Calor Gas Recall

Thanks to an article on the technical pages of the April edition of the Caravan Club magazine, I checked my 6kg Calorlite cylinders recently and discovered that both of them needed to be returned to Calor under a recall scheme! The recall covers all cylinders from 2008 to 2011 inclusive unless they have a hole stamped into the metal ring round the top. Details can be found on Calor's website. I enquired about returning the cylinders in my nearest Calor stockist only to be told that I would not immediately get replacements, in fact it could take some weeks. Since both cylinders were affected, this would have left me without gas for some considerable time and may have impacted on my summer holiday. Fortunately I phoned Calor before handing in the cylinders. They told me that, if the stockist has full replacements, I should be given them. Back to the stockist I went, armed with this information. I still had to fight to get their last two full cylinders as replacements for the recalled ones but they gave in after a phone call to Calor. I now have two full cylinders instead of one nearly empty and one full, at no cost to myself! Happy camper!

Getting excited!

I'm starting to get ready for the first caravan trip of the year! I was up at the caravan storage today putting the battery back in (I keep it in the house over the winter to avoid it freezing). I was relieved to see that it had retained its charge as I need it to power the mover to get the caravan out of its space in storage and hitched up. I also checked the tyre pressures and the mover - two years ago the mover seized over the winter and couldn't be wound on to the wheels at the start of the season! A more regular regime of oiling the moving parts seems to have solved that problem. Fortunately my caravan does not suffer from damp (because it is quite draughty) so I don't need to remove the cushions over the winter. I do take out anything that might attract mice after another caravan at my storage suffered damage to the upholstery during a winter from mice, although I suspect they brought the culprits back from their last trip to France that season! I've never seen any sign of the little blighters in my caravan.

I've stocked up with tea and coffee and food for the birds (you can tell where my priorities lie!) and I've checked things like shampoo, toilet chemicals and loo roll so I'm now good to go! Everything else I need will be in the car. There's just one other thing still to do - book my pitches on the Caravan Club website. I can't wait!

Floods and landslides!

The Falls of Dochart

My last caravan trip of 2014 was later than I'd hoped due to difficulties getting time off work so the clocks went back on my first night. That was OK as I was pitched at Maragowan, Killin so that I could go to the Annual Dinner of my mountaineering club in the Bridge of Lochay hotel. The next day, after a long lie, I upped sticks in the rain and headed north to Bunree. Unfortunately, I only got as far as Crianlarich, where a road sign indicated that the A82 was closed at Ballachulish due to a landslide. I knew that the blockage was likely to be north of Bunree however the police advised me not to continue as the tailback was considerable at that point. By 2pm I was back at Maragowan and it was pouring. I got settled, had a quiet afternoon and was just about to make dinner in the evening when the warden knocked the door and told me they were evacuating everyone to Clachan due to flood warnings. Cue a convoy of caravans out of Killin in the rain. It was 9pm by the time I'd got pitched at Clachan and I was soaked. So was the car - I discovered the next day that I'd accidentally opened one of the back windows when talking to the warden at the entrance to Clachan and I'd left it open on one of the wettest, windiest nights of the year! The car is still drying out.

A peaceful evening at Bunree

The rainbow

I had intended going on to Morvich from Bunree however Morvich was also closed due to flooding so I decided to stay a total of 4 nights in Killin and then spend the rest of the week at Bunree. Maragowan never reopened - it was a couple of feet underwater at one point - but I enjoyed my stay at Clachan, always one of my favourite sites. Bunree was also really pleasant and quiet, it being the last week they were open. I even caught a glimpse of a Sea Eagle, soaring in the wind and saw a rainbow before I left.

Wildcats and Eagle Owls - my summer holiday

I can't believe I haven't blogged since the 1st June - the downside of working as a gardener! Because I can't leave my clients' gardens for too long in summer I was only able to get away for a week with the caravan at the end of June but I managed to spin it out to 9 nights. I spent the first two at Invernahavon and managed to up my score of wildcats to 30 - only 100 to go! I then towed up to Brora, hoping for a day on the beach but the weather did not cooperate so I went to see the falconry display at Dunrobin Castle instead. I can thoroughly recommend it - the falconer obviously knows his stuff and is very entertaining. The birds are magnificent. I only wish I had a camera to do them justice!

My favourite is the eagle owl - absolutely beautiful. It's not cheap getting in to the castle so, unless you are into old buildings, make sure you time your visit to coincide with the falconry. The gardens were a bit of a disappointment with not much colour - I expected better at that time of year.

From Brora I headed up to John O' Groats and a pitch on my cousin's farm. Unlike Brora site she now has broadband and wifi so I can keep up to date when visiting. The downside is that I need to think of a new excuse to visit Flavours ice cream shop down at Groats (as the locals call it). Their ice cream is wonderful and the service is friendly. I wasn't so impressed with the Natural Retreats cafe at Groats - the wifi was down and the service a bit indifferent. I can also make better carrot cake myself! However it does offer nice views of Orkney.

I stayed at Brora again on the way home and again the weather was not really beach weather. Having done Dunrobin, there wasn't much else to do in the area. I'm not sure I'll go to Brora next year - the wardens are nice and so is the site but it's always full in summer and I felt a bit claustrophobic in the first pitch I chose - surrounded by a sea of caravans. Being woken up at 8.30am by the neighbour's telly did not help. (Note to caravanners with awnings - they are not soundproof.)

