Hot Weekend Ahead

barryd said:
Glad you enjoyed Arran. There is nowhere better when its sunny. Party sounds like good fun although Mrs D would have wanted to be in her bed by then! I actually like it there in the winter as well. We were there in February and its really quiet. Bit parky on the old scooter though!
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Hi Barry, thanks again for the info you gave us, you certainly know the island well. The spot you told us about at the lodge looked ideal. It was so nice that it was full of people. I think I like touring out of season as its so much quieter. AND THE ROADS!! I laughed as I approached the little villages and saw 30mph signs as I was creeping along at 20 between villages! lol. The guy from the roads department must have learned his trade at Stirlingshire district roads department as I always thought they were the worst. As a side note can I say the guys on the ferry were 2 of the friendliest people we met. I never got to see any of the in bound journey as we spent the whole time blethering to them in our van as one was a big fan of demountables on double cab pickups.
 
Always did fancy trying Arran, even more so now, thanks for the inf, Derek.
 
derekfaeberwick said:
Always did fancy trying Arran, even more so now, thanks for the inf, Derek.
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Go Derek you’ll enjoy. Wife’s demanding the weekend off. 3 weekends in a row we’ve been away. That’s ok, want to save up for a week on the western isles at some stage this summer. After reading the comments here I really fancy the Uists. Been on Cal mac - £82 for hopscotch 10. Tempting.
 
Reckon I can get away with 5 metres. The guys on the arran ferry never charged me anymore than a car.
 
Shame, should have kept my last van. About 50% more for 5-8 metres.
 
Yeah, £123 for up to 8m Derek. I might have to pay this, depends on the ferry man I suppose. He may have a tape measure. lol
 
Hopscotch 14 even better leave from Skye - £66 for 5m £99 for 8m. VERY tempting.
 
Last van (Autoquest 270). was just over 5 m but was never checked. Good guys and gals at Scotmac.
 
wildweekend said:
Yeah, £123 for up to 8m Derek. I might have to pay this, depends on the ferry man I suppose. He may have a tape measure. lol
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Hi. The roads on Arran are not very good in fact if you read the Arran Banner (we subscribe to it) there has been a campaign recently started by Ian Small called ARSED (Arrans Roads Slowly Eroding Down). He put up signs around the Island with ARSED logo but was forced to take them down by North Ayrshire Council and threatened with prosecution. His video is here YouTube - Arran's Roads ~ Goin' Tae Pot

If your careful and drive like you did then you will be fine. Got to be careful on the old bikes and scooter though.

The ferry prices are a bit steeper in the summer I think we paid about £96 in Winter and £120 in spring but when you think we were there for two weeks and didn’t have to stay on a single site its a cheap island holiday if you stay a while. CalMac guys are usually quite friendly and I don’t think they check vehicle lengths that rigorously. I’m always honest about mine though.
 
barryd said:
The ferry prices are a bit steeper in the summer I think we paid about £96 in Winter and £120 in spring but when you think we were there for two weeks and didn’t have to stay on a single site its a cheap island holiday if you stay a while. CalMac guys are usually quite friendly and I don’t think they check vehicle lengths that rigorously. I’m always honest about mine though.
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Hi Barry, is that for Arran or the Uists ferry? I have also noticed on top of the prices I have quoted there is a charge for driver and passenger of £14.35 each.
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Sitting at my desk I`m looking at this picture from Arran last weekend and thinking "does life get any better than that", I dont think so.
 
That was Arran prices including passengers. We are about 7.6 metres. Not sure about Uist prices, not been there for about 4 years. Last time I went with a pal in a 1971 VW and a tent. Its superb up there. Your van looks fantastic by the way. Last time we were on Arran there was a similar looking van but it was like a military vehicle with what looked like a home made camper on the back with a chimney! It was superb and looked like it would go just about anywhere. Great picture!
 
Just thought I would add a couple of pics of Hank the Tank and a bloody great big Shark we saw off the Arran coast last September. The vans at the spot at Sannox and the Shark is off the west coast Near Pirnmill. It was a Basking Shark and I have been waiting to see one for years. We were just driving along the road and there he was. Came in really close as well.
 

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Thanks Barry, I was beginning to think I could go anywhere in it till I decide to park on the stones well off the road north of the lodge spot. Parked at the side of the road, got out, surveyed the land and thought I could get over there and park up on those large beach stones. Walked over and stood on them, they seemed very firm so jumps in and proceeds to drive off the road down towards the beach and the LARGE pebbles. Big mistake! Soon as we got on the stones we sunk about 6-8 inches. I quickly stuck it in reverse and the 4 wd just managed to pull us out. Just par for the coarse for me. I could tell of a near disaster for every weekend we’ve been away on this year so far. I keep telling the wife when she try’s to reign me in by saying "remember what happened last time" that its all part of the adventure.
 
Great pics Barry, only ever seen one basking shark as it swam past a small speedboat I was in on Loch Fyne> It was really late at night the water was like a mirror and it rose up out of the water next to us as we sat stationary in the boat. Unfortunately we got such a fright that we thought it must be a submarine coming up the loch and we were all going to die so the throttle was shoved forward and we sped off for the shore as fast as we could. It was a local standing on the shore where we landed that told us it would have been a basking shark.lol
 
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