August has not been good as regards weather, but an improvement during the annual summer week hosting the grandchildren heralded a change for the better, so once they had departed again for home with mum, we got the van ready and set off for a mini break while the sun shines. We headed south down the Kintyre peninsula, determined to wild camp this time.

Our route took us down the Kilberry road, what we were looking for was a good spot with a view across the Sound of Jura to Jura, and a spectacular sunset, if we were lucky.

Suitable spots were sought on the OS map, but it seemed there were not very many at all. Sometimes we would look for stands of conifers , as they usually have forest roads which are drivable in the van but sufficiently off the beaten track and remote to not be noticed for an overnight stay. But this bit of Argyll doesn't have lots of woods with a sea view. We were very lucky and found a spot which proved to be a Quarry (Dis) according to the OS map. There was room to reverse the van off the road safely, with a flank of rock on both sides, on a bend in the road, with a splendid view of Jura. Job done. We parked up, and settled down for the night.

Cloudless sky, no wind, we were eaten alive by midges as we barbecued our chicken on the Cobb barbecue. I was cursing the fact that we weren't just having a tin of ham on board, as we both had to pop in and out of the van into midge hell to set up the barbecue, turn the chicken, and get it into the van for carving. We succeeded, closed all the doors and windows, and enjoyed our dinner, reserving half of the chicken for tomorrow.

A blissfully calm night, we awoke to sun rising on Jura. An amazing view. With the light in the east we could now see Craighouse, with its hotel and distillery shining white in the sunlight.

The midges were about again in the early morning, and our coffee and breakfast routine, mixed with dogwalks, was punctuated by midge evasion measures. We got ready to move on so fast we didn't notice until we were a hundred metres down the road that our roof was still up! Hurriedly I pulled into a layby and Ju managed to pull the straps to get it down.

Our plan was to drive to Tayinloan and get the ferry to Gigha, to explore wild camping opportunities there.

We drove down to the ferry terminal, aware that there was a ferry there, which we might in all probability miss. However as we neared the ferry car park it became clear that vehicles were still disembarking. So we joined the queue, and drove on to the ferry, which was full. A sunny day, everyone got out of the cars and vans and went aloft to enjoy the smooth crossing.

Once on shore we headed north up the island, and found an incredible spot right on the end of the track, with sea on both sides. We parked up, and I inflated our two Thermarest chairkits, we have had these since we were cycle-campers. They transform the airbeds into very comfortable seats, supporting the back. We had a picnic lunch beside the van, and said a cheery hello to all the cyclists, tourists and walkers who came to see the view from our promontory, but we were snug. In the course of the day three other campervans arrived but stayed about two hundred metres away, in the car park area beside a beach. An onshore light breeze prevented the dreaded midges from spoiling things, and we had a quiet dinner on board, before Ju took Jack for his final walk of the day, past the pack of dogs round the other campervans.


The evening was so perfect we left one of the windows of the van uncovered for the night, so we could watch the spectacular sunset. As a bonus we woke to a lovely sunny morning, around 6am. Jack woke early too, so we were up and about by half six. After breakfast we locked up the van and went for a walk, to explore the highest point at the north end of the island, complete with cairn. The path up there was pretty muddy and obviously usually frequented by the wandering cattle we saw on a beach as we arrived. We continued our walk along other muddy tracks down to the twin beaches. We remembered that on our trip south to Portugal, West Loch Tarbert bay here was our final anchorage in Scotland before heading for Ireland, back in 2008. The north bay had a yacht anchored in it, wisely we thought, as Ardminish Bay would be uncomfortable in the increasing easterly breeze.

On our return to the van we noticed the wind had indeed increased, and as the mainland had slowly disappeared into cloud and mist, we reckoned that was the moment to move. So we packed up the van, getting the roof down in time this time, and took a leisurely trip right down from the north to the south of the island, while waiting for the next ferry. A trip into the shop and we learned that there is no bakery on the island, so all bread has to be brought over on the ferry. There's a business opportunity for somebody, I thought. Why would it not be a good idea to set up a craft bakery over there which exported to the mainland as well as selling to the Gighans!

We were reminded of our trip to stay with Jacky and Rob in Shoreham, when we went into Brighton for dinner at a smart new restaurant, and the waitress told us all about their marvellous Giga halibut. As in Gigabyte! We put her right on that one. The Gigha halibut farm is a real success story of this amazing island.

In contrast to the trip across, there were only three vehicles on the ferry back to the mainland. The rain arrived during the journey, and with wind over tide conditions to contend with the ferry rolled about and we were treated to sea spray as well.

On the mainland we stopped for lunch at the excellent ferry cafe, then made our way home. Fair weather campers, if you like, but we had seen enough bad weather on our Ireland trip. The beauty of camping close to home is that the option of heading back is always there when the weather goes pear shaped.

Here is a sign we saw at the north end of Gigha, showing the islanders to have a good sense of humour, as well as geography!