Morris Minor Owners Club

Well it doesn't look like I'll be able to make it along now. My car's still off the road, things were a bit more extensive than first thought unfortunately. Obviously I'm gutted I cant make the trip - maybe next time hopefully? Anyway try and have fun without me - I'll be waiting jealously to hear all about it! All the best!

Alex et all - good luck with the run. It's been raining cats and dogs up here last 3 days - so bring spare wiper blades! If any of you have problems near Lanark (in either direction) I'm not far away and have plenty of spares if needed! Alex has my phone number if required. Enjoy!!
Cap'n Jack - anything I can help with ??

Thanks everyone. I'll try and post some updates from the road if I can.

good luck and have fun.

Thanks Dale.

Have you packed the starting handle?

Yep.

Tonight's big exercise is to put all the luggage and everything in the middle of the garage floor and work out how best to pack it all in. I've removed the boot floor and the back seats to give us as much space as possible.

Good grief - how much luggage are you taking ????? Spare parts I understand - but luggage??

3 changes of clothing per day + dinner jacket

Sounds like.

Tools and spares (including trolley jack, axle stand, inspection lamp, oil, petrol, water etc.), tent, 2 x camping and walking gear, 2 x food, 2 x clothes (enough changes for the first half of the trip), guide books and maps, gadgets, essential paperwork. We got it all packed in with room to spare!

That's because you tied the passenger to the roof!

We do have food up here in Scotland Alex - no need to carry more than Emrats!!
Best of luck to you all on the trip - it's pouring down again today, and blowing wildly!! Good old Scottish weather - don't we just love it!

Dont think he likes haggis BMC

(I bloody love the stuff btw....)

Not me! The vegetarian Haggis is particularly difficult to trap in the wild.

Update from Alex's blog, 9/5/09:

I'm writing this from the passenger seat as we drive up past Loch Lomond on our way to Oban to catch the afternoon ferry to Barra in the Outer Hebrides. Just turned west onto the A83.

I managed to get off work early yesterday afternoon. We drove up through the Dales and onto the motorway north. The wind was pretty extreme and we went through a fair bit of rain too, to be rewarded by a brilliant double rainbow.

Ooh, Loch Long is the pretty!

New Lanark YH was in a lovely location, on the site of a large mil complex by the Clyde River and waterfalls. Don't be fooled by the grim photos on its website! I've attached a photo of Lin parked in front of the hostel itself.

Today is wibble_puppy's birthday. This morning I gave her the present I had made: a Beeblebear constructed from two Winnie the Poohs. She says from the driver's seat to tell you she absolutely loves it. She adds that it's fantastic to finally be here after all the hard work. The scenery gets more beautiful around every corner. Burger King Bean Burgers, however, are "not what they used to be."

49 miles to Oban!

Update from Alex's blog, 10/5/09:

As I write this I'm on the ferry from Barra to Eriskay. There was no phone signal on Barra; hopefully I'll be able to post this from somewhere on the Uists.

The 5 hour ferry to Barra was sufficiently choppy that I turned a bit green and had to go and sit out in the fresh air at the stern.

Barra is a lovely tiny little island. We saw quite a lot of it in a quick drive around this morning. We drove out to a beachi in the South where a local, who had just got his van stuck in the sand, said "you're taking a chance bringing that out here!" Luckily we didn't have any trouble reversing back up the track.

Dunard hostel is a pleasant enough place.

Just arriving in port; better get back to the car!

Update: Stopped for lunch by a beach at the top of South Uist and there's a weak signal. Beautiful clear sunny day. We stopped briefly at the Howmore hostel to take a look even though we're not staying there. It seemed very cosy. Some cyclists there said the Berneray one we're on our way to tonight is even better.

More later!

Update from Alex's blog, 11/5/09:

I'm writing this on the ferry from Berneray to Leverburgh on Harris. The skies are clear blue, the sun is glittering on the calm water, and we are surrounded by the small craggy peaks of the Hebridean islands.

People keep asking me about Lin. As the ferry was leaving, one of the crew rushed up to me wearing a serious expression. "It was 1971," he said, "I passed my test in one of these."

The Berneray hostel was fantastic. Cosy, friendly atmosphere, very cheap, reasonable facilities, not too crowded, in an absolutely gorgeous location. I've attached a photo of Wibble on the beach that was right outside the bedroom window.

I noticed yesterday afternoon that Lin's exhaust had worked loose at the manifold (maybe something to do with clonking the silencer on a sand dune!) so I re-made the joint before we set off this morning. There are a couple of other things that could do with looking at when I get a chance, but overall she's running wonderfully considering how little time I had to work the bugs out after getting her back on the road.

Wibble is writing postcards. She says I should tell you I got sand in my eyebrows when we were walking on the beach last night.

Update from Alex's blog, 12/5/09:

I'm writing this from the bench outside the Rhenigidale YH. The attached photo shows what I am seeing right now. Wibble has just sat down next to me to drink her tea. The birds are singing loudly and it's looking like being another hot day (we really needed the sun block yesterday!).

The only thing spoiling this hostel slightly for me is that it is full of walkers. It would be idyllic if we had the place to ourselves. The road you take to get to it is incredible, but I wouldn't recommend it for cyclists unless super-fit. We recorded a video of the drive, so watch out for that when I get back home.