It was a long day towing home from Brora so, next year, I think I'll go back to using Culloden as a convenient stopover, despite its lack of wifi.

Eagles and Partridges but no Wild Cats

I didn't spot any more wildcats on my recent trip to Invernahavon site near Newtonmore - instead, thanks to wifi on the site and twitter, I discovered that there were a number of free events running that weekend in the Cairngorms National Park and so I went to two of them. The first was a guided walk through Glenmore forest by Trees for Life. The guides were very knowledgeable and the forecast rain did not materialise so it was very enjoyable. The second event was a talk on raptors by Roy Dennis - an expert who has spent years studying raptors and following their movements via satellite tagging. The talk was excellent with a good question and answer session afterwards but was very poorly attended. It was a held on a nice Sunday afternoon which may not have helped. It finished just in time for me to drive to Inshriach Nursery for a cup of tea and scrumptious cake followed by a wander round the gardens.

The caravan site is very pleasant, although the sound of traffic on the nearby A9 was intrusive at times. The toilet block is good and there is a mix of hard standings and grass pitches with a few seasonal caravans scattered around. It has changed ownership recently and, according to some regulars I spoke to, has not changed although there is some concern that it might in the future. My main concern is that there is no warden on site overnight or for parts of the day and tents are allowed to pitch where they like, not just in the designated tent area. My peaceful grass pitch at the far end of the site was spoilt on the last night by a family pitching a tent right behind it "because they always pitch there" even although the tent area was empty. In the end I moved the caravan rather than put up with their noise.

I always like to take some books to read when I go away in the caravan and, this time, I had a copy of The Eagle's Way by Jim Crumley which I had won in a facebook competition run by the RSPB. I thoroughly enjoyed it - Crumley's descriptions of eagle-watching in the Scottish hills are poetic and also give an insight into the life of a dedicated naturalist. He also has some thoughful observations on the re-introduction of the Sea Eagle to Scotland and, in particular, whether the east coast birds will stay in the east or migrate west, as some have already done, notably Sula who is currently starring in the BBC's Springwatch. I'd definitely recommend the book to all wildlife fans.

Talking of wildlife, I got a superb view of a red-legged partridge sitting on a stone wall not a stone's throw from the caravan at Invernahavon and also spotted thrushes and meadow pipits in the grass. I could faintly hear a cuckoo calling - my first for 2014. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos - the partridge made like a road-runner as soon as I got the camera out and I didn't take it on the forest walk because I was expecting rain! Inshriach Nursery tea-room is a great place to watch red squirrels which come to the feeders just outside the window, along with a variety of birds. I definitely recommend it!

Gulls fly south - I head north in search of wildcats

My first caravan trip of this year seems like a fading memory now, however I am planning the next one! Everything went well last month, unlike my first trip last year which was beset by problems, including a dead battery and a seized mover - the hazards of not using the van over the winter. I had an uneventful drive up to Bunree site near Fort William where I stayed for six nights. The weather could have been better (it was very windy) but I did get some sunshine and an afternoon skiing at Glencoe.
I also did some bird watching and was fascinated to observe that, in the late afternoon, all the gulls seemed to be flying SW down Loch Linnhe. None went in the opposite direction. I watched for quite a while as groups of gulls appeared from behind the headland to the north and headed south. If anyone has an explanation for this behaviour I'd be really interested to hear it!

I'm now turning my attention to future trips and have booked a weekend at Invernahavon near Newtonmore in the not too distant future. I have not been to this site before so am looking forward to seeing what it is like. It is in a good location for hillwalking but, if the weather is bad, I can also do some research on my family tree as one of my grandfathers came from that area. I may also see if I can find more of the Newtonmore wildcats - I've found a few already but there are lots more to get! I've managed to book time off work so that I can stay 3 nights and make the most of the trip. If I like the site, I may well use it as a stopping point for my summer holiday, when I head further north for a week. The joys of planning! I can't wait to get away again!

Down with pop-tops

I hate pop-tops - you know - the modern equivalents of the VW caravanette without the character. I never pitch next to one if I can possibly help it and I get a sinking feeling when I see one coming towards the vacant pitch next door. I think there should be a separate area on site for these tents-on-wheels. Caravans don't have much sound-proofing but these campervans have none, plus, they are fitted with car stereos - not a good combination. I very rarely have to ask the neighbours to turn it down but, recently, I had to do so twice with the owner of a campervan who liked to listen to the radio and assumed that all her neighbours did too - at 10.30pm. Also, the sliding side doors, which most campervans seem to have, make a hell of a racket when the occupants decide to visit the toilet block in the wee small hours of the morning. Give me a caravan with proper on-board facilities for weak bladders any night of the week. Campervans are ideal for wild caravanning, where they can park up in a remote layby and not bother anybody, indeed I sometimes wish I had one myself for that very purpose. They are not good neighbours on caravan sites and so, if you, dear reader, happen to own one of these blots on the landscape, please do not park it next to my beautiful Bailey. Go off and find a layby somewhere, far from human habitation. Or buy a caravan.