Tag: Roadtrip

Gairloch to Skye 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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This morning we woke up, glad that the van was still standing. It was blowing a hoolie all night that everything is the van was shaking. It’s our last full day on the NC500 before heading into Skye this evening, so it’s a long day of driving ahead.

Victoria Falls Not to be confused with the falls on the Zambezi River 🤣 Scotland has its own Victoria Falls, named after Queen Victoria, who visited in 1877. From the car park, it’s a very short walk to the viewing area to see the falls, as well as views over Loch Maree. This was a super quick stop as it was on the way to our next destination. We got back into Ruby, ready to drive off, and a dirty man decided to have a wee right in front of us!! No shame…

Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve The rain continued on arrival to the car park. If we had better weather (and more time), we would have taken on the mountain trail, but the trail leaflet suggested 4 hours, and it was wet, foggy, and cold. So, instead, we opted for the woodland walk. It’s the Caledonian pinewoods here that led Beinn Eighe to be designated as Britain’s first National Nature Reserve. Before you start the walk, you can pick up an information leaflet that explains the views, trees, and other things you might see en route. Unfortunately, due to the weather we had, we didn’t have the best views of the mountains or lochs.. but there were plenty of other interesting things to look at, including multiple varieties of fungi (which Mark thoroughly enjoyed 🤣) It was full of autumnal colours, rushing streams, and rustling wildlife. If you come at the right time, you may see Golden Eagles! When we got back to Ruby, the rain had eased off, so we were able to sit on a bench next to the Loch for a while and just watch the world go by.

Bealach na Bà Have you even done the 500 if you haven’t driven this road 😉 It’s a winding single track road through the mountains of the Applecross peninsula, and the name is Scottish Gaelic for Pass of the Cattle. On the drive from the nature reserve to the start of Bealach na Bà, as we turned a corner, loads of things flew off the shelf, which meant we had to pull over to put it all back. As we got into the parking area, we noticed loads of people were taking a photo of something – a stag! He was just walking around and sticking his head into people’s windows! He’s obviously always there, as there is a sign saying do not feed me. Obviously, certain people chose to ignore that.. but it was so lovely to see him up close. After a little Google about him, it turns out the locals have called him Callum 🤷🏼‍♀ we got back on the road ready to tackle Bealach na Bà. Boasting the steepest ascent of any road in the United Kingdom with its hairpin turns up to the 2,054 feet summit. Described as remote, scary, challenging, and breathtaking. So.. we did it twice! Mark did both drives, so I could concentrate on getting all the content 😉 unfortunately on the way up, we got stuck behind two cyclists, who just wouldn’t pull over to let us go by! I understand it would be difficult for them to regain momentum going uphill…. but poor Ruby’s clutch 😭 Luckily we did it on a reasonably clear bit of the day, and we got incredible views on the way up and the way down.

Applecross Everything you read online, and even the owner of the campsite we had just left, absolutely rave about The Applecross Inn. It’s the absolute best food you will ever eat.. so obviously we had to try it! I ordered haggis and oatcakes and had enough haggis to feed the 5000. It was super tasty, though. Mark had crab salad, and we both had fish and chips for the main. It was nice, but it certainly wasn’t the best I’ve ever eaten. And it definitely wasn’t worth the price we paid for it. What was lovely, though, was we saw yet another stag! Who just wondered through the village and settled himself down next to the side of someone’s house.

To Skye We left Applecross, drove back down Bealach na Bà, and headed for Skye. I’d seen a couple on Instagram take a selfie in the ‘Kishorn Selfie Box’, so much to Mark’s delight, we stopped for a selfie. I just wish they had left a box of props 😉 The last leg of the journey was foggy and raining, and we couldn’t wait to get settled into the campsite. Due to the time of year, there aren’t many campsite options on Skye, so we chose one in a village called Broadford. Unfortunately, next to us was a load of lads lads lads, who decided to be noisy until quite late. It’s not a massive issue, but we have been so used to the quiet 500 campsites 🤣

Clachtoll to Ullapool 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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We woke up to a dry morning after a night of wind and rain, and decided to change breakfast up a bit and have crunchy nut instead! The plan was a bit of everything today – a waterfall, a castle, a cave and finishing next to a beach.

Clashnessie Falls Located just a short drive from where we were staying and with a slightly bigger parking area than the falls yesterday. If you don’t fancy the scramble to get there, you can actually see the falls from the roadside, but we were up for the challenge and set off for a closer look. Due to the heavy rain the night before, the route was very boggy and very slippery. Half way into the walk we saw a sign to the falls pointing us to walk across the water, however this was impossible due to how deep it was. We therefore had to scramble across boulders and stones in a very narrow area to avoid trespassing into the grounds of the cottage by the falls (there were signs making sure this didn’t happen 🤣) The falls were full and dramatic, but also tranquil. There was an easy path to admire the falls from above as well. As long as you have the right shoes, we would definitely recommend these falls.

