Eriba Man

 This is night No.25/2021 living in the caravan. It's our 4th and final night at the Oban C&CC Site in Barcaldine in Argyll. Woke up to nice, bright weather but the midges were bad again. They are of course never 'good', but these were just persistent and seemed to just mass every now and again. A very grim experience until the sun burned them away around 0930. Took the dogs around the forest about 0600, and after getting organised, having a shower and getting breakfast, we headed out for another nice long walk from 'The Sandpit', another area of the massive Benderloch Forest. The conditions were superb. The tracks are very well maintained, and are in a better condition than most of the roads I've driven recently. There are patches of well preserved native trees. And the network of tracks provides some good long circular routes. The one I chose to follow took around 90mins. Returned to the van for lunch and afterwards with the weather looking fine, took down...

  This is night No.24/2021 living in my caravan. It's also our 3rd night at the Oban C&CC Site near Benderloch in Argyll. Slept well, and arose around 0600. The rain was belting down on the van, and a look outside confirmed it had been raining for some time, and the midge situation was dreadful! When I fitted the new roof canvas, I was supplied with nets, but obviously they've never heard of midges where this was made as the mesh wasn't fine enough, and the van had a lot of midges inside. Sorted that by taking the dogs around the woods and the last thing I done before I left was cover any food surfaces, and gave a few blasts of fly killer. Done the trick perfectly although I now have a carpet of dead midges on the window surrounds! With the rain fairly relentless, I decided our mid morning walk would be a long loop from the site up to the reservoir. Very misty and wet, but it was a good walk. I always find these places a bit scary. This reservoir has a massive sink/drai...

  This is night no.23/2021 living in the caravan. It's our 2nd night at the Oban C&CC Site in Barcaldine, about 12 miles North of Oban. Last night, the weather was superb. It was warm, settled and we had a nice wander down to the nearby shingle beach. This morning, however, was a different story! It was very grey with heavy skies and quite still. Ideal conditions for the dreaded midge, and they were out in force. They were relentless and miserable! Luckily, I had my full arsenal of protection, such as head net, repellent, and one citronella candle, but it was still a grimly predictable experience! What was making it even more frustrating is that they were somehow finding there way into the van and for a good while, it was horrendous. Luckily, later in the day the weather improved and a breeze picked up giving a temporary relief. So, after a shower and some breakfast, we headed the short drive to a good forest walk I had walked many times on the shores of Loch Creran. A steady c...

  This is night No. 22/2021 living in the caravan. Now at the Oban C&CC Site near Barcaldine in Argyll.  I've been at this site many times in the past in my campervan and caravans. I even had a part seasonal pitch here in 2019, so quite a nostalgic visit! The site did not open at all in 2020, and it was nice to see it looking good. New wardens and the place very well kept. Stopped at Inglismaldie, a short distance from home, to give the dogs a bit of a walk before our 4hr drive across the country. The drive was in lovely weather. This was a bit of a strange booking; I had 2 separate bookings of 2 night which I'd booked at separate times, and the warden told me that for the first 2 nights, I would have to go in a 'no awning' pitch for 2 nights, then move to an 'awning' pitch for nights 3 & 4. I explained that I needed an awning pitch to house all my stuff (having a tiny caravan) and they were very accommodating. To keep my distance from the adjacent carav...

  This is night No.20/2021 living in the caravan and our 4th night at the River Breamish C&MC Site near Powburn in Northumberland. Woke to another beautiful, fine morning. It clouded a little during the day, but there was still a lot of sunshine. It was very warm. I think because we've had such a cold April and May, that it feels that anything above 20C is roasting! It was around 24C today, and I was cooking at times. Had to really watch the dogs, and made sure they got plenty shade and lots of water. However, this was a great day with some of the best experiences of my trips to Northumberland so far. And it was all within around 15miles of where I'm based. Got up just before 0600, and took the dogs for a walk around the site dog walk, which is pretty decent and dead quiet at this time in the morning. After getting a shower in the awning and some breakfast, we headed off to the first walk of the day, Thrunton Crags. The walk started with a walk through Thrunton Woods. Incid...