The Argos version is a bit heavy for backpacking but superb for bike touring where a bit of weight doesn't matter so much. Mine is slightly adapted with 3 extra guylines on the fly. Like that it really is bombproof in windy conditions.
Somewhere in the midwest.
Nice camp spot!!
You're correct about the inner fly mesh being too low in the Lightyear. I've had every weather blow in under the flysheet. A mini sandstorm on a Spanish beach was probably the worst.. urrgh!!
I was out and about Fri and Sun to and from St Andrews taking my mum to hospital, now that roads are busier letting her drive while blind is a bit more risky .... loads of campers and motorhomes on the roads and around St Andrews itself.
Meanwhile both my closest neighbours have family visiting for Easter, one lot driven from Oxford, the other from Manchester way. Both sets there Fri-Mon.
I thought