Another catch-up post for my own benefit. I'm now going to have to think hard about where we've been and what we've been doing.
Saturday 16th May - Freuchies & Nethercraig Holiday Park
Where was Bertie? He spent a night at Nethercraig Holiday Park near Alyth at a cost of £36
After a day pootling around the forest at Freuchies, it was something like a 5-mile drive out of our way to get to this holiday park. I think the reason for opting to spend this much money on somewhere to park for the night was based mainly on there being a lack of obvious free options nearby (well, I knew of a few possibilities, but most had the potential to annoy locals), combined with the benefit of having electricity and saving gas in the ongoing cold weather. And surely something that has 'Holiday Park' in the name and charges that much is going to have good facilities?
The first surprise was how out-in-the-sticks the place was, with no village, cafe or hotel within walking distance - although wasn't a concern for us as we were purely using it as a night-stop and had no need to go out once we'd arrived. Next came the disappointments, starting with the showers, which were tiny (the entire room was the size of a small toilet cubicle), didn't have a shower curtain, lacked hooks and a shelf, were push-button and, worst of all, having run hot for two presses of the button, then became luke warm. Accordingly my shower lasted approximately 2 minutes, as I hurried out to get warm.
Also on the 'this isn't very good' list was the slightly stingy 10amp electricity supply (not a problem for us, but at the price not as high as you'd expect), lack of a motorhome service point, the fact that the chemical toilet point was right in the far corner of the site (rather than by the central toilet block), and amongst the full page of rules that they gave me on checking in, was a prohibition on using any sort of a washing line, and a prohibition on attaching a hose to any of their taps, so if we had wanted to fill Bertie's tank, we would have had to have done it via a water carrier and a funnel. Oh, and the wifi didn't work at any time that we were there, not even before 7am (when even the worst campsite wifi usually works).
The only positive I can give is that their laundry facilities are as stuck in the past as the rest of the place. I had to go to reception to get some old-style pound coins to operate them and didn't need many as both washer and dryer were uncommonly cheap (£3 and £1 respectively).
The most expensive campsite of the trip so far (and, I think, of any trip, ever), and the worst facilities.
Sunday 17th
Where was Bertie? He spent the night in a small car park at Bridge of Craigisla
Weather: Largely dry until late morning, then increasingly heavy showers, some prolonged.
The previous afternoon I'd stood on a hill overlooking Backwater Reservoir, from where I could see that the parking area I'd intended to use this morning was full. So, rather than lounge around on the campsite all morning to maximise value, we left early and drove into Glen Damff. There we found: a) nobody in any of the car parks; and b) that the car park I'd been looking at the previous day wasn't the one I'd earmarked us to use, although it is where we ended up.
We stayed there for most of the day as, being so rainy, demand for parking was almost non-existent, plus we had no idea where we were going to spend the night. One option was the middle car park of the three in the glen as, unlike the other two, it didn't have any overnight prohibition signs. Another option was a pull-in much further down the glen, but it was a bit close to a house. We eventually decided on the Bridge of Craigisla car park, even though it was out of our way, and moved there late in the afternoon, by which time we thought it would be quiet. It proved to be surprisingly popular. We watched many people arrive, go out for a walk (presumably to the waterfall that we negligently failed to visit), then return like drowned rats as another shower drenched them.
Monday 18th
Where was Bertie? He spent the night back at Gardener's Cottage campsite (£20)
Plan A for this day was that Mick would drive us to Peel Farm, where he would make use of the cafe whilst I cycled off to my target hill of the day. Plan B, based on a lack of energy and motivation for the bike ride, involved him driving me much closer and coming with me, at least on the friendly-terrain portion of the outing.
We drove past a small motorhome on its way out as we drove in, then passed an obvious parking area, just before getting to the place I'd found on StreetView. It proved not to be suitable for a Bertie-sized vehicle, in that we wouldn't be able to park without blocking one of the gateways, and thus we wouldn't both be able to go out at the same time. The answer was obvious, and back to the parking area we went, deciding as we got there that the small motorhome must have spent the night there (fresh tyre tracks plus the tell-tale trickle of water that had come from his waste water pipe), and if we'd known about the place, we would have made the same choice.
