Here we go Again! Not!

My 3rd major trip started again at Dover for the evening SeaFrance ferry to Calais. This pic just about sums up the weather in the UK for summer 2011. I was heading for the South of France, via the west coast just for a change.

In the queue at Dover waiting to board. I use Seafrance Dover/Calais since it was the most cost effective. I wanted to go from Poole to Cherbourg but Brittany Ferries are so expensive it is not worth it.

The channel was quite rough from the weather created by the remnants of Hurricane Katia. These are the waves on the Atlantic coast in the Vendee a day later.

The Lac du Jaunay was a stopping point. We last stayed here in, I think in 1982. It was a convenient campsite in my trundle down the west coast of France.

But as I trundled on the warning lights started to go crazy in the van instrument display. The engine management light came on, then went off, and on again. This went on for a few miles, on--off,on--off. Eventually, ping, the motor went into 'go slow' and any thoughts of trundling on vanished.

It was time to find a VW dealer.....

Well I bought a new van so it wouldn't be susceptible to breakdown but here I was, having sold my Mazda Bongo that NEVER went wrong, in the middle of the French countryside with my NEW sick VW T5.5 looking for a main dealer. 

So surfing the internet from my Iphone I staggered to Niort only to find that the VW dealer was not a main 'concessionnaire'. So I then staggered to La Rochelle and found, on arrival that I should go to the 'commercial vehicle' depot on the other side of town. I arrived in the afternoon and they hooked up to the  computer and ran the diagnostics. They then sent me back to the dealership I visited previously in La Rochelle, but it needed to be next day...too late now.

So I slowly went and found a campsite for the night.

Next day I rocked up only to be told that they couldn't 'fit me in' until 3.00pm. So I was hanging about the dealership, drinking coffee and reading French newspapers......To cap it all they went off at noon for a 2 hour lunchbreak!!!

The VW main Concessionnaires in La Rochelle.

Finally they came up with a diagnosis and advised me they need to order spare parts. It was the dreaded Exhaust Gas Recirculation Valve (EGR) and parts were needed from Germany. But it was now too late on Friday afternoon, the parts couldn't even be ordered until Monday. But I need to be in Perpignan by Sunday, I explained. Sorry, they said not much we can do. They advised that the vehicle was driveable so I set off south. But it was not going far, the motor was labouring, and I pulled into a campsite just south of Rochefort for the week-end.

The VW Concessionnaire at Marennes.

I seriously considered stripping out the EGR, blanking it off and carrying on. But, and remember I am a motor vehicle engineer, the job looked too daunting. Euro 5 compliant engines have a seriously complex exhaust gas management system with water cooled manifolds and complex electro-pneumatic controls that I was not going to mess with on the side of the road, and run the risk of wrecking my warranty and roadside assistance package. Also the engine management system had been messed with by the dealership and wasn't working well. I had no diagnostic computer to hook up and investigate the control system. Progress?

The EGR is in there somewhere!

To cut a long story short, I turned up at the VW Dealer in Marrennes, left the van with them, took a taxi back to La Rochelle, collected a hire car and drove to Perpignan on Monday evening. I stayed with my daughter and hubby, had a great but short time with them on the mediterranean coast and then drove back to La Rochelle, stayed in a hotel overnight and finally collected my van on Thursday, 1 week after it went wrong. Round trip 900 miles. I then drove back to the south of France to laze about the seaside for a week or so. The van breakdown cost me a week of my holiday so there was no chance of visiting the ancient caves in the Dordogne which was my intention.

Finally back on the road heading south. Location: Atlantic coast, west of Bordeaux. 

End of post

The Storr! Isle of Skye.

On Skye, NW of Portree there are some pretty spectacular mountains. The most spectacular of all is The Storr. A few feet short of Harrison Stickle at 2388 high it is a seriously jagged and rocky place, and more spectacular then anywhere else in the UK.

The Storr, object of today's attention. The weather looks ominous.

Park by the main road, walk up through the wicket gate.

Being early September the fungus is all about..Don't pick these for tea...!

The initial climb through the woods is steep....engage first gear and plod onwards..

Approaching the rocks the weather is closing in.

Then officialdom is taking over. I went a bit further....but not far!

Spectacular formations..

By now the weather had gone bananas...the wind was blowing a hooley, it was raining hard and I had to don my new Berghaus Deluge waterproof trousers. I was reduced to crawling on all fours to prevent being blown around by the wind.

Any thoughts of a summit ascent were right out of the window. Didn't fancy flying lessons, being blown off the crags was not my preference.

So I did a detour to the ridge. Notice the chockstone.

Looking back on the definitive Skye scenery...fabulous

At the cloud ceiling, at the ridge. Below is Loch Scamadal.

Coire Scamadal. At this point I was clawing the ground to stop being blown over and into the valley below...scarey...just over that grassy bank in front of the camera is a crag several hundred feet high. Keep back.....!

but descending now and looking back at the weather closing in further.

So, having he walk cut short because of bad weather, new scenery is required. Classic waterfall and Kilt Rocks.

And the ferry sailing into the sunset at Uig. Maybe next time....Outer Hebrides

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Walk to Oronsay

Walk Highlands has numerous recommended walks on Skye. I was attracted to this island walk because of the tidal nature of the access and the location and views.

The start is a bit remote but the walking is easy. The object is the headland left centre.

Looking to the left we have the Black Cuillin hillls. Probably the most challenging mountains in the UK.

To the right the rocks are crumbling.

The Causeway to the island is tidal and I checked the tide times before leaving. High water is 9pm so we are OK this afternoon.

The island has some serious cliffs....

But looking SW to the McLeods Maidens.....seems like one of then could play second row for Scotland....there be giants!

The coral beach is lovely. But the ancients have built a fish trap. I wonder how long ago that was constructed.

Looking back the sun has peeked out and the light has changed. The grass is luminous again.

I saw quite a few people on this walk, most of them foreign. Funny that.

end of post.

The Journey to Skye

It has been an ambition to go to Skye at some stage just to see where Great Grandad Monro came from. My Grandma (Stevens) was born Monro (in about 1888) and her Father came from Skye. According to Grandma he died young, in his 30's, and she would tell us of her early life without a Father. I don't recall much about her mother or the other family members.

Setting off from the encounter with squirrels...

Cromarty Firth, the ancestral home of the Monros.

Dornoch Catherdral. My mother always liked it here. Can't say I was that impressed.

After staying in Dornoch at the must unfriendly campsite I have visited I set off across country and travelled along StrathCarron. The reflections were fabulous.

Can you see the join!

Loch Carron and a stop for lunch

By the side of the road there was a snack van. They were doing teas and bacon butties and Queenie Sarnies. Fresh from the Loch..no contest!

Skye jumps into the view across the Kyle of Lochalsh

But first a little detour to Eileen Donan Castle. Very famous view.

Returning towards Skye there is a place called Butec, and they have some little boats. I know just what that is all about but I can't tell you about it.

But first impressions of Skye are angry....

But arriving at Port-ree the harbour is quaint. The little buildings in blue on the right do fabulous fish and chips....and haddock, not cod, proper job!

So Skye at last, after over 50 years of waiting.

End of post.