Scotland Update | Midge therory | NC 500

I am sitting in the sun by a freshwater loch. The sun has returned, though there is a soothingly gentle breeze blowing, then falling away again. A very pleasant afternoon following a run of colder wet, and grey days.

A bad cold has kept me from work for a few days, so I picked a place where I could rest up with plenty of supplies, and where Rio can run out for his own exercise with no traffic or other reasons for me to have to go outside. Diesel heater on thermostat kept me warm at night, but I'm glad to be feeling better now and the sun's returned too!

I've been back in Scotland since mid-April, and back at work since May began, having returned to my seasonal job with the local council. Living and working here means I can wild-camp at places like this (of which I have seven favourites) within ten minutes drive of work.

We are entering what can be the most enjoyable time of year here - end of May/beginning of June when the weather can be at its finest, and I have yet to be bothered by midges; the odd buzz, but nothing biting.

I have a theory, after a few years of wild camping here, that the midges are not as bad as people say. They are only active for limited times on certain days and the certainly don't enjoy any breeze, rain or cold. I'll keep a record of how many days they actually bother me this summer. If you know where to park up, and avoid damp places, they can be avoided. Still, I wouldn't be in a tent once June's in full swing!

There is a steady stream of campers and motorhomes on the roads here, though it's nothing like on the roads further south near Fortwilliam and out to the Isle of Skye; always some wheeled living company if I so wish for the weekend or an evening, as visitors pass through.

It'll be interesting to see if the numbers increase this year, with the rising popularity of the 'North Coast 500' circuit and an increasing number of TV programmes and popular press articles about it. Already many car and bike clubs are following the route, and everything from supercars to very strange and eccentric vehicles are seen daily passing through these parts. Maybe the strangest I've seen so far was a mo-ped club, remember the red & white mopeds from the 70's? Well they where emphasising how awful they really are - one rider even had a toilet seat for a front mudguard!

Thanks for following along!

Get in touch if you're passing through NW highlands.

Have a good one!

Shangri-la | Marvão, Alentejo, Portugal

'From Marvão we can see the whole Earth'
José Saramago



In his utopian novel, Lost Horizon, James Hilton described a mountain paradise where the inhabitants lived in happiness and were even overcoming the process of ageing. The mythical place was known as Shangri-la, which has since become a metaphor for finding ones own place of realisation and contentment.


There may be a few grains of truth in this piece of imaginative fiction. I have been spending some time in what could easily be the realisation of such a place. We are in Marvão in Alentejo, east Portugal and I may not leave this place.. From arrival here one is immediately entranced by the sense of peacefulness, the endless views over distant rocky ridges, white painted villages and plains.



Originally conceived by the Moors there has been a fortified settlement here for over 1000 years, the village and castle have continually evolved over the centuries under changing regimes into what it has now become. It is possible to wander freely along the castle walls and gaze out through arrow slits and over the parapets, from where the views reach Espania in the east, and far north to the snow capped Serra Estrella in northern Portugal.



It is a holy place; as well as the walled village and castle, there are also churches and a convent on the site. Rio and I have walked along the old cobbled Roman road which dramatically reaches a resting place by an ancient stone cross, before ascending up even steeper crumbling stone steps towards the imposing entrance to the town walls. All gateways are elbowed with defensive masonry - there would have been no way in uninvited. The village in its time was virtually impregnable.

I don't really remember how long we have been here, and leaving is not really a thought that has yet entered my head. It can be enough just spending a day watching the changing view as the sun rises or sets, or listening to the wind in the trees when it picks up a little. I notice the locals sit on a stone wall and gaze out too, for how long though, I don't know. I haven't yet met the head nun, rumoured to be almost 1000 years old, but in the cafe bar there is a talking parrot called Denise!

Good night my friends, boa noite amigos!

Unscheduled Wanderings

"Real travel requires a maximum of unscheduled wanderings, for there is no other way of discovering surprises and marvels.."

Alan Watts


Location: Cliffs above Praia do Canal
Temp: 17° high today, 19°c
Clear skies

Just sitting, gazing out from the western cliffs..

The Very Edge..

Here I came to the very edge
where nothing at all needs saying,

Stage 12 | The Estrada Atlântica to Nazaré

3:06pm, Nazaré
Temp 14°c, low was 6°
Sunny

The latest stage of the journey was driving the route 'Estrada Atlântica'..

Useful Motorhome / Campervan Insurance info for EU, Morocco travel abroad | Adrian Flux

Some useful pieces of information to know regarding your motorhome / campervan insurance, when travelling in the EU, or planning a trip further afield..