Some time at the beach.

Wild camping. It's what we like to do but this year we haven't managed much of it since it isn't a comfortable pastime in Spain or France, what with worrying if the Stasi are going to appear and insist we desist. With the massive investment in money and time we've put into Elly, we "need to get out more", as they say, and make some use of our investment.

Bow Fiddle Rock near Cullen (stock image)

A couple of weekends ago I did a kayak trip along part of the Moray coast and landed at a very secluded bay that had vehicle access and looked ideal for an overnight camp. Last weekend Sue and I took the truck and spent a very relaxing 24 hours there.

The weather, contrary to the forecast, was warm and sunny - most of the time - and with a gentle breeze that persuaded us to put up the awning complete with all the "toys" that go with it. We  had the front section attached overnight to keep the heat from....

 ...the woodburning stove, which we used for the first time this year and tried a different way of fuelling it. Since previous attempts weren't always successful, this time we tried the compressed fuel blocks again but cut them into thin slices. That appears to be the secret - they're too thick to burn properly if left whole and merely smoulder, but the greater surface area when split gives them a fighting chance.

They last a reasonable time too, so I didn't have to constantly feed the stove with sticks like before, and once a bed of embers had built up it was easy to maintain. We arranged the flexible flue to direct the smoke to the downwind end of the awning but I think we'll have to work out a way to get the flue through the walls without doing anything too permanent. With the stove going the inside the awning, even with one side mostly open, it got really warm. With the kettle on the top we had a constant supply of hot water, so perhaps we'll invest in a couple of cheap Thermos flasks so we don't waste the energy.



The awning walls don't hang correctly for a number of reasons, principally because I've mounted the suspension rails upside down (see previous post). Once we've got the new tent cover, which will remove the need to get at a zip, we can turn the awning the other way up and this will help the walls hang properly. There will still be a gap down the sides though, since the Defender's sides aren't vertical. We might make up some kind of filler panel for these bits and probably something to screen the underneath of the vehicle too.

Tim Phipps is making the new cover this week. We had to choose a different fabric as the one we wanted can only be ordered in 50 metre rolls - a tiny bit more than we need! It'll be good to get it fitted though. When we opened the tent on Friday night to air it there was a lot of water inside, swilling about on the floor. It was a good job we'd removed the mattress....


So, we packed everything up and set off for the coast on Saturday morning. We decided to explore some of the back roads that, even after having lived in the area for over 20 years, we'd never used. The coastal lanes are narrow but pretty much devoid of traffic, so progress doesn't have to be slow. We passed the old aerodrome at Boyndie - home of the Banff Strike Wing from WW2 - which will be a place to visit on a future trip. This time, though, we wanted to 'scope out the harbour at Whitehills for kayaking launch possibilities. There didn't appear to be any but the harbour is small and pretty and has a lot of pleasure craft moored there. Not much fishing activity that we saw, but maybe they were all away.Since it was a quiet day on the roads we decided to "overshoot" our intended camping spot by a few miles and visit Pennan again. The location for some of the scenes from the movie "Local Hero", Sue had to get (another) photo of her and the legendary telephone box..

Pennan harbour

Arriving at the beach we "tipped our hat" to the nearest residents, Bill and Lynn who, although they don't actually own the beach run a business that relies, in part, on the sea view and they're naturally keen to preserve it. Bill asked us to park "at the end of the beach" which meant, in practical terms, "as far away as you can get" but we thought this a fair request. If you lived at a beautiful place with a great view, would you want a succession of pikeys spoiling it every weekend by parking outside your window?

How's this for a view from your kitchen window?

We joined a group of 4x4s and caravans that we initially thought might be the notorious Travelling Folk who make a nuisance of themselves all over the Highlands every summer before returning to their "mobile" home parks in Essex for the winter. Happily we were wrong and had a number of interesting and amusing natters with the other temporary residents. It's always good to exchange ideas and swap stories. One couple had a bit of a grumble about the "bloke who thinks he owns the bloody beach" but I was amused the following day when, as I was chatting to him about the state of the world, they turned up with 2 empty bottles and asked him for water.....

On the way home we stopped to visit the village of Crovie - pronounced "Crivvy" apparently - which I've often seen from afloat but never walked there. And it is a walk; steeply downhill from the "visitors" car park which is necessary because there's only a very small parking area at the south end of the village, the rest being impossibly narrow for vehicles. The locals all have a handcart parked outside their tiny houses, ranged along the sea wall and backed by the cliffs and hills. So no back garden to hang out the washing; that's all done on communal drying lines "out the front", something I remember from my childhood but a sight long gone nowadays. According to Bill there's only one permanent resident, the rest are holiday homes. That must make for a lonely life in the winter, lashed by gales and freezing nor'easters. There used to be a footpath connecting the village to the nearby Gardenstown - which has a small harbour and road access - but the Great Storm of late January 1953 took that away and with it the village's lifeline to the "outside world". It's been in decline ever since, so I don't suppose we should lament the fact that the houses are unoccupied by locals. At least they're cared for and habitable. Some places on the west coast struck by similar disasters never recovered, were abandoned by the local economy and are derelict.

Crovie has no vehicle access, no piped gas and (almost) no permanent residents

We had a quick look at the village of Fordyce then stopped at Cullen for an al fresco lunch - grilled sausages.

The car park was full apart from the area at the river, but we couldn't get into it because some thoughtful local gauleiter has deemed that vehicles over 1.8 metres high should be excluded by placing a barrier over the road. This left us with the option of squeezing into a corner or going elsewhere. We opted for the latter, drove around to the other side of the river and parked on the stony beach just across the road from the car at bottom right of the picture. A sea view and Splendid Isolation. We did get some disapproving looks from some passers-by, though, but I couldn't see why - it wasn't as if we were spoiling anyone's view or getting in the way.


So, a really relaxing 24 hours. We'll do that again.