) sea it was a rather fantastic experience. Even my dad, who by his own admission gets queasy if you wobble a cup of tea too much, enjoyed it, and the kids got to spend some time with him, which was the most important bit.
The only negative was a very noisy and rude group that decided to put up camp on top of us (less than 3m away in a mostly empty field), and then be loud late into the night, and (fortunately) pack up two days later, using their dugga-duggas to wind the caravan legs up at 5.40am. On top they had the gall to suggest that us asking for a bit of quiet at 7pm for half an hour to settle the littlest ones meant we should have booked into a hotel. Some people...
And the scary bit was on the way home when a distracted/unfocused french driver blindly followed another car into a carpark, crossing my lane as I was coming down a hill at about 60mph. That was a full emergency stop, and pants change before we carried on.
This trip also marks the final big outing (possibly final one ever) for the tent. With eight years and 14 trips completed, it is beginning to leak in places that shouldn't, seams are failing and the wear is beyond patching. It has done 40c+ in Spain, 12 days of rain in the Lake District, and the aftermath of Floris to name but a few. My wife is very excitedly reading every review of every new tent model launching this year, so she can decide what to get next. I've made a point that some of them are too heavy to handle unless there are two people. The current tent (Vango Taiga 600XL) weighs about 35kg, some of the ones being considered add another 20-25 kilos to that, which is beyond what I can move about unaided.
We didn't get much sleep that night.
