Scottish Honeymoon in the Perentie!- Part 1

Before you say it, Yes, we are a little mad!

However, with many travel destinations still on the Red list and the hassle involved in getting to the places that were not – the decision was made to stay in the UK. We decided to use the North Coast 500 as a basis for the trip but changing the route to take in Skye and the Outer Hebrides and skipping the East Coast part – at least for this year.

We will take you on a whistle stop tour with us over a few posts; we also did some video which may appear eventually!

As it was our Honeymoon, we decided to book a few Hotels and B&B’s along the way, reserving camping for a few places in the Highlands.

As you know, the Perentie is as good as it going to be mechanically for now………..I did not admit it at the time, but I was prepared to see it come home on a recovery truck – but did it?

The main preparation for the journey was getting sufficient Diesel as this was the week of the fuel delivery shortages. You will recall that the Perentie has two tanks (good planning!), so we knew if these were both full at outset, then we would be OK, as most of the shortages seemed to be in the South. Anyway, some of the garages were restricting sales to £30 which was not helpful, but eventually after sitting in a couple of queues, I got both tanks filled up. I debated taking a small Jerry as well, but decided against it.

We left home on Friday having booked a ferry to Skye from Mallaig on the Sunday morning. We wanted to make some headway on Day 1, so we could enjoy the drive out to Mallaig on the “Road to the Isles” the next day. So Lockerbie was chosen as the way point- challenging at 412 miles and just under 7 hours according to the AA.

First fuel stop was at Warwick Services with the gauge having moved to 3/4 full, at one point I thought it had broken – fuel supply, no problem, I just wanted to top up. We were doing well, taking the Toll Road onto the M6 which was where (as usual) the traffic started. Basically it was stop start all the way to the Blackpool Junction. I did in the traffic, notice the that the idle speed has increased a little, I put it down to the engine being hot.

We decided to top up fuel again North of Carlisle and by then it was beginning to get dark – I pulled in and took my foot of off the accelerator and the revs stayed at about 1800 rpm – not right, had a quick look, nothing obvious. On the basis that we would not hit traffic now we carried on, arriving at the Somerton House Hotel in Lockerbie at about 7.30pm. We didn’t exactly arrive quietly with the engine revving and a couple of reverse gear crunches whilst parking.

Happy to be relaxing after 10 Hours driving.

I was a bit worried abut the car, but could do nothing until the morning as it was dark – I thought it may have been the cable loosening off – something basic anyway. In the morning it was pouring with rain, so we headed for a local garage which was showing as open on Google, of course it wasn’t, so we just carried on up the M74 stopping for quick breakfast at one of the Farm Shop based services on the way. Luckily it was Saturday and traffic was light around Glasgow, so our revs issue was not a problem.

We stopped for lunch along Loch Lomond at, ironically an American Themed Diner!

Not quiet the 48 States, but good enough for this year.

It was a lovely drive across to Mallaig (the first of many) and we checked into the Steam Inn – a night of luxury before the first camp the next day on Skye.

Early ferry to maximise our time on Skye, on the Quay side after a great Breakfast.

So, the two cars in front of us were asked to turn around so they were facing us, this left us wondering if we were having to reverse on the ferry! – we were approached by the guy in the High Viz and placed in the next lane which was for Skye. A very small ferry then arrived and yes, the yellow lorry in the picture and two cars reversed on – they were going to Rum and Eigg. Our ferry was a little larger…………bound for Armadale, Skye.

We were revving a bit going onto the ferry, a little worse in my view – it definitely was not a cable issue – maybe the injector pump – I left it alone as I didn’t want to make matters worse.

Once we had disembarked we followed the only road out of Armadale and soon passed the Torabhaig Distillery which was of course closed. We had promised a friend, Carlton, to pick a bottle of his favourite Malt from the Talisker Distillery, so were hoping that would be open. We then picked up a sign for the Kyle of Lochalsh, we decide to head that way and drive over the bridge back to the mainland – just because we could. An idea to visit Plockton was shelved because of the rain.

Once we were back on Skye we headed for Talisker Distillery in Carbost. By now it was really raining and on the winding road to Carbost water was blowing up the hill.

The Covid rules are still very strict in Scotland, as we were rapidly discovering and although the visitors shop was open, we were marshalled around by mask wearing high viz people. This made for a experience not conducive to buying so we didn’t. Especially as Carltons favourite tipple, 57 North, was no longer available. We were also told off by trying to exit the wrong way, the correct way was a narrow iron fire escape, in the rain. I had to hold on the Benita to make sure she made it down in one piece. Nice cup of coffee in the little coffee shed opposite though – best of the whole trip!

Next we were off to Portree the largest town on the island – nothing open – now in need of lunch – didn’t stay there long!

On the way out of Portree we spotted what looked like a visitors centre for something, it looked a likely candidate for food, so we pulled into the busy car park. It turned out to be the AROS Centre where you could learn about Skye in a large cinema room – which, they rent out to some religious crowd on a Sunday. It was busy with loads of kids, very Mormon-esque and strange. We queued for the Cafe and after giving full personal details including inside leg measurement for the Covid form, we were ignored by the servers – so we left.

We then headed off to take a look at the camp site at Kinloch, which Benita was increasingly not keen on because of the inclement weather. The site to be fair would have been beautiful on a good day, however, it was busy and everyone was packed in good and tight. An executive decision was made to find alternative accommodation, in a remote part of Skye, on a Sunday, when it was very busy………………..with little phone reception? Anyway, Air bnb came up with a B&B just down the road from us.

By now the revs on the car were up to 2500rpm on tickover and whilst engaging 1st and reverse was never easy on the Perentie, the others were now becoming tricky – I was glad not to be driving much further that day.

On the way to the B&B we saw a sign for Dunvegan Castle and decided to take a look, it was the wrong road but we did spot a reasonable sized garage, exactly what I needed for the following morning – good fortune for once. The Castle was of course closed.

The accommodation was a lovely place with a few rooms only, but with a huge shared kitchen, lounge and TV space. The door was left unlocked for us and our room key was on the table – so trusting. Only one other couple were staying, we saw little of them so had the place to ourselves.

There was a proper full sized bath, so Benita had a soak!

The next day dawned with Sun in the sky and I headed for the garage, arriving – not so quietly.

They looked busy, but the guy on reception had heard me arrive and knew I had a problem. I explained the issue and told him that the Air BNB owner had recommended him! “Is it a TD5 mate” he said – “no” I replied “its an Isuzu 3.9 Turbo”. Looking somewhat confused he said he would be about in a few minutes to take a look – I think he was intrigued.

After a bit of poking around the revs suddenly dropped back to normal – I was relieved. The adjuster on the injector pump had vibrated inwards, increasing the revs (you would have thought it would have gone the other way). So it just needed moving back out agin – I should have figured it really – but it was just a rusty looking bolt – which I thought was holding the pump in place. Anyway – sorted He was not going to charge me, so I gave him the only fiver I had for a beer 0 he was grateful – and so was I.