Caravaning

Family Tour 2018 Day 5-6 - Day 5

Day 5: 26/9/2018, Carrbridge to Altnaharra (125 miles) 

Having not put the awning up the night before, packing up didn't take too long, and we were soon on our way to our next stop Altnahara Club Site.

A short stop over at a Tesco filling station near Inverness ensured we had plenty of fuel for the drive up to the middle of the Highlands.  We were well aware that we were going to be quite some way from the nearest shops and fuel.  It did seem that someone there didn't appreciate us using the filling station with our caravan attached, as there was a horn beep from behind us!  But there was very little else we could do, and by using pay at pump, I'm sure we minimised the amount of time we were there.

Back on the A9, and we continued north, and from the wheel I enjoyed the impressive sight of some of the offshore platforms moored up in the Cromarty Firth.

It appeared our steady progress unnerved one car as we made our way along the A836, as it pulled to the side to let us pass.  But past Lairg I the "main" A road became the smallest ever A road I've ever been on.  I've driven plenty of small country lanes with passing places, some of which with cattle grids too, but I wasn't quite expecting an A road to do so.  Not that I was complaining. On our way through almost everyone seemed good at stopping in a passing place, and you could typically see from one passing place to the next.

At one of the many, we did pause to double check what a rattle was from behind, it turned out to be nothing to worry about, just the feet on the corner steadies, not anything jockey-wheel related.  But while we paused there, the car that had pulled in earlier passed us.  I think we passed them again at another passing place when they motioned us through, so it all seemed fair.  I hasten to add that I was not tailgating, and particularly on these small roads, even 30 mph seemed on the fast side.

Eventually we passed through the village of Altnaharra, and take the turning onto the B road leading along side Loch Naver.  We were being quite cautious along this road, as there were roadworks, and the campsite had warned of road closures.  Coming up on what looked like a possible closure, I stopped at a place that (with some effort) we could hopefully turn around and take the other (long way round) to the camp site.  Meanwhile Hannah jumped out and checked with the workmen, and although they were working on drainage beside the road, we were fine to come through.

When we reached the camp site, we pulled past the space outside the office as there wasn't a lot of spare room.  A gentleman came out and greeted us by name and gave us first refusal of the pitch he thought was best.  This was apparently because we came along at a gentle steady speed unlike the motorhome behind us, which from his comments had arrived a lot more "enthusiastically" than us.

He offered us a pitch right on the edge of the loch, with an access track for other pitches running past.  It was very tight, and much as we would have liked to have reversed in, we broke out the motormover.  Without running our wheels over the stones at the track edge (and likely getting stuck) we couldn't get the angle we needed.

The awning got put up, once fresh water was in the barrels, along with purification tablets.  Another unique thing to everywhere else we have stayed was that it uses (filtered) spring water, as it has no mains water connection!

It is an amazing camp site, and even when grey and overcast, so much to be seen

After lunch we then took the dogs for a walk up to the site of a former village of Grummore, destroyed during the Highland Clearances.  

We then attempted to find the Rosal Clearance village.  We had been warned that the new land owners had made it difficult to find, having removed all the information boards.  This turned out to be true, but it was nice exploring the area.