We have been on the road for 3 days now with mostly smooth sailing, just wish we could kick these bloody flus. As Scotland is a wild camping country and because back home we freedom camp most of the time anyway, we have decided to take advantage of the wild camping here.
There are a few differences though. Back home I simply click on my NZMCA App, pull up an area and chose what facility I require ie freedom camping spot, DOC site, dump station, water etc. I may be a complete beginner on how to do it here but there doesn’t appear to be such an all in one information App. Love to hear from anyone who has better information than me.
We have joined the UK Caravan Club which offers members discounted members parks which will probably be useful for when we head back down to The UK.
We literally chanced upon our first spot, right by the water in the seaside town of Abroath famous for its Scottish Smokies. It wasn’t our town of choice just handy to Perthshire which was where we picked up the motorhome from.
From there we headed up the coast before heading inland through The Cairngorm National Park. The scenery is truly spectacular wherever you are in Scotland and I am still amazed that every town, every setting is picture post card perfect. Our night in Cairngorm was spent in a parking spot just off the highway next to a wooded park. Again it was easy to find but sourcing water or a dump station not so easy. Water it seems is hard to find outside of Caravan and Holiday Parks.
After leaving Cairngorm we discovered a parkover at the local bowling club that we donated a couple of pounds to in order to fill up our water tank. We are pretty much winging it.
Our plan is to journey around the North 500 Coast through the Scottish Highlands which I’m anticipating to be spectacular. The plan was to start in Inverness however as it was raining we just passed through to The Black Isles as a bit of a side step to the 500 but I had read of a wild camping spot somewhere in the vacinity.
As it turned out the wild camping spot was right at the end of the Isle and after many sideways glances, or should I say glares from my driver, we arrived at the most romantic, historic, pretty little town ever with a wild camping spot that opened out into the Moray Firth. You can bet the glares ended then. We had arrived at Cromarty, where even the oil rigs to the right of the Firth can’t spoil the view or the ambience of this historic seaside village.
Today we have travelled through more historic towns where every house is a castle, and every view is a postcard, we have seen dolphins and seals and otters along the rocky coast, we have passed through fields of heather and wild flowers and seen more barley fields than fields of stock. We have stood in fields where battles have been fought and many lives lost and wandered through ruins of castles where William Wallace once visited.
Once again tonight we have chanced upon a wild camping site in Dunbeath overlooking a castle with the ocean infront of us and with a fish that resembles a salmon jumping 10 feet away from us.
Tomorrow we will search for water again.
Downunder Wanderings 