One word? When seven would do…

written in word:
Sunday 9th October.
It’s all gone quiet over here

Ady and I stayed up really late last night overdosing on internet access and electric hook up related activities which made for a later start this morning. We all had showers and spent some time compiling a blog post for the WW blog about how we’ve found the last three weeks and some stuff about what happens next. Just as I’d finished typing it all up the mifi ran out of data. The original deal with three was for a pre loaded mifi with credit for ‘a couple of months’ to be reviewed after a while. No review was ever forthcoming and I suspect we used a lot less credit that expected but I had a message on it the other day to say it was an internal SIM and would be disconnected. I contacted Jo at three to say we had loved using it and would be really pleased if there was any way to continue doing so and do some more blog reviews for it but have had no reply. I know she has been off work so am still vaguely hoping it may get reconnected at some stage, otherwise that is the end of our internet connection for the meantime as we don’t have any room in our budget for it L

I managed to connect my phone to upload the blog post and will be able to check emails on my phone and maybe check in on friend feed once a day but normal blogging and uploading of photos etc will be out. We finished charging everything up, had lunch and then packed up.

Our plan was to head to the closed campsite which allows free parking off season as it is fairly central on Skye and has phone signal so we headed for that, calling in at both CoOps we passed along the way to check for food bargains. Sure enough Ady came out of the first one with 3 packs of Gu chocolate puddings, a pack of yoghurts, two bags of potatoes, two packs of sausages, a ready meal mashed potatoes, a ready meal roasted vegetables (both in foil trays which can be reused too), a packet of roast beef, a packet of ham, a packet of pork pies, a loaf of bread and a packet of rolls all for just 10p each. In the second one he got pastries for breakfast tomorrow reduced to 5p each. So food for at least 2 days for under two quid. This bodes well for hanging around on Skye wild camping and eating on a very small budget J

We peered in the estate agents window which is next to the CoOp in Broadford and spotted various plots and properties for sale for under £100K so will head back there tomorrow or Tuesday and register and maybe go and see some. We drove past that first property I’d linked to a while back too which is now under offer. The views are indeed amazing but the house looks so falling down that I think demolition would be the only option at which point a plot with outline planning permission could well end up a cheaper option.

We got to the campsite and found a pitch – there are two wild campers here in tents (but with cars, not walkers) so we’re not alone. We had dinner – pasta bake followed by fancy chocolate puddings and then stories. Everyone is a bit caged animal like after two solid days in the van so we’re looking forward to getting out tomorrow for some fresh air and exercise to blow the cobwebs away a bit.

Monday 10th October
Let’s try that again

This morning we hung out in the van eating 5p pastries for breakfast and drinking lots of tea. The kids have charge on their DSs from the campsite and have rediscovered a Namco game with retro treasures like Pacman so have been joyfully connecting on that and enjoying some old skool gaming.

After Popmaster we drove along to Portree where we registered with a local estate agents. There seem to be two main ones on Skye and this is the one I’ve been looking at online and had already signed up for their online newsletter. There is not much in our price range meeting our spec at the moment – we’d like under £100K but in theory could go up to £150K if we could move straight in (not at all sure just how much equity is in Osborne Drive and we need to clear our mortgage and all our debts but I do think my parents would help us out a bit which ups our money a bit). Our list of essentials includes some sort of view of loch or sea and at least an acre of land. In terms of building plots we could definitely get something of that size for under £70K but house building would need to be in line with planning and would push us to the top of our budget and mean a good year, even two before we actually were in a house. That may end up being the end result but we’d like to explore other options first. There is one property meeting those requirements – 2 bedroom croft house with 5 acres, loch views and big enough space inside for extension potential and flexible living space. It has mains electric and water and is liveable now at £125K. Not a chance of ending up with it as we are not really ready to put an offer in but we need to do some viewings to see what we’d really get for our money and to build a contact with the estate agent so we’re viewing it on Wednesday afternoon.

We had a look around the town including popping into the post office. Three have been in contact to say the Mifi should not have been disconnected after all but they would like to send me the brand new one to review instead so I need an address for them to send it to. I was fairly sure that post offices can have things sent to them for collection so went to check and get the address for there. I’ve now emailed three and fingers crossed that is in hand. So hopefully only a few days without internet. Phew!!

A quick look in a couple of charity shops where Ady got his secret santa present sorted and I picked up a lovely jumper and chatted to the woman working there about Scarlett’s hair and the coat I was wearing (a charity shop purchase in Glastonbury!). We realised the chip shop at the quayside was the one Hugh visited in the Big Fish Fight tv show to sell mackrel and eyed up both that and the booking office for sea eagle spotting boat trips with longing eyes. Really liked Portree – all the shopping you would need on a weekly basis, primary and secondary schools (not that we need them but good to know they exist and therefore the associated stuff around schools will also be in evidence). It had a friendly feel and a strong sense of community.

We left and parked up to have lunch – loads of our reduced to clear goodies from yesterday, everyone agreed it was a feast worthy of lunch at Granny and Grandads!

Then into Aros – a centre including cinema / theatre, shopping, restaurant and sea eagle exhibition along with some local art and photography. That was another very reassuring thing to find – culture! Plays, films and various other stuff goes on there which means the kids would not miss out on cinema fixes. I am very conscious, particularly in reading other people’s blogs and friend feed threads that Davies and Scarlett will be missing out on opportunities if we are not able to provide all these possibilities for them once we settle again. I think this year has been an incredibly rich experience for them and one which will have taught them loads, given them many skills and be an adventure to talk of for the rest of their lives, but they won’t be able to trade on that forever and will need to pick up on interests, hobbies, social opportunities etc again once we settle. What we have seen of Skye so far reassures me that it will be able to provide all of that.

Back to the campsite which we’re enjoying using as a base. There is a steady flow of other campervans and tents – last night there were four of us here, tonight I think there are five – safety in numbers! 😉

Davies and Scarlett had some time playing outside, there are a couple of streams criss crossing the campsite and some marshy ground. They did some damming with stones, some creating other worlds and lots of playing. Ady and I drank tea in Willow and made some rough plans for the next couple of weeks. We’ve realised there is a ferry from Skye to Mallaig which looks like it would be way cheaper than the petrol required to drive all the way round. We also talked a bit about what to do between leaving that last host and Christmas camp – four weeks during November and December is probably less desirable to be driving around Scotland wild camping!

We then joined the kids outside and were shown all around their world of dams and hideouts and then walked across the road to look at the signs about the mountain range overlooking us. We realised we are at the edge of a reserve where golden eagles nest so tomorrow we’re planning a walk up there to do some spotting. We got back to Willow just as a huge rain cloud burst and had more reduced to clear food for dinner. Tomorrow we’re hoping for more bargains J