Summer 07 Tour Begins

It’s almost a feeling of Déjà vu but I seem to remember that last year when we set off it was also in wet and windy conditions!
However, this time we delayed our departure by 24Hrs until today Tuesday May 29th giving the low pressure system currently dominating the UK time to move on.
This year to begin our tour we’re heading straight for the Llangollen Canal. Over previous years we’ve planned to complete the Montgomery and Llangollen but have always left it too late in the season, (late July/August, too many hire boats on that stretch).
So that’s it! Our Summer 07 Tour is underway.
Our family, friends and anyone else for that matter can keep up to date with our travels by clicking the main link or HERE to access our Travel-Diary. We will be posting regularly on our Travel-Diary from aboard Quidditch using our new T-Mobile 3G so stay tuned!

Anyway, that's it for now, remember keep an eye on our 'Travel-Diary' and we'll see you all when we return in October........

Isle of Mull

Well having pitched on the Wednesday in pouring rain we awoke on Thursday morning to more downpours, the remainder of the holiday was certainly an adventure.

Securing the tent we set off for our first destination of Tobermory stopping en route to walk a local nature trail where we saw Otter and nesting Terns. Tobermory is the islands largest town and where the children's television series Balamory is filmed. It's true to life too! All the houses and shops in the town are painted in different colours of the rainbow. In the late evening we took a stroll along the coastline where the campsite is situated and looks across to the mainland and Oban. During our walk we encountered a huge Stag Deer which we estimated was at least a 10 pointer. We also spotted Shag, Red Breasted Merganser and had a great opportunity to see a Sea Otter at close range.
The one thing that was becoming noticeable was the increase of the wind speed. Having checked the web before bed it was apparent that we were in for some stormy weather and when we were woken at 7.30am by our tent wanting to become a kite and torrential rain, our fears were recognised! We immediately broke camp, fortunately during a break in the rain and set off for breakfast and in search of a decent B&B, our camping was over for the remaining 2 days.
We took the scenic route which took us through the centre of the Island and up towards the North-Western tip at Calgary where we had tea. We then arrived at Dervaig a small village next to Loch Cuin and were fortunate enough to find a an excellent B&B called Tigh-Na-Mara, our room had spectacular views over the Loch. After settling in we decided to drive the 8 miles to Tobermory where we planned to search for Golden & Sea Eagle at Glengorm Castle and then on into the town to enjoy some local fish & chips. Our search was to have an unexpected outcome! When we were a few miles from the castle we came across our Golden Eagle. Unfortunately while being stalked by a couple of Ravens she was blown by the extremely strong winds into a nearby power cable and hit the ground with a powerful crash. Stunned she sat on the roadside and although she flew around 20 yards it was quite clear she was injured. We managed to obtain the phone number for the Islands RSPB officer Dave Sexton who amazingly arrived within 30 minutes of our call. Fifteen minutes later we had managed to capture her and she was en route to the Islands Eagle hospital at Wings Over Mull. A fantastic yet sad experience. The following day Dave telephoned and we discovered that she had been taken over to Oban by ferry and operated on. As I post she is now back at the hospital and fortunately having no broken bones is making steady progress in her recovery although it is very early days. Having had our fish & chips later than expected we spent out penultimate night on the Island in our B&B haven listening to what turned out to be storm force winds.
On our last day on the Island we visited Wings Over Mull, had an afternoon walk around Loch Cuin and ended with a fantastic dinner in the The Bellachroy Inn, the oldest inn on Mull.
Almost 2000 miles later we arrived back at the marina having had a wonderful fortnight in Scotland and having seen some spectacular scenery, weather and most of all wildlife, this was certainly a holiday to remember.
I have posted a small selection of pictures taken during our visit into the side-bar....To see more go to our main Photo-Album..

Ben Nevis to Mull

We raised camp in dry conditions and left Glen Nevis camp site at Fort William at around 10.30am this morning bound for our 50 minute ferry trip over to the Isle of Mull via Oban.

