Eriba Man

  Sadly, its the end of my touring for 2020. Probably a little bit earlier than I'd planned but the current restrictions and the controls put in place for coronavirus by sites just make this inevitable. i'd hoped to do a winter trip, but it's just not going to happen. However, i have a few big plans for the van over winter including re-upholstery, new curtains, and maybe a new pop top canvas. The preparations for storage were quite involved. Emptied the van, took out all the seating and the curtains. Also a good clean and hoovering! Finally, gave the van a good wash before putting it in a rather large garage. Just checking back on my records, it's not really an early 'hibernation'. Last year, I put the cover on my Troll on 17/11/19, and the year before I put my Familia under cover on 15/11/18.

This is now January 2019. My last night away in the van was 30th Oct 2018, and since mid November the van has been undercover. not in a building, but covered in a storage cover on my drive. With the number of days I tour, winter can be a long period of short days, cold weather, and filling my days with jobs and chores around the house. Early on in this 'out of season' period, I planned to carry out some upgrades which I wouldn't have undertaken in the touring season or little jobs I'd put on the 'back burner' until the van was off road. I wanted to redesign the interior colours and fabrics. I had seen a lovely scheme on a new 'Airstream' which really impressed me. Leather seats, tartan curtains, and natural cushions was what I was after. First, I contacted a local upholsterer, chose some fabric, removed the seats and took them to Brechin to be recovered. I have a good sewing machine, so I then bought some fabric, new inserts, and went about makin...

This is night No.105/2018 living in my caravan. This is my second night at Morvich C&MC Site in Kintail. Awoke around 0630 to a fair amount of snow. Not really that much at road level, but a big dump on the hills which surround the site. The car was covered in hard frozen snow which took a long time to remove. The hills around the site gave the area a definite Christmas Card feel! Took the dogs into the forest walk at Inverinate and the views were stunning. Reinforces my belief that Kintail is one of the finest areas in Scotland. The views across a very calm Loch Duich. Got stuck in a bit of a traffic jam just outside the site. After lunch, took the 10 mile drive to Ard Hill, just outside Reraig. It's a nice forest walk which gives a fine view towards Skye. The route goes round the hill. This is the view east over Kirkton. This is where Kinlochshiel play there Shinty. And, as ever, Hamish found the most ridiculous stick to carry round th...