Lochinver I had read about the best pies ever in Lochinver, so we were keen to try these out. Unfortunate the dine in option wasn’t available today, but fortunately it was a lovely day and we were able to sit outside next to the Loch and enjoy the pies with the view. I opted for the pork, apple and cider.. and it really was delicious. Deep filed and full of flavour.. what more could you ask for. You can even get the pies posted to you! Check out Lochinver Larder if you appreciate a good pie 🥧

Ardvreck Castle The ruin of Ardvreck Castle stands atop a small promontory of land on Loch Assynt. It is easily visible from the road and easily accessed from 2 roadside car parks. Mark decided to enjoy some peace and quiet and sat with a coffee, enjoying the views, whilst I went off to explore. It’s in a stunning location, and although just a fragment of its former glory, this scenic ruin is a must-see. You can see why Clan Macleod decided to build it here.

Bone Caves We nearly didn’t visit here because all of the instructions online seemed a bit vague, saying things like its difficult to park, and look out for said boulder and if you miss it you’ve gone wrong. It also wasn’t on Alltrails, and obviously neither of us can read a map 🤣 But… we love a challenge, so why not! Luckily, the car park is very clearly signposted and big enough for loads of cars. The paths up to the caves are also really obvious, so we’re really glad we decided to do this hike. We headed up the limestone valley to visit the caves, to the loud grunting noises of rutting deer nearby. They get their name because when they were excavated, they were found to contain the remains of species such as lynx, reindeer, and polar bear, which once roamed the area. Pretty cool! You need to be ok with heights with this walk, because around the caves, the paths are very narrow, but I really enjoyed this one. Until the very end.. when the heavens opened and it absolutely poured with rain, and unfortunately we were just too late for the coffee van at the side of the parking area.

There was some lovely P stops on our way to our home this evening. It’s so difficult not to pull over into every single one! We popped into Ullapool to check out the pub scene, as Newcastle took on PSG. Unfortunately there was only one pub showing football.. and that was showing the wrong game.. so because Mark was too scared to ask a Scottish barman to change from Celtic to Newcastle, he grabbed some beers, and we got ourselves settled in Ruby, ready for a night of top quality football. I dread to think what the others on the site must have thought with all the shouting and jumping up and down, thanks to their 4-1 victory!

Day 9 – The Snæfellsnes Peninsula 🇮🇸

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We were in for another day of clocking up the miles, so after a couple of pots of Skyr and a bowl of frosties, we prepped the flasks with plenty of coffee and hit the road to get us back out the Westfjords. On the drive yesterday we spotted a shipwreck, but we’re unable to get a closer look due to someone blocking the entrance to the parking area, however today it was empty so we had a quick investigate. It is thought to be the oldest steel ship in Iceland and has been at this location since 1981. It is now in a bit of a sorry state and is far too unsafe to actually get on, but it still makes for some dramatic photography.

We left the Westfjords and headed to familiar territory for me.. the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. It was also time for another diesel run, and again the PAYG pump refused my card.. such a pain! It was therefore only right that to ease the stress, we got a service station hottdog 🌭 The first stop on the peninsula was Kirkjufell, said to be the most photographed mountain in the country. Again another GoT location – Beyond the wall from season 7. It’s distinctive shape and Kirkjufellsfoss at the front makes the whole area very dramatic.

Next stop was Saxhóll crater, which was much easier reach the top in comparison to the crater earlier in the week. The landscape it has created is incredible and the views over the mossy lava fields below are mind-blowing.

As the peninsula is a relatively small area, there is so much you can see and do in a day, and so our next stop was an ancient fishing village called Hellnar, with views over to Mt Stapafell. Some Icelanders believe this place is a favourite for elves! It’s the perfect place to sit with a picnic (when the weather allows) and watch the world go by. There is also the option to do a coastal walk to the next village – Arnarstapi, however as we both exhausted we decided to just drive it instead.

It was back to the van for our next stop, a giant crack you can see from the road. Rauðfelsdsgja gorge is easily accessible in the summer months and is a short hike from the car park. It’s another small scramble to get into the gorge itself, but its well worth the potential soggy shoe. On our way back to the van we noticed a group of people, and one of them dislocated his shoulder! Luckily the ambulance was just pulling up (although who knows where the nearest A&E is 🤷‍♀️) so Mark didn’t have to jump in and be a hero.

Our last stop on the peninsula was the black wooden church Búðakirkja. Located within a lava field, it is a fantastic building to photograph whatever the weather. I have been here twice and both times have been totally different and I can’t decide which conditions I prefer. Again it’s another peaceful location and somewhere you could spend all day exploring the surroundings.

