Caledonian MacBrayne, or most often just CalMac, have an almost complete monopoly on ferry services in Scotland. They run efficient, friendly boat services between the Islands and also some time saving peninsular crossings. Their crossings are also great value for money.
Anyone visiting Scotland with a campervan will inevitably use CalMac’s services and here is my advice on getting the best when travelling in a ‘van.
The Berneray to Leverburgh ferry
Book early. During the peak season, most crossings are fully booked, so although it goes against the “freedom” ethos of campervanning, plan ahead and book your crossing well ahead of time.
Book all of your crossings. CalMac offer island hopping tickets which seem to imply you can make it up as you go along. We had a trip through the Hebrides with one of these tickets and almost missed our ferry back to the mainland because we hadn’t booked the “little ferry” between Berneray and Harris.
CalMac tickets are pretty flexible and the staff are helpful. The best way if you need to change times or crossing is to speak to someone in a ticket office or on the phone – they’ll happily refund tickets if you need a different crossing.
Don’t rely on just turning up early. CalMac changed their policy a few years ago so that campervans have a lower priority on standby than cars. This does not seem to happen on all crossings (for example not at Tarbert, but definitely at Stornaway). If you do go on standby, the staff really do try to squeeze you in; we missed one ferry by about a foot, after the staff spent some time shuffling vehicles in their attempt to get us aboard.
We stumbled on this site whilst exploring the circular road to Valtos. A single track road threads it’s way around the high ground of Niosa Mòr past the intriguingly named Cliff, Valtos, Cnip and Reef. The site consists of a track into the Machair and an honesty box.
It’s a treat to park overlooking the green Atlantic rollers rumbling onto the yellow sand and it’s quite popular, judging by the half dozen vans that arrived after us.
We stopped here at the end of a day when we had visited the Uig museum, Valtos pier with its tiny harbour built too late for the fishing industry and the impressive gneiss rock stacks at Mangersta.
This simple site is community run and another fantastic beach location. Sheltering behind the Machair, there are 10 campervan spaces (also camping spaces). Since we came last time (pre-pandemic), the price has gone up (£20 per night in the honesty box) and the pitches must be booked by phone. For this fee, basic facilities (toilets, showers, bins, washing up, toilet disposal and fresh water) are provided.
It’s a great place from which to explore the area – the enormous bay empties at low tide, revealing a huge area of yellow sand beneath the dunes. It’s also walking distance to the Abhainn Deargh (pronounced “avain derech”) distillery – well worth the visit. We had a tour from the distiller and sampled the proudly simple malt, all made from ingredients of the island – an exceptional whisky, less peaty than many of the Islays and having a complex and subtle flavour.
To the north of the sands, bisected by a small river, is the peninsula known as Uig which is effectively an island. The Uig museum, a short drive away, is well worth a visit and has a lot of background on the community from Norse times to present day. Ardroil is also the location of the discovery of the famous Norse chess set and a number of carvings in that style can be seen.
Whisky maturing in the spirit store at Abhainn Dearg distillery
Carving on Ardroil beach in the style of the Lewis chessmen
This site is pretty much my ideal campervan stop. It is on the beach with an unequalled view over miles of white sands, with islands in the distance. It is very informal, consisting of bin, tap and honesty box. Inevitably, it is quite popular too. When we arrived via the long uneven track, there were about a dozen vehicles there already, but there was still a choice of spots.
I was worried that it would not live up to my experience from our last visit, especially with the post-covid proliferation of camper vans. I needn’t have worried; we had a fantastic evening: a walk along the beach, a swim and even a clear night sky, complete with milky way, shooting stars and a hint of aurora.
Low tide at Clachan SandsA magic clear evening sky
Arriving on the Hebrides at Lochboisdale after a crossing from Mallaig, we drove straight to the North island and a booked spot at Balranald. The staff were very helpful and friendly, with modern and clean facilities. Situated on an RSPB reserve, there are walks on the beach less than 100m away.
The weather was very poor during our visit, but we didn’t need to leave the van to see the bird life around us – we enjoyed seeing the lapwings cartwheeling in the next field. The wind was so strong and gusty the first night that we dropped the roof and moved downstairs, even though we had the rear of the van facing into the wind. It’s the first time we’ve felt that necessary!
The Cali life is all about the outdoors, symbolised by the raising roof, roll-out awning and iconic bike rack on the tailgate.
My Trek 7300 bike has not covered many miles recently, so when I saw the Swytch electric conversion kit, I was tempted. I was dubious and my mouse hovered over the “buy it now” button several times. This kit provides the simplest route to converting a standard bike into an e-bike: motorised front wheel, pedal sensor and battery pack. How would this kit compare to a purpose-made e-bike costing many times as much?
Well, my wife ordered a full fat e-bike, so I knew I would have trouble keeping up and we couldn’t afford two e-bikes. Not long after (late Feb), Swytch offered their another wave of kits. Well, I clicked the buy button and watched Ever Green run aground in the Suez Canal, whilst my kit made its slow way to the UK (on Ever Given, fortunately). My kit arrived at the end of May, ironically on the day I left on holiday.
Day 1. Grin factor 5/5
Whilst I was waiting, I watched the posts on the Swytch user FaceBook group and was rather dismayed by the number of negative posts about the kit not working or being unreliable. Well, I put the kit onto my bike today and I’m pleased to report it worked first time!
The instructions are clear enough: replace my front wheel with their motorised one, fit a magnet-studded disc to the crank, attach pedal sensor to the frame and finally fit battery/controller to handlebars. My bike has disc brakes and it was very easy to transfer the disk to the new wheel. The only problem I had was that the handlebar bracket would not fit. It comes with rubber spacers for 22mm bars; my bars appear to be that diameter, but the bracket would not close with the rubber inserts in place, but was loose without them. I solved this by finding a spare bit of silicone tubing with a similar diameter, to act as a spacer and the controller was firmly attached.