Our four days in Fort William were fantastic. We awoke each morning to Cuckoo's calling, Woodpeckers drumming and the sounds of a Capercaillie from Glen Nevis beyond. The weather has been a mixture of sunshine and heavy showers with very cold nights, making our decision to book a pitch with electric hook up even more worthwhile. On the Monday evening the peaks of some of the range caught a dusting of snow. Yesterday (Tuesday) we were bathed in spring sunshine for the whole day and took full advantage by taking a five mile hike around Ben Nevis where we were lucky enough to see Red Squirrel. In the afternoon we watched a real life mountain rescue by a navy helicopter and watched in ore as RAF Tornado jets cut through the valley.
Being Harry Potter fans we took the opportunity to visit Glenfinnan where some of the movies where filmed. This included great views of the famous viaduct that the Hogwart's Express is seen steaming over and great views of Loch Sheil where other scenes were filmed.
On the Monday we drove through the highlands across to Glen Borrowdale RSPB reserve and took a 3 mile walk through the RSPB's most westerly site on the UK mainland. During the walk we spotted Ravens and Buzzards nesting plus Wood Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher to name a few.
As I write this entry at our new campsite on Mull which overlooks the sea to the East and across to where we can still see Ben Nevis in the distance the rain is literally teeming down and were both drying out. We pitched in heavy rain, one of the less enjoyable moments of the visit so far.

Week Ends

Friday evening and week 1 of our trip comes to an end. Tomorrow it's off back to Aberdeen to drop Dee's Gran and then we make our way Westward across to Fort William and our week camping.

Just in time for the weather to turn that little bit colder!

The last week we've spent our time taking days out with Dee's Gran visiting Stonehaven, Montrose, Banchory and Balmoral. Enjoyable but due to Gran's age we haven't been able to take time walking the wonderful countryside. Next week though that all changes.
Our first stop is 4 days at Glen Nevis camp site, 3 miles from Fort William near the base of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK. From there we move south down the coast and then take the ferry on Wednesday afternoon from Oban across to the Isle of Mull, around a 40 minute trip. We plan lots of walking and birding and have come well prepared.
I know that I keep posting pictures of the bird life around here but the picture on display above just had to be shown. While travelling on the lower coast road yesterday enroute to Montrose Dee suddenly spotted this Tawny Owl sitting proudly on a post right next to the road. Having made a u-turn, amazingly I snapped this picture from the drivers seat just before he took flight into the woods opposite. It turned out really well. Here's to more birdie pictures next week.

Scotland Week 1

Well we are now 5 days into our annual Scotland visit and so far the weather has held out nicely, although a bit chilly & showery.

After a stopover at mums in Liverpool on the Thursday night and a further stopover in Dunfermline on Friday to visit Dee's brother we arrived at our 1st weeks accommodation at 4.30pm Saturday. The first week we can relax here but next week we camp on the west coast which includes Fort William & the Isle of Mull, that should be interesting!
Our accommodation this year is situated on the east coast about 15 miles inland and approx. 30 miles south-west of Aberdeen in a village called Auchenblae. The house itself is the whole east wing of a large estate which is surrounded by a small forest. We're also in easy reach of Cairngorm National Park.
As has become custom, Dee's Gran stays for our first week and this is taken up by visits from Dee's other relations. Yesterday we visited Banchory and today was a treat for me as we visited the RSPB reserve at Fowlsheugh.
The spectacular cliffs of Fowlsheugh reserve are packed with 130,000 breeding seabirds in the spring and summer. Guillemots (pictured above), Razorbills and Kittiwakes breed in large numbers, with smaller numbers of Fulmars, Herring Gulls, Puffins and Shags. Although we spotted all of the above with the exception of Puffins we did see several Artic Skuas which made up for it.
Grey and Common Seals, bottlenose and common Dolphins can also be regularly seen offshore. Harbour Porpoises, white-beaked Dolphins and Minke whales are seen occasionally too. Unfortunately perhaps we are a little too early in the season to view a lot of these woderful creatures as we didn't spot any. On the subject of birds we are also in the company of a small group of Tree Sparrows which reside where we are staying. It's not commonly known that these birds have been on the decrease over recent years are not often seen in England (mostly mistaken for the common House Sparrow).
Tomorrow we visit Balmoral. Maybe we'll be invited in for tea!