After yesterday's update we spent the day pottering about the wonderful winding single track lanes of east Harris. [ooh, just got my first Hebridean midge bite] We had lunch in a small café overlooking a bay, where I had my first Lorne Sausage butty (very tasty). Later on, we visited the Harris Hotel to see JM Barrie's autograph scratched on a window pane (Wibble is a huge Barrie fan) and struggled to take photos of scratches on a pane of glass behind a glass cover with a mirror behind it. The receptionist was incredibly helpful and tolerant of the mad people.

After that excitement we went on to Luskentyre Beach, an incredibly long yellow sand and sea affair - not really my cup of tea but I enjoyed paddling in the water. Wibble just interjected to say "tell the_magician it made Inch Strand look like a sand pit." ;)

Stupidly I didn't fill up with petrol when I had a chance yesterday afternoon, and the ferry company told us we couldn't carry a spare can, so we're now in the middle of nowhere with the gauge almost showing empty (it jumped from 1/3 full to nearly empty in the space of 10 miles). I'm not sure how much reserve capacity Lin has because I've never really tested it (I've driven Fenchurch 40 miles on empty before now!). We plan to drive as efficiently as possible back to the last place we saw a petrol station and fill up there. Hopefully my next post won't be about how I spent all morning walking 10 miles in the baking sun with a petrol can!

There's no signal here so I'll post this later on when I can.

Update: petrol obtained (there was probably a couple of litres left in the tank).

Update from Alex's blog, 18/5/09:

Last Tuesday
I've got rather behind on my holiday blogging because I lost a long post with two full days of stuff in it, and I've been too busy enjoying myself to try to catch up. I'm going to try to do a few short posts now with a photo and a bit of commentary on each day.

Last tuesday, after making my last post way back in Rhenigidale, we went and successfully got petrol, then headed up the east side of Lewis to Stornoway, which was rather too touristy for me, especially after the few days we had just spent in much quieter rural parts of the Western Isles. We had some excellent fish and chips for lunch there, then crossed over to Garenin on the west coast via a particularly undulating road across the Black Moor.

Garenin Youth Hostel is in a traditional Black House in a little preserved village with a museum and a few holiday cottages. I've attached a photo of Wibble in the middle of it. After bagging our bunks we headed down to have a look at Dun Carloway Iron Age Broch, then the Callanish Standing Stones. I was very impressed by the stonework of the broch. Wibble's enjoyment of the standing stones was spoilt rather by a group of foghorn-voiced Tourists. Finally we headed further on down through some gorgeous scenery to sit overlooking a golden beach and eat Wibble's birthday box of chocolates.

Back at the hostel I built and lit my first coal fire. The place was pretty much full but it didn't feel too crowded. After supper we went and wandered along the beach, which was covered with curiously rounded stones in bands of several different sizes. We had to make up our bunks in the dark when we got back because another hosteller had already gone to bed.

Last Wednesday
After packing Lin we wandered around Garenin for a while. The attached photo shows a part of the next bay south of Garenin. It really is a beautiful location, especially with the weather we had. When the museum opened we had a quick look around (it's very small) before heading back to Stornoway to catch the ferry to Ullapool back on the mainland.

Wibble had a bit of an ME blip on the ferry and slept through most of it, while I listened to podcasts, did gift shopping, ate expensive cheese and crackers, and looked at navy ships through my telescope.

Back on the mainland we drove up to Durness through fabulous mountain scenery, via a long scenic coastal diversion. We popped in to have a look at Achmelvich Beach YH as we went past. It looked like a pretty enough place if white sandy shell beaches are your thing... ;)

We were both pretty tired by the time we checked into the Lazy Crofter hostel. Our room had a two bed bunk in it that took up about 75% of the floor space, so not much room left for our luggage! It was a clean, modern, tidy place in a small village with a beach on the north coast.

Last Thursday
The morning before we left the Lazy Crofter was when I spent ages writing about the previous two days, then got distracted by another hosteller and accidentally hit the cancel button, which causes the LJ Windows Mobile client to immediately discard everything you've written without asking if you really want to do that first. Grrr.

The first place we visited was Smoo Cave, which was pretty cool. After lunch we visited Strathy Point and saw the lighthouse and the coast around it. The photo shows me using my telescope to look at some birds nesting on a small island. Wibble thought they might be Cormorants. We also saw a mad sheep scratching itself so hard against a fence post that it looked like it was nearly cutting itself in half. Next we went on to Dunnet Head (the northernmost point of the mainland, with an excellent view of the Orkneys), before stopping briefly at John O' Groats just to say we'd been there. I bought a block of Orkney Fudge, which later melted in my pocket!

The last thing we went to see that day (having had to skip Duncansby Head due to time pressing on) was the Grey Cairns of Camster (rhymes with Hamster), where we were able to crawl inside the ancient burial mounds. Wibble said they were very peaceful and she would have liked to sleep in one. Not sure if that had anything to do with the knock on the head she sustained while crawling through the entrance tunnel!

We got in to the Helmsdale hostel (formerly SYHA, recently turned independent) fairly late and very tired. I had a couple of Lorne sausages for dinner but made a mess of cooking them and incinerated one side!