Best bit of kit

Besides the camper I do have a favourite piece of kit. Let’s talk cooking here.

We started with this the heximan and probably all we could do was instant mash, sausages and beans in a tin and packet meals where you add water! It was just so basic. We could boil water on it so tea was a possibility too!

We then moved on to a single burner followed very quickly by a double burner where our meals started to become a little more ambitious. We moved up to tinned potatoes and the odd chilli and spag Bolognese as we could cook two things at once. Sometimes this was used in conjunction with the BBQ.

We also had a BBQ and eventually found this little rotisserie whilst on holiday in France. We became very ambitious cooking chickens and beef joints! We would often lace a chicken with lemon & thyme or garlic & butter put it on the BBQ rotisserie and they play Scrabble. The smells of chicken would go all over the campsite and people would often walk by and remark on how good it smelt and looked.

The Cobb came next and this little beauty gave us even more scope for our cooking. It was easy to use and we could make anything from the usual curry, chilli etc to a full roast dinner. We have made paella from time to time too!

And finally this is our chosen cooking utensil which is by far my favourite piece of kit “the instant pot and airfryer#. To be honest we have one of these at home and we use it on a daily basis, our oven is almost obsolete these days! When our pot at home broke they sent us a new one, and we were told to get rid of the old one. At this point I let Tim have a look at and he got it working so now we have two! Our cooking has gone up a few notches we can now pressure cook, air fry, saute, steam slow cook etc! So we can do everything we used to and yet so much more. We make our porridge in it, soups, all sorts of dinners, chips, and jacket potatoes all in record time!

Of course we do need electric hook up (EHU) so not something for the wild camping but if it’s Michelin star cooking you want this is the dogs!!!

Checking out Glen Coe on 12th Sept

Weather determined today’s walk and we decided to do the low level walk which took us around the Glencoe Lochan trail we then went off to Ballachulish for the coop as we needed some basics. The heavens opened whilst we were there and we were given the most beautiful rainbow as a result! The end to a lovely walk!

Our walk

And off to Glencoe we go!

Beautiful day perfect for cycling so we shared the 74 mile ride to Glencoe with Suzanne up first with 32 miles to just short of Oban and Tim doing the remaining 42 miles! We were afforded beautiful scenery, some nice climbs, lovely villages particularly Oban and just a nice cycle!

Activity Day 10th Sept

Another one of those days when it’s all about physical activity. Well that’s no suprise given my background. I took Mabel for a 5.5km run.

Bacon Buttys to set us both up for the day

Then Tim went out for a 47 mile bike ride via Tarbert whilst I did pilates for an hour. He came home and it was my time for a bike ride I did 28 miles and also visited Tarbert. It was a glorious sunny day, blue skies and sunshine all day and so it was to good an opportunity to miss.

Once showered we walked the dogs down to the next village for a pint of Tennant’s in the pub!

Canal towpaths 9th Sept

So we walked alongside the canal in Lochgilphead, ordinarily it would be boring but in actual fact we could let Mabel off and it was good for Finley. We were rewarded at Cairnbaan with a rather large boat going through the two locks and the swing bridge so we sat and had a picnic and watched it all unfold. I

Yesterday we were greeting with the sad news that the Queen had died peacefully at Balmoral. King Charles III gave a public address which was very heartwarming. It felt very sad!

Gough Relay 8th Sept 22

Today was moving day, the plan was always to share the driving and give ourselves a bike ride. It’s an hour by hour forecast and prior to going to bed it wasn’t on but when we woke the forecast has changed so it was back on. Tim was up first cycling from Luss through Tarbet to Fyne Ales Brewery yes you guessed it changeover was in a brewery car park – well almost. Tim’s ride was 33km with a good climb and some beautiful views.

My ride was 53km from the brewery through Inverary where I could hear bagpipes playing for a wedding and apparently most of it shut off for a Netflix production.

This photo was taken by a fellow camper who happened to be filming as she passed me. They had passed Tim earlier and were confused (we were wearing the same kit) and didn’t realise we were two people. Anyway they turned up on our campsite and she sent me this photo.

What goes up……..

Tuesday 6th September was the day we experienced rain and had to put our rain jackets on. We set off from the campsite in Luss in shorts and t-shirts and started heading up almost immediately. As we neared the first peak the sky was looking dark and then the rain started and it continued for the whole of the descent. 13.7km walked, 758m and 3.55hrs we were all soaked by the time we got back to the campsite at 4.45pm and so we enjoyed some heat in the van to aid the drying obviously!

The bonny banks o’ Loch Lomond

So today we arrived at Luss on the banks of Loch Lomond. The sun was shining and we were given pitch 55. We took the dogs out, set up camp and then allowed ourselves a swim in the Loch. It was warm at 17′ and very clear although brown. We finished up with a fish and chip supper at Luss chippie.

Rogue Island

The day started with torrential rain and very windy but by midday the rain has stopped and it was just cloudy. So with a packed lunch ready we set off for Rogue Island which could only be reached at low tide. It was full of sea shells crunching under foot and Mabel went AWOL for a few minutes (which seemed like ages) and came back soaking wet. We stopped in Kippford for a gooseberry and elderflower ice-cream (honeycomb. 11km and 3 hours in total.

We got back to the campsite to find we were the only ones left and we were rewarded with sunshine, bright blue skies, no wind and it was oh so hot! So we sat in the sun and enjoyed it.