Day 1
Well, this was the first road trip my girlfriend and I decided to go on. As in every trip we do each year, it is planned around our birthdays towards the end of April and beginning of May. We left in the afternoon if the 27th April for the 1st leg. We were planning on heading up to the lake district and spending the night there to break the journey almost in half. The weather was not great, some light rain causing things to be a little on the chilly and damp side, but we made it to the hostel around 9 pm.
Day 2
Friday was lovely, the sun was shining and the views of the grounds of the hostel were lovely, we had a wander around and took a few pictures, before heading back and packing up the bike.
We mounted the stead and headed into the local town to take in the area before we headed onto the Ryhno Pass, and Hard Knock pass. I think we took a wrong turn somewhere, as I missed the Ryno Pass, and hit the Wynrose pass instead. We followed this and turned onto the Hardknott pass. The misses was on the back and holding on for dear life. Later she advised me she had her eyes closed for most of the trip.
At the end of the passes, we pulled into a local pub and treated ourselves to lunch and a drink to calm the nerves before we headed up for the next part of the trip
Onwards and upwards across the border, we headed. The target was Glen Roy and a small hotel in the village. It was getting towards 7:30 pm and we were still 50 miles away, fuel was getting on the low side, with the light being on for the last 20minutes. We pulled into a nearby garage only to find it was closed. This was the second garage along the route that was closed. I tried to find some life, and walked around for a bit, and spotted someone coming out to their garden so grabbed their attention, and asked where I can get fuel. They advised ten minutes down the road, there was an esso garage, but I needed to hurry as it shut at 8 pm.
So off we flew. We made it there about 7:50 pm only to find bollards across and a tanker in there, they were shutting early for fuel. I pleaded my case and advised I was on red for 30 miles and still had another 50 to go and I wouldn’t make it. My pitty tactics worked, and fueled up we were on our way and reached to the hotel around 9 pm.
Settling down, we headed to the bar for food and drink, only to find a bunch of bikers there as well. It turns out there was a Honda group there also staying to complete a little tour as well. I had to go and take some images.
Day 3
The next morning we set off for a wander and headed to the point on Glen Roy, this was only a ten minute or so ride and was amazing views. I took some pictures and had to chase my gloves, as the wind managed to blow them off my bike and down the side of the hill.
After this we headed up to Fort William and took a look around the village before heading up past Ben Nevis, to take a look at some waterfalls.
The roads were nice and smooth, with some great undulations and we made it to the waterfalls. We spent about 40 minutes heading up before the other half had to tap out because of the heights. A dog was killed recently falling off the edge, and the paths were very narrow with smaller waterfalls flowing across them, and this caused her to panic.
We returned to the bike and headed back towards town, stopping to look at the distillery. We missed the tour and managed to get locked in for an hour before escaping.
We headed back to the hotel for the night and had food before settling down for the night and planning the next day.
Day 4
We decided to head up to “Harry Potter Country” or Glenfinnan Viaduct to give it its correct name! This was a little outside of Fort William, but it did not take too long to get there. We climbed the hills and got some stunning views. Alas, the train had already run that week so we missed out on that. We then headed on down to the Loch and took a look around, the viaduct is situated next to Loch Shiel and this was a great area to see.
The next part of our journey would take us west. We were planning on staying next to the banks of Loch Fyne. Nothing too exciting to report, we stopped off along the way for some rest breaks and to take in the screanary.
We made it to the wonderful B&B on the shores of the Loch. They even moved their car out of the garage so I could keep my bike in there as well. We settled in and decided to head out for food, however, the local pub was fully booked, and being a bank holiday weekend, there was not much open.
However, we ventured into town, and found a Chinese/Indian restaurant and ordered some food. The service was terrible. Not only did we have to wait for an age for the order, we didn’t even get the starters, I received my curry and rice before Avril, and it was the complete wrong curry. Avril didn’t even get her rice, and by the time it turned up she has almost finished her curry and it was cold also. We complained and received a discount on the order, although, I didn’t think it was worth paying for at all. We were not the only ones to have issues with the place either.
Day 5
We decided to head towards the Mull of Kintyre today, near Campletown. Hoping to see the lighthouse and the coast of Ireland. The roads along the coast we amazing, and some of the drops we very scary. We stopped off on the way when I spotted what I thought looked like seals. We walked down to the shore over the rocks to be greeted by a bunch of seals, the camera came out and I took a host of images. It seemed they were posing for the pictures, and I was able to get quite close to them. We decided to leave and travel up the road, into Campletown, and to the lighthouse.
However, the road itself up to the Mull was very twisty and very gravelly. With a heay laden Pan with two of us on there, it took a lot of effort and control to keep things on the correct side up.
After a short while, we did make it to the top. however, the road was closed and we were unable to make it right to the lighthouse. We did meet up withsome other bikers there and had a little chat and took a few pictures, but unfiortunatly the cloud prevented us from seeing Ireland, and the lighthouse was just out of reach.
On the trip back to the B&B we popped into Campletown and took a visit to the Glen Scotia distillery. Sampling a wee dram and then making some small gift purchases to bring home with us.
Day 6
We decided to stay an extra night at the B&B before heading on the long journey home, we started to head east and pass the great Loch Lomond. popping into to Edingbourgh and getting lost trying to get to the Castle, and then we gave up. We headed south along the east coast, stopping off at Newcastle Upon Tyne along the way and then heading another three hours south before stopping off the night at a Travelodge. We finally made it home the next day exhausted, but full of the joy of a great break north of the border.
Until next time.