About Me

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Hi! I'm Eunice and I live in Bolton, Lancashire, with my two dogs Sophie and Sugar and an assortment of cats - well it used to be Sophie and Sugar, now it's Sophie and Poppie. I first began camping back in 1997 when my then partner took me to Anglesey for my birthday weekend. We slept in the back of the car - a hatchback - using the cushions off the settee at home as a mattress, and cooked and brewed up on a single burner camping stove. The site was good, the views were great, the weather fantastic and I was completely hooked. Following that weekend we got a two-man tent and some proper accessories and returned to Anglesey two weeks later, then over time we progressed to a three-man tent followed by an old trailer tent, then a new trailer tent, a campervan and finally a caravan. When my partner decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the street - literally - in April 2009 and I suddenly found myself alone after fifteen years, I decided there was no way I was going to give up camping and caravanning if I could cope on my own. This blog is the story of my travels, trials and tribulations since becoming a solo camper - I hope you like it

Saturday June 1st 2013 - A change of plan and visitors

I woke that morning to bright blue sky, fluffy white clouds and sunshine, just the right weather for my planned boat trip across the loch to the village of Balmaha to get some photos. However, the weather gods must have decided they weren't going to play ball and by the time I'd breakfasted, walked the dogs and got ready for my trip those fluffy white clouds had become one big mass of grey and the sun was nowhere to be seen. I waited for well over an hour to give it chance to clear up - I could always get the next boat - but there was no sign of the sun coming back so I abandoned my plans and decided instead to drive the eight miles down to the small town of Balloch to find a petrol station and have a general look round.

Having previously looked at Balloch on Google Earth I knew where I was going so headed for Loch Lomond Shores, a shopping and leisure complex at the end of the loch and just outside the town. The car park there was free with no time limit and as I had no interest in any of the (probably) expensive shops I took the dogs and spent some time exploring. A footpath and a road ran behind the shopping complex to a pier where the old steamship Maid of the Loch was moored and various information boards told me that this was an ongoing restoration project being carried out by various volunteers. At the end of the pier I got chatting to a young guy working on the ship and he gave me lots of good information about the Loch Lomond area; he even told me what a true Sassenach is, and it isn't what most people think it is!

Across from the pier a large tree-lined area of shingle sloped down to the water's edge where several colourful kayaks and rowing boats were pulled up and a couple of kiosks sold ice cream and drinks. Walking through the trees I came to a very pleasant area where the river merged into the loch. Boats were moored along the far side and there were several small shingle beaches with picnic tables dotted here and there; in sunny weather it would be a lovely place to linger for a while. Although the sky was showing signs of brightening up there was still a lot of cloud around so with just a few shots taken and with no point staying any longer I made my way back to the van and went in search of a petrol station, then with the tank topped up I set off back to the camp site.


Back at the tent I made a brew and settled down to read some of my book and eventually, a couple of hours later, the sun finally stopped playing hide and seek and the blue sky reappeared. By then it was too late to go to Balmaha so I took a walk down the road to the next little village about a mile or so along. I'd driven along there the previous day on my way to the site and had briefly noticed lots of boats and water so there must be a chance of getting a few photos. The village, if you could call it that, consisted of nothing more than a handful of cottages facing a secluded part of the loch but it was a lovely little spot and I spent well over half an hour wandering about and snapping away with the camera.


Back at the tent yet again I just had time to make another brew and something to eat before my visitors arrived. They were a couple of campers who I 'knew' from the internet forums and who lived up in that area, and I'd suggested meeting up for a chat while I was at Luss; we had never met before, having only corresponded briefly by email prior to the weekend, and although I knew he was very tall I wasn't prepared for the man-mountain who arrived at the tent door with his wife and two fluffy little white dogs. Now although I'd sent him a text earlier in the day suggesting that he bring a couple of chairs as I only had one it seemed he hadn't got the message prior to setting out, so with a distinct lack of seating he used my chair, his wife sat on the bed and I perched on the loo, disguised as a seat by the use of a blue throw. They were a very friendly couple and we spent a good hour chatting about all sorts of things before it was time for them to leave, although I did suggest they might like to leave the smallest dog behind as he was my favourite.

It was after they'd gone that I came across 'the problem' - sitting down in my chair to read my book something didn't feel quite right, and when I got up again the front of one arm moved forward at an angle. Inspecting the frame I could see that the whole thing was bent at one side - the man-mountain must have put his weight on it as he got up and the frame had twisted. Luckily I'm not that heavy so the chair would still take my weight and could still be used, but the now-moveable arm was really annoying so it looked like I would have to invest in a new chair at the earliest opportunity. It could have been worse though - the chair could have collapsed completely and tipped me unceremoniously onto the floor. When I thought about it the vision set me off in a fit of giggles and I was still smiling at the thought when I finally went to bed.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Eunice. More excellant photos! What camera do you use?

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    1. It's a Fuji S8100fd Phil which I got direct from the Fuji website. It's probably obsolete now as I've had it for over four years, tbh I've recently been thinking of upgrading when finances allow, though it will definitely be another Fuji. This is the third one I've owned and I've been more than happy with all of them.

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  2. You find the prettiest places to visit. I love looking at your photos, seeing as how I live nowhere near water.

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  3. I have to admit there are some very pretty places in this country - if only the weather could be as good as that all the time!

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  4. Hi Eunice, Fantastic photos as always, really looking forward to reading about your latest trip.

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  5. Thanks for the comment. There's loads more photos to come on this one, in fact I could do with starting another blog just for the photos!

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I really appreciate good comments - who doesn't? - but due to a recent tide of spam from anonymous readers all comments will now be moderated, and only those with a direct bearing on this blog will be published. I'm sure my regular blog readers/commenters will understand the need for this - and to anyone whose comment isn't published, you know why.