As I came back from my hill a couple of hours later, I passed that motorhome again, now parked in the track end we had dismissed, and I thought about knocking on his door to tell him we would be vacating his spot within ten minutes. About eight minutes later he came and manouevred in front of us, just a few moments before we drove off, freeing up the best spot. In my mind, he'd just popped out for milk and got back to find we'd moved in - I doubt the layby sees many vehicles.
The cafe at Peel Farm was excellent, and worth the detour to reach (a longer detour than would have been necessary in drier ground conditions, but we'd driven the direct, but tiny, lane on our outbound leg and the danger of meeting an oncoming vehicle and getting bogged down on a verge was too great for us to repeat that route).
Then it was back to Gardener's Cottage for another night enjoying their excellent facilities that put almost-twice-the-price Nethercraig Holiday Park to shame.
Tuesday 19th to Friday 22nd
Where was Bertie? He spent another four nights in the car park of the Park Hotel in Montrose.
There was only really one highlight of this week for me: we went for a meal with Martin & Sue, and Ali at a very well hidden Thai Restaurant. I did also attend the TGO Challenge celebratory dinner on the Friday.
Saturday 23rd
Where's Bertie? He's at a C&CC Temporary Holiday Site on the north links at Montrose, at a cost of £8 per night, including toilet/shower facilities.
When we'd arrived back in Montrose, I looked to see if the Temporary Holiday Site was on again this year, as it usually is, but there was no sign of it on the C&CC App. It wasn't until we arrived for parkrun on Saturday morning that we discovered it to be in full swing. I updated the App (which I thought I'd done earlier in the week) and finally it showed up.
So, after a post-parkrun breakfast at Charleton Fruit Farm, in the company of Martin, Sue, Alethea & Madge, we called the holiday site and drove the mile or so back to it. The last couple of years, we've left Montrose, heading south, and have only made it to Arbroath (about 12 miles away) before stopping for the night. This time we didn't even make it out of town! Even without being personally involved with Challenge Control this year, it's still a tiring week - it was gone midnight by the time we got to bed after Thursday night's meal (that Mick attended and I just loitered in a corner), and we were up till gone 2am on Friday night/Saturday morning.
Being after an early night, when the warden came to tell us that there would be live music starting soon, I wasn't in the market to go along. Unfortunately for those who did, almost as soon as it started (we're talking a couple of people with instruments in a gazebo here, not a big stage and amplifier set-up - we could barely hear it from where we're parked), rain started and got progressively heavier.
Sunday 24th
Where's Bertie? He's opted for a second night at the Temporary Holiday Site.
Unusually, in our limited experience of Temporary Holiday Sites, this one has shower and toilet facilities, in the adjacent football club building. The showers are in the changing rooms, so you get a room with four communal shower heads, for which reason we were advised to shower together, and not to forget to lock the door! I thought there would be a bit of a scramble for the showers, given how many units are here, but it turns out there are three separate changing rooms, and only two were in use when we arrived. The warden wasn't wrong when she said the facilities were good - a decent flow of hot (not just warm) water.
By the time Mick wandered over to the breakfast tent to buy a breakfast roll (I can't remember what cause they said the proceeds were going to, but with the site being so ridiculously cheap there was no question of not throwing a bit more money at them), we had decided that we're not in a rush to continue our travels, so decided to stay here another night. That would also give the opportunity to go to the town museum, where I had intended to visit on Thursday, except I got embroiled in some correspondence with a solicitor, and had then intended to visit on Friday, except I got sidetracked reading a book that has been written by a TGO Challenger and gifted to Mick (I knew that Mick appeared in the book under a pseudonym, and I spotted him immediately on what proved to be his first of many appearances). It's not often these days that I spend a whole day reading!
The museum was small but interesting, filling a good hour, plus the time taken to walk the 2km each way. Our intention of then continuing to the Pavilion Cafe (which had been full when we'd popped by on Tuesday), but we found it to be closed on a Sunday. Back to Bertie we came.
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