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Blog 152 Abandoned NC500, Harris-Lewis-Mull Trip, Scotland, 3rd Visit
- Keef Hellinger
- Nov 10, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: May 20
by keef & annie hellinger 20 June 2021, 5.20 pm Blog 152 Abandoned NC500 trip
Motorhome trip No 43 : Jun 14th-19th 2021 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Birnam Perthshire Scotland ->NOTTS by 3 relay transporters (boo!) 497 miles
Blog 152 Abandoned NC500 trip - This was to be our 1st true motorhome trip outside of lockdown for a month to Scotland taking in the North Coast 500, Harris and Lewis and pals on Mull. Sadly it didn't end as well as we had hoped but we did have a fun few days in Glasgow beforehand.
Our tears were evident: Set off on a grand Scottish adventure… only for the van to throw in the towel before the Highlands even warmed up. Cue the NC500 dream collapsing into a symphony of warning lights, recovery trucks and tears — some from frustration, some from laughing at the sheer absurdity. This diary turns a breakdown‑blighted Harris, Lewis and Mull plan into a comedy of cancelled ferries, soggy spirits and stubborn Scottish weather doing its worst.
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COMMENTARY / OVERVIEW / DIARY
Sadly this was not the best trip to Scotland we have ever had but I include the travel blog anyhow but we did have a good few days in lovely Glasgow first before disaster struck!.
INTRODUCTION
After all the meticulous planning and wrestling to get campsites on the heavily overbooked NC500 sadly we only got to do 6 days , but what lovely six days visiting pals Mandy and Colin in the Lake District, staying and visiting Coniston Water, an interesting Caravan and Motorhome club site in the Coppice woods with now 350+ pitches (we stayed on pitch numbers 302 & 194, they also have glamping pods) with a lovely walk down out of the site across a farm to Coniston Water, revisiting reunion site at Threlkeld, and 3 lovely days in Glasgow staying at the Strathclyde Country Park (pitch 99) and using Park & Ride from Belshill to get into central Glasgow, a city we dearly love, the highlight of and there were many 2 days on the trot in Mrs Cranstons Charles Rennie Macingtosh’s art nouveau inspired Willow tea rooms.
Class plus some fab art by his wife Margaret MacDonald (esp. the gesso panel on the stairs) and the Mad Hatters tea party was a true delight, plus the Kibble glass house at the fab Botanic Gardens , in our humble opinion a true competitor of Kew Gardens.
DIARY
We endured / listened (quietly to hide our accents) the Tartan army ready to travel to Wembley at the Central station and again in George Square, very loud of voice but happy and well behaved (maybe?) with liquid food (Tenants) for the journey. Anyhow SADLY because on the way up to Inverness on the A9 to start the NC500 after seeing now both Perth’s (Scotland and Western Oz) our lovely Wendy house started to make the most incredible noise from the engine and power slipped, we pulled off on a side road sign posted Birnam and stopped it. I have had an experience with an old Cortina years ago where the engine timing belt snapped and knew it could damage the engine. We contacted the insurance folks who sent out a mechanic from Blair Atoll who said it’s the timing chain. Sadly no garage in the Highlands could do it and after ringing around getting it fixed in Perth / Glasgow would have meant up to 2 weeks in a B&B / Hotel, no fun so reluctantly we decided to get transported back home. Bad news, but no one is hurt, we will get the van sorted locally (hopefully it doesn’t need a new engine but who knows) and will redo this trip next year.
If you would like to see slideshow of our “limited” fun please CLICK HERE, thanks PS we now LOVE French Earl Grey tea, give it a whirl if you can find it PPS the first transporter driver from Blair Atoll quipped "I love nothing better than deporting the English from Scotland" ;) plus remember after the England / Scotland 0-0 draw at Wembley in Euro 2020 (played 21 because of Covid) the Scots TV station played Braveheart ;) Thanks for looking, folks. PLEASING UPDATE: 14/7/21 after 3 and 1/2 weeks in major surgery our beloved Wendy House is now back on the road and as recuperation we took her out for a 40 mile spin to put the engine under pressure, I am pleased to say all OK so can now start planning a few local trips to continue her rehabilitation ;)
SLIDESHOWS
It may have been bad but at least we can say it wasn't this bad, taken in arisaig scotland around the same time
SCOTTISH TRAVEL BLOG ROUTES
Here is a set of videos, reels and shorts showing all out Scotland travel blog routes graphically, enjoy
RETRO SCOTTISH FAMILY HOLIDAY VIDEOS
Recreated these in 2023 , enjoy my utubeo videos
Mình có lần lướt đọc mấy trao đổi trên mạng شيخ روحاني thì thấy nhắc nên cũng tò mò mở ra xem thử cho biết. Mình không tìm hiểu sâu rauhane chỉ xem qua trong thời gian ngắn để quan sát bố cục s3udy cách sắp xếp các mục và trình bày nội dung tổng thể. Cảm giác là các phần được trình bày khá gọn, các mục rõ ràng nên đọc lướt cũng không bị rối Berlinintim, với mình như vậy là đủ để nắm tin cơ bản rồi. q8yat
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an interesting insight into checking ones cam belt
such a shame x