Tonights base is another campsite overlooking the sea in the town of Akranes. Whilst doing the washing up we spotted the campsites local resident curled up on top of the dryer getting shelter from the rain. After a quick fuss it was back to the van to get some sleep before our last full day in Iceland 😭

Day 8 – The Westfjords 🇮🇸

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This morning was a slightly earlier start than usual as we were in for a long day of driving. The Westfjords was somewhere we were both keen to visit, as only around 10% of visitors actually make it here due to its vastness and distance from the main ‘tourist attractions’. Its also only somewhere you can visit during the summer months, as the roads are a lot less maintained and snowfall is incredibly heavy during the winter. The scenery here is beyond stunning but there are very few places to pull over and actually admire it properly. We did manage to find one, however Mark was very quickly attacked by a group of Arctic Tern (a very angry bird!) and after running around the van a few times, he decided that they had won and returned to safety. After a bit of research, it turns out that they are notorious for attacking people, and scratching you with their talons!

Pre attack 🦅

Our first proper stop of the day was the mighty Dynjandi waterfall, which means thunderous, and is often referred to as the jewel of the Westfjords. It’s also known as the bridal veil falls due to its distinctive shape. Thanks to a group of volunteers, it’s so easily accessible from the car park meaning more people can enjoy the beauty. It is definitely one of our favourite falls and the photos really don’t do it justice. As a treat, there are also 6 smaller falls on the way up to Dynjandi, making it a foss heaven 💦

Driving the Westfjords involves lots of arse twitchy twisty roads that are full of potholes, so this is something to bear in mind if you want to add it to your trip. As the area is so big we had to decide what was most important to see, and as we hadn’t yet done a ‘side of the road hot spring’ we chose to add this to the itinerary, and headed to Krosslaug. It’s well hidden and Google promised minimal people know its location. Turns out the day we went, lots of people found it! But it was still so lovely to sit and enjoy the views with a cold drink to hand. The only small issue was when I went back to get changed, I found a pair of someone else’s knickers in my shoe!

Home for this evening was probably one of our favourites so far as it had a waterfall and a ‘normal’ coloured beach, which is very rare for Iceland. We fired up the BBQ tonight because it was just too nice not to, and had yet more hot dogs with crispy onion and that fabulous sauce. As Rauðisandur beach was right next to the campsite, we decided to have a midnight sun walk to enjoy the sound of the crashing waves, whilst looking on at the moody clouds over cliffs in the distance.

Iceland Day 2 – The road to Vik 🇮🇸

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Iceland is known as the land of fire and ice… but also ridiculous winds and constant rain even in the summer months. However this morning we woke up to the most glorious sunshine and blue skies. Our first night in the green machine was a surprisingly comfortable one after we eventually worked out how to set the bed up. Being night shift workers also helps with getting to sleep when it’s still daylight outside.

We were going to stock up with lots of traditional icelandic snacks for the road ahead, however it’s mostly liquorice.. and as we didn’t want 10 days of the shits, we settled for Milka, peach rings and Happy Shopper 2D jaffa cakes. Our first stop of the day was Seljalandsfoss – the waterfall you can walk behind. The falls drop 60m and I would highly recommend that you wear waterproof clothing, including trousers to experience this. There were so many people in jeans and hoodies who were soggy doggies as they came out the other side. A short walk from here is Gljufrabui – the falls in a narrow canyon. To access this you have you climb over rocks and cling on to the side of the canyon, but it is well worth it. Again due to how close you can get to the falls you get absolutely soaked- thank god for the wanker hat. Unfortunately there is only one way in and out of these falls, and some people don’t seem to know the etiquette of one in and one out. These were largely the people in the wrong attire, so it was ok to laugh when one slipped and got their Nike trainers soaking wet.

Seljalandsfoss
Wanker hat at Gljufrabui

Next stop was Skógafoss – the waterfall you walk above. As we were lucky and the sun was shining, it created lots of rainbows in the spray which meant we got some fantastic photos. There are some steps of the top of these falls, however I clearly need to do more cardio exercise as my heart was going like the clappers!

Skógafoss

After 2 waterfalls it was time for a change of scenery, and we headed to the Sólheimasandur plane wreck – the 1973 United States Navy DC plane that ran out of fuel and crashed on the black beach. Don’t worry we’re not being morbid, everybody got out alive! It’s a long, and pretty boring walk to the plane – there is a shuttle but that’s at an eye-watering £10pp!! The walk is worth it as you can get some great photos, however another etiquette issue of mine is photo hoggers. We all want that perfect insta photo.. but some people just do not get out of the way, or just stand right in front of your camera! It really grinds my gears…

When certain people finally moved 🤣

4 years ago exactly I was in Iceland with my parents and we had the pleasure of thick Icelandic fog, so today I was beyond excited to finally see Dyrhólaey and Reynisfjara with bright blue sky. The landscapes here are beyond breathtaking and the photos do not do it justice. You could sit here all day watching the Puffins and various other sea birds flying about. It was the perfect end to a fantastic day exploring the Southwest.

