Grumpy Old Man and a Campervan...: Day 3

Ardlui caravan park

Pool hustle winnings

Despite the large quantities of alcohol the previous night, we were both awake by 7.30am and could immediately hear that it was going to be another cracking Scottish day! The only downside to the rain is that I take less photos, it doesn't bother me in the slightest otherwise and I would take rain in the winter over midgies and masses of tourists in the summer ANY day of the week. Toilet blocks at Ardlui were more like what I had been expecting and wouldn't have looked out of place in a military camp. Hot fast flowing water again however, as well as free hairdryers and to be honest you don't need much more. Basic but more than adequate.

Jim and I had made a pool game bet the night before about who was going to walk the dogs and make the tea and breakfast in the morning (I don't know why he bothers after 6 pints and having forgotten his glasses) so I had a nice lie in bed whilst he layered up to head out into the wild weather.

Awesome energy - Falls of Falloch

On his return I tucked into my poached eggs on toast and generally had a rather smashing time. We headed off camp at around 9am again and to our first stop to de-energise the dogs at the Falls of Falloch. It's a pretty short walk from the carpark, we all got a bit wet and the sheer force of this weeks rain was clear to see as thousands of gallons of water cascaded over the rocks at a staggering rate.

Wet specimens at the Falls of Falloch

Seal enjoying what has been a constant on the trip so far!

Castle Kilchurn

On the way to Oban I wanted to stop off at Kilchurn castle on Lochawe, there is a great little convienience store and carpark opposite the Railway station so we walked down to the shore to get a look at the castle that was destroyed by lightening in 1760 and was home to the Campbells. Amazingly the rain stopped and it started to brighten up, maybe luck was with us today! Dobby has settled into the Motorhome lifestyle like a dream, she sits on their allocated bed no bother, Molly still can't stop being constantly excited, barking at passers by or wanting to run out of the door whenever we go in and out. She seems to know when we settle down in the evening that it's time to chill, so maybe she will improve once she gets used to the routine. From Lochawe we headed into Oban for a quick look around and then over the Connel Bridge to the Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary to the north.

Jim stroking sharks and getting a rollocking.

All aboard!! ding ding!!

We have a bit of a thing for otters so I was looking forward to it. I used my Sky rewards 2 for 1 offer and even without paperwork, which in my rush I had forgotten the staff took my word for it which was a really nice thing to do and saved us £13. The reception staff may have been great but the chap giving the 1.30pm talk at the 'touch pool' wasn't so friendly. Now back in the day you used to be able to stoke and feed the stingrays and fish so I was encouraging Jim to touch a shark for the photo when a loud voice shouted across the room 'don't put you hand in the water'. Oooops. Maybe put a sign up then you grumpy git. Aside from that we had a great time, lots of laughs and cute seals/otters and Jim even scratched around the distillery which I had planned for afterwards (perhaps suffering a little after last night?).

Otter from the Sanctuary

Amazing pitch - zero facilities.

We turned back to North Lediag caravan park and were glad to be there before dark, in fact a lovely sunset broke through the clouds to welcome us. The site was deserted and there was a leaflet outside the reception explaining we could find our own pitch in the allocated areas and post the money through the site office before we left! There was only one other Motorhome on the three acre site and we parked a few bays away from them and started to get setup for the night. Jim offered to make the refreshments whilst I braved the strong winds to hook us up. All sorted and I started to take a few photos as Jim knocked on the window saying the power had gone off. I rechecked the points and couldn't see any problem so decided to troubleshoot using the supply for the pitch next door. Jim's thumb appears at the window to indicate success so we move the van to the adjacent pitch and re-hook up presuming it's a dodgy electric box. A minute later and Jim appears saying the power has just gone off again. Oh dear. I try the first plug for a second time and nothing, We check all the trip switches but all is fine there too. This is where newbie motorhomers have a problem.

Panorama from North Ledaig caravan park.

Due to lack of experience and knowledge we just didn't have a clue what to do next and I decided to call the out of hours site number hoping they turned the power on remotely. The chap asked if we were using a kettle and said the power was only 10amp so if we had too much on it would trip the box (who knew? Well everyone except us seemingly!) We now moved to a THIRD pitch and still no joy, tempers began to fray at this point and we look up to see the chap from the only other motorhome striding towards us. God only knows what they were thinking watching us from their window playing musical pitches around the site!!!

As luck would have it (and as my mate Angie would say 'fall in shit, come up smelling of roses') he was not only a seasoned pro Motorhomer, but a sparky too! In minutes he had got his voltage checker out and re-tripped all the switches in the bank. Turns out our heating was on the highest setting and with the kettle it was too much. Have been boiling with gas ever since!

Thank you Stevie you wee star!!!

We spent the evening a bit scared to turn anything on and listening to the rain clatter the roof - it's quite therapeutic and since there was no internet on the site we both read. We didn't see anyone from the site at all, shop and reception were closed and they operated a trust policy (did answer the phone however). This is fine but the toilet blocks were also shut which was a bit annoying, we had vowed to not use the motorhome toilet but had no choice!! Jim made ham pasta which was lovely and we got a reasonably early night. Note to self dropping kindle down the side of the bed results in it falling into the access bay at the bottom of the van that you have to go outside to reach!

Finished the day wearing a big smile, dare I say I'm actually really enjoying this trip?!!

Fay x

http://www.ardlui.com/
http://www.northledaigcaravanpark.co.uk/
http://www.sealsanctuary.co.uk/oban1.html
http://www.loch-awe.com/