Peak District, England

Well the van wasn't fixed in time for the next roadtrip to France so we had to make do with car and tent - but that is another story. Luckily, that didn't turn out to be the last trip of the summer though as myself, my brother, and a few friends still found time to shoehorn in a few days in the Peak District. This time the van was back up and running while £700 had magically disappeared from my wallet.

We set off for the small campsite of Pindale Farm, just on the outskirts of the town of Hope and with the best interests of keeping everyone happy, we decided not to stay in the van but upgrade to a barn which was cheap and basic but pretty warm. As we watched some campers putting up their tents in the horizontal rain, we knew we had made the right choice.

The next day was certainly brighter so we took a walk up the hills around Ladybower Reservoir looking desperately like tourists, skimming stones and falling over in our trainers on the muddy trails. It was our first real glimpse of the Peaks countryside and certainly worth the long hike.

On the drive in we had noticed something that made us all sit up and take note as our quiet and quaint little town was holding the Hope Ale & Cider Festival this very weekend - jackpot! So that evening we headed down, drank our body-weight in ridiculously strong beer and danced long into the night to the Irish folk band that was playing - adopting a dutch man and upsetting the barmaid in the process. Staying up until 5am playing poker was not entirely clever though when you don't afford yourself a lie in.

Nearby Castleton was our next stop and a pub lunch was followed by another hike up towards a castle that we never quite seemed to figure our way to - just lots of fields, sheep, deep valleys, and great panoramas.

The trail, or rather the unintentional trespassing route through farmland that we took eventually brought us out in a little village filled with ice creams and a little curiosity shop which was home to the most obscure junk and some of the best handwritten signs I have ever seen. The weird old hermit who owned it was also as mad as a badger.

The next night we slept well as we had to be on the road by 7am for the long drive home. Another trip over... time to plan the next.

Loch Lomond/Edinburgh, Scotland

…well part two of our little Scottish soiree began as the four of us left Oban in the rough direction of Loch Lomond in search of a campsite. While the lochs we had passed earlier on the trip were well stocked with lovely little campsites on the water's edge, Loch Lomond was proving tricky to find camp on.


Eventually though, we found a great little place in Ardlui which had a sneaky little campsite at the back of a hotel and we set up on the edge of the water and tried to stop the midges getting in (with mixed success) while Camilla cooked up a feast for us.

It was only in the morning that we could really appreciate the place we had camped in as the midges had fled by then (leaving me looking like I had a bad case of chicken-pox all over) while the sun was up and shining. We were actually able to see more of the loch than we planned that morning as poor old Vanny had finally packed in and was unable to start despite our best jump-starting efforts.

The conclusion was to call the AA and eventually a cheery burly mechanic appeared and set about starting the engine more than fixing the problem. The diagnosis was to spray a bit of WD-40 into the engine air intake to get the beast up and running again - it is only a temporary fix only though and, like that scene in Pulp Fiction with a shot of adrenaline straight into the heart, not something that you should do regularly!


But, hey, we were back up and running and after dropping Ninna and Camilla at their hostel along the way and saying our goodbyes, we headed towards Perth quite belatedly to pick up my poor mum who had been cowering from the rain that had begun to lash down.

Our next stop was Edinburgh but our full day had been cut short to just an afternoon as we began our shamefully touristy exploring at the huge Castle. The castle itself is far from exciting, more like a large stone manorhouse from the outside but it's fame comes more from it's prominent position at the top of a knarled rocky cliff-top in the centre of the city. When it isn't raining, there must be some great views from the top too.

In true tourist fashion we then began our descent down the straight old town street that has become known as the Royal Mile. Along with gothic stone towers and countless souvenir shops are a few nice buildings, winding alleys and old whisky shops (if you can afford £500 a bottle).

Keep walking straight, about a mile infact, and you will be spat out at the brand new parliament building - a weird concrete metropolis that looks like a multi-story carpark designed by Salvador Dali. I still haven't made up my mind if I like it or hate it but I imagine it certainly splits opinion.

Having had to cut short on our hill climbing on the trip so far, we were too tempted by the scale and proximity of Arthur's Seat, a huge hill in the middle of Holyrood Park, to Edinburgh's medieval centre and couldn't resist a good hike for the views over the city.

