A frightening experience

The A9 is a bit scary at the best of times when towing a caravan but it became positively frightening on a recent trip when I broke down on the dual carriageway south of Drumochter summit. I had been tootling along fine doing 60 on cruise control when suddenly there was a lurch and a loss of power. I managed to pull in to the entrance of a small side road where I inspected all 6 wheels, suspecting that a brake had bound on. All seemed OK and there was no mobile signal where I was parked so I pulled back on to the dual carriageway. Big mistake. I struggled to get up to 40mph and had to stop again, hazards flashing, when I spotted black smoke coming from the rear of the car. Still no obvious brake overheating. At least I had a mobile signal in my new position so I used it to phone the police as I couldn't get the outfit off the carriageway. I also phoned Mayday - the Caravan Club's breakdown organisation for caravanners. While on the phone to the latter, the police left a message to say that they would be some time, which was worrying as the number of vehicles which did not see the caravan until the last moment was frightening. I stood behind the crash barrier 100m before the caravan, waving people to pull over into the fast lane and praying that no-one would hit my beautiful Bailey. It took the police 35 minutes to get there - was I glad to see them! I also appreciated the couple with the caravan who pulled in behind me to see if they could help, especially as they were putting their own outfit in danger by doing so.

The police put out warning signs and then helped me limp along to a layby, black smoke belching, and breakdown arrived 10 minutes later. Turned out a hose had come off the turbo and was easily fixed at the roadside, allowing me to continue my journey. I am now going to buy the biggest red warning triangle I can find, just in case I ever end up in the same position. I will also remember in future to put on the hi-vis vest I always keep in the car - it might have helped convince motorists that I was not just waving at them for the fun of it! The average speed cameras on the A9 have reduced the number of idiots doing silly speeds on the single carriageway sections however the dual carriageway sections still resemble F1 racetracks - not a good place to break down, which is worrying, given the proposals to dual the entire Perth-Inverness section but without a hard shoulder. I also couldn't help wondering if the police presence on that section has been reduced since the average speed cameras were introduced. My patrol car had to come from Perth.

All-in-all it was a frightening experience and I am thankful to God that me and my caravan came out of it unscathed.

Caravan Equipment

I have been thinking for some time of buying a second Aquaroll, in fact ever since I started visiting a site with no toilet block. I use about 20 litres of water to shower and the Aquaroll I bought with the caravan only holds 29 litres so it needs to be pretty full before I shower. I did look on ebay and gumtree a while back but it was difficult to find what I wanted within reasonable driving distance from home so that I could collect it. Prices for 2nd hand Aquarolls were about £25. However, I have now bought a brand-new 40 litre water container from Aldi for £29.99, reduced from an original price of £39.99. It is not an Aquaroll and is maybe not quite as sturdy however it looks fine, has the same size caps as my Aquaroll on top and side and is not too heavy when empty. I still need to see if one handle will fit both carriers, which would save having to keep both handles in the caravan. I will also need to buy a cover for it, as I keep my water containers in the caravan toilet when travelling and find that covers or bags are very handy when the containers are a bit dirty. However I am very pleased with my purchase.

I am now looking for a replacement hitch cover for the caravan as the one which the dealer gave me when I bought it is now falling apart. I am also looking for a new catch for one side of my gas bottle locker as the existing one has broken. Unfortunately these things are not standard across all caravans and so, although I have seen similar catches on ebay, none are quite the right size. I may try the Bailey website next.

I can't imagine what caravanners did before ebay existed - there always seems to be something I need for the caravan and ebay is usually my first port of call. I bought levelling ramps, a CO detector, towing mirrors and water container covers from the site, all at very reasonable prices. My nearest caravan shop is 12 miles away and so although I like to browse there when I get the chance, ordering online and getting it delivered to the door is easier. I've even bought a caravan battery online, from a battery website, with next day delivery.

If any readers have favourite websites for caravan stuff, do let me know via the comments box. I'd be keen to hear from you.

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!