Home for the night 🌙

The return to Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

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Another bit of annual leave for me means another Welsh adventure! As much as I desperately miss my city breaks abroad, I’m loving seeing parts of the world a lot closer to home, and enjoying the beauty that is Britain.

We’re staying in Anglesey in a converted pig sty (obvs) and opted for a pit stop en route in Llangollen. Thanks to the AllTrails we were able to whip up the rather steep hill to Castell Dinas Brân. It was pretty windy up there, but the medieval ruins were a great place to explore and take in the surrounding views. Unfortunately the way back down was also on the steep (and muddy) side, but thanks to the trusty poles, we all made it down in one piece.

As we love to cram loads in to our days, and as the light was thinking of leaving us, we popped to the Co-Op for a quick sustenance stop before heading to another cheeky waterfall. Praise the Lord for the £3.50 meal deal 🤣

The last stop before the roadtrip to Angelsey was Horseshoe Falls. It has been awarded Canal World Heritage so I had high hopes! Unfortunately it’s a half circular weir, at the bottom of a grassy slope. It is however a very peaceful place and one where I would be very happy to have a picnic (should have thought about this before we gobbled the meal deal in the car in the car park)

Top tip for Airbnbers- arrive at your destination in daylight when the instructions are a bit confusing. We originally pulled into a questionable estate with equally questionable youths. But after lots of driving around incredibly lost and a few phone calls later, we found our home for the next 5 days.

Iceland day 3 – Roadtrip to Vik

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We started off the morning with a final visit to my Grandparents before they head off again on Azura. The sound of an all day buffet makes me want to try out cruising 🤣

The drive to Vik is a long one, so we obviously had to stop off at Bonus in Hveragerdi to get car snacks.

The first stop was Seljalandsfoss; the waterfall you can walk behind. Its pretty big so you can see it along Route 1 before you actually get to it and it’s such a thrill being able to go behind it, but my god it’s freezing. There’s also a hidden waterfall just along the path; however there was a large tour about so I was unable to wade through the stream to get to it #gutted  I did however get a very nice Icelandic hotdog for lunch #winning

Next up was Skogafoss; the waterfall you can walk above (we were hoping to stop at the Eyjafjallajökull visitor centre located between the two falls to learn more about the famous ash cloud but unfortunately it was closed.. boo hiss boo) The views from the top are amazing but you need a decent pair of legs to get you up there as it’s one hell of a climb up some rather wobbly steps.

Onto Dyrhólaey and for this one you need a decent pelvic floor if you plan on visiting the top car park. It’s a very very bumpy ride but the views (if it wasn’t covered by rain and mist) would be amazing. We however stood at the top wishing the mist to go, which it didn’t, so only caught a glimpse of the famous arch #soggy  We drove down to the lower car park to see what that had to offer, and we managed to see some puffins!!

The final stop was Reynisfjara beach, better known as the black sand beach. Again the weather wasn’t on our side but we were still able to appreciate the beauty of the dramatic landscape. It’s been voted one of the top 10 most non-tropical beaches so is an absolute must if you’re visiting Southern Iceland.

The drive back to Reykjavik was rather ‘twitchy arse’ as the rain cams down harder making visibility very poor. Tea tonight was a cone of sweet potato chips with my new favourite sauce; sweet mustard #fatty

Little Bighorn Battlesite to Cody

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Today was a beautifully hot day so I could finally wear one of the dresses I’ve brought. We started the day at the Little Bighorn Battlesite; more commonly known as Custers Last Stand. We were given a tour by Rusty (how fabulous!) who had long flowing hair (they are not allowed to cut it and you’re not allowed to touch it as they believe that is where your soul is) and double jointed arms.

The battlefield went on for miles and miles and it was so quiet apart from the wind blowing the long grasses. Make time to reflect and walk amongst the white graves. Rusty was incredibly knowledgeable but he packed so much in to a small space of time; therefore if you want to know about the battle, Wiki is a good place to go 😉

We then set off on the long trek to Cody, having another supermarket picnic en route. Cody is another Western style town which again is closing down due to being the end of the season. We walked into a bar and were basically stared back out again by the locals. On our way back to the hotel we spotted some Mule Deer who were snuffling around the locals gardens. They were very obliging and let us get some fabulous pictures of them.

Dinner tonight was of course in the local brewery. The staple burger was ordered and it was absolutely delicious.

TTFN x

SANTA’S SESH 🎅

Santa had so many that he can’t remember the name of the beer he had tonight! A 7% IPA which was very nice and finished off with a Porter.