When I powered up the battery, I couldn’t resist just jumping on and just trying it out. Worked first time! The initial ride is a little odd if, like me, you have not ridden an e-bike before: the sensation of the bike pushing away is slightly disconcerting until you get used to it. I had had a short trial ride on an e-bike and the Swytch felt very similar.
Swytch say that their kit assists rather than replacing leg power, roughly halving the effort. The result is that pulling away is snappier and hills become far less of a challenge. I am tall and pretty heavy, so it’s a lot to ask of the motor to push me and my bike uphill. The motor produces 40Nm of torque, which I found plenty to get me up hill. I found I would use a high gear and when I wanted more assist, I could just change to a lower gear.
One the flat, you can feel when the 25kph legal limit is reached, as the motor cuts out and it’s all leg effort. The result is that no battery power is being used, so extending the range. For my first longer ride, I set the assist level on max and let the bike do as much work as possible. I got about 15 miles out of it before the battery pack charge indicator showed 1/5.
Day 2: grin factor 5/5
On a second run of similar length, I only used the first of the five bars by running the assist at 2/5 most of the time, but increasing the power for uphill stretches.
I think this kit will be great for some of those rides up a long incline with a headwind; the motor helps enough to make it easy. Obviously, the assist can be reduced if you want more of a workout. This is great for me, as I’m not very fit and I think the Swytch will get me out on my bike a lot more.
Day 3: grin factor 5/5
Another 10mi run, including a long steady uphill. Felt effortless. Excellent
Day 4: grin factor 1/5
Went for an evening ride and I got 5mi from home on a rural loop. I experienced some juddering, then intermittent power and the no power. Tried switching on and off. Worked briefly then as above. Disappointing. Finished the last 8mi with Swytch off. Raised a support ticket. Let’s see.
Swytch support
After a brief email conversation, I was asked to book a Zoom support call. During the call, the helpful chap took me through a series of tests and quickly deduced that the handlebar bracket was at fault. Sadly no replacements in stock, so a few weeks to wait for the part.
In the meantime, I’ve continued to use the bike. Although it’s working ok, I don’t really trust it, so I wouldn’t want to be too far from home with it until the bracket is replaced. Having said that, the bike is quite usable without assist, it’s just it’s leg power only. How quickly I’ve got used to the electric assistance!
With lockdown finally easing and camp sites opening, this weekend is Alice’s long-awaited birthday party. Her actual birthday was last November but at the time no kind of celebration apart from a virtual one was possible. She wanted a camping trip with her friends, so we booked a weekend to bag a place if lockdown restrictions ended when planned.
We chose Woodside Lodge as our first location for a proper trip this year, a site we know well. We enjoy this place because of its relaxed atmosphere and open water swimming.
A dip in the lake
Alice wanted to try the camping barn, which sleeps four. This meant that Niki and I had the luxury of the Cali to ourselves.
The site is close to the Herefordshire town of Ledbury, so Niki too Alice and her three girlie friends into town for some retail therapy, whilst I took a leisurely walk through the fields.
The day was rounded off with the customary bbq and bonfire. Though the weather was cool, at least it was dry after the seemingly endless wet weather recently!
A meadow of buttercupsRape field with Ledbury in the background; the industrial silos just visible are the Heineken brewery. Dandelion clock
Our Cali’s diesel heater is really powerful and rarely needs to work too hard, but if anyone is sleeping upstairs, the temperature difference between the main cabin and the roof is quite large.
To improve the warmth for the upper bed at night, I’ve used an idea seen on the Cali forum and added a warm air pipe. This is made from two inexpensive plumbing parts, obtained from our local Wickes. An adapter is cable tied to the vent and to this, a collapsible hose is attached and draped over the cargo net in the roof.
In the summer, when the heating is not needed, the cable ties can be clipped off and the parts left at home.
This set up is amazingly effective. plenty of warmth escapes from the vent into the main cabin, but crucially the upstairs (which is after all, effectively a tent) is kept toasty warm. On the last couple of nights the outside temperature dipped several degrees below freezing and we were most comfortable overnight with the heater on a low setting. We do have an isotop liner to the roof canvas which helps, and I dare say we’d need a higher setting on the heater if it was windy.
At last we got on the highway! Our first outing, now the travel restrictions are eased, has been to visit both sets of our parents. What a great vehicle – we were able to park up and sleep aboard, something we’ve done a few times during the last year. Later in the week we’re going to do some “proper” camping!
With a foreign trip off the cards, and a few days of holiday to fill between two other trips, the family decided to visit one of our favourite local sites, Woodside Country Park near Ledbury in Herefordshire.
We like this place because it is a quiet, rural site, with relaxed rules and only an hour from home. When we booked, they were almost full and were at pains to point out that as returning customers, we would find it busier than normal.
We needn’t have worried; although the site was indeed much busier than normal, the pitches were still informal and well spaced. A consequence of the “new normal” post COVID was that there was less interaction between groups, but the facilities were by no means overloaded.
We had two nights of our usual activities – a walk into Ledbury, several swims in the lake and barbecues, with subsequent bonfires into the night. The weather was sweltering, so the lake was a great relief and the nights so warm, a jumper was definitely not needed. On the final night, we were treated to the awesome sight of huge thunderstorms lit up by lightning some 50 miles to the north (not far from home, in fact). It was amazing to watch flash after flash lighting up the cumulus, whilst the air was still and dry at the site.
CaliVentures 