On the busses

Today was spent either on busses, or waiting for busses, as we lugged our 4 large bags back to our car

We zigzagged across scotland .. from Ullapool to Inverness to Fort William, to Tarbet (a junction and hotel beside Loch Lomond) finally arriving at a tiny busstop at the entrance to the Point Sands Campsite at Taylinloan: our starting point a month ago. All in, it took nearly 12 hours. Not bad

The scottish bus network is surprisingly effective. Even tiny places seem to be connected, although it may well be by the postman's van (which sometimes also serves as a rural bus) or a "dial a bus" service which can be booked the evening before to travel on certain rural roads.

Even though the regulations said that passengers could only have one piece of luggage, we found all the staff very helpful and interested in what we'd done. Some even helped us load the bags!

For those tempted to follow in our footsteps, the Traveline Scotland website is great for route planning

Celtic Fringe is also a useful community run website with a wide range of public transport options in Westerross (the area south of Ullapool)

The busses seem busier than we're used to down south, so although its possible to by the tickets on the bus, its more relaxing if you buy them in advance (even by an hour guarentees you a seat) We were relieved we'd booked the tickets for the remainer of the journey as we passed through Inverness Bus Station.

As the sun finally set over the paps of Jura, we were sitting beside a campfire on the white sand of the beach, chatting with a a couple of other campers and finishing the contents of our wine box.

What a trip.