Soon though, we were back in the van and heading south looking for our campsite for the night. After clocking up a fair few miles, we eventually stopped just outside Jedburgh at Jedwater Camping. The site was a nice little stopping point run by an incomprehensible dwarf but in the morning we were soon coaxing the van into life and bombing home before the engine changed it's mind.

Yet another sticker to add to the back door

It was a great trip but there is certainly some repairs to do on poor wounded Vanny before we head to France at the end of the month. Time to dust off the tools and get to work!

Dundee/Oban, Scotland

Well it has been a while but the Van is finally back up and running for another roadtrip this summer - although nowhere near the scale of last year's epic tour. This time round it was simply a short trip to my homeland of Scotland for a few days to visit familiar family and unfamiliar territory.


Making the trip north with me were my Mum and my friend Mark and after filling the tank we made our way northwards for a draining 9 hour drive. After dropping my Mum off in Cupar Angus, Mark and I made our way to Dundee to settle in with my Dad, Gran and Uncle Frank and set about exploring Dundee the following day.

Scotland's forth largest city, Dundee in general can have a somewhat grey and unwelcoming feel due to the huge numbers of old gothic buildings in thick stone and the surroundings of identikits little pebble-dash houses but there are plenty of hidden little gems around and the place can really grow on you.


My favourite area was the Victoria Dock area set on the huge Firth Of Tay riverbanks before it flows into the North Sea. Here, the mix of old buildings and classy modern development complement each other well and the docks are home to two old ships - the HMS Unicorn (where your humble narrator was christened) and the North Carr Lightship.

Both of these vessels are dwarfed in both size and importance when compared to the RRS Discovery which sits in it's own bay just down the road. This ship and it's next-door museum are probably Dundee's biggest tourist draw as it was the ship used by Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton to tackle their Antarctic expedition back in 1901 which resulted in the ship being stuck in the ice for two years. Scott was later beaten by Roald Amundsen as the first man to reach the South Pole and his whole party perished on the return journey.

Dundee's city centre is no different from other Scottish cities but buildings such as the impressive McManus Gallery stand out along with the statue of Desperate Dan. The comics of The Dandy and The Beano were both published in Dundee.

In the centre of town is a large hill known simply as The Law. From the WWI memorial on the top, there is a great view out over the city which takes in the Firth Of Tay and the two Tay bridges for road and rail. On a clear day, you can also see the North Sea to the east as well as the close proximity of the Dundee FC and Dundee Utd FC stadiums (Den's Park and Tannadice respectively) which are virtually opposite each other.

After a couple of days in Dundee and a nice meal out to catch up with family, we took to the road (with the van needing a little persuasion to start!) and headed north-west towards the Highlands in search of adventure with no real destination in mind. The winding roads took us up to Lock Tummel, the Tay Forest Park, Lock Rannock and Queen's View - a point overlooking these sights which was said to be Queen Victoria's favourite spot. From here, a dead-end road meant we had to backtrack past the equally spectacular Lock Tay and the road eventually spat us out at the little town of Crianlarich.

Queen's View

It was in this little town that we finally found a destination for our trip after picking up two Danish hitch-hikers, Ninna and Camilla, who were heading to the coastal port of Oban while we had plenty of spare room and no-where to go. If you haven't put two and two together just yet, the four of us set course for Oban.

After dropping the girls in the centre of Oban to find their hostel, Mark and I explored the town which has a pretty little harbour and some great views out to the surrounding islands. The town has great island links but this obviously makes it a great base for tourists and the place was over-run with people and colossal ferries which slightly ruined it's small town vibe. Likewise, large tourist shops have taken over the promenade while the houses which line the waterfront are now all B&B's jostling for customers.

A short walk out of town provides a bit more respite from the crowds and some great views out to sea while the relatively new McCaig's Tower sits like a crown on the town's hilltop and provides one of the best views of Oban.

After meeting up with Ninna and Camilla for a drink and few games of pool with a fella from Budapest called Lazlo, we had all come to the conclusion that one afternoon in Oban was probably enough and decided instead to head back inland. The van just about started once more and the four of us were back on the road... for now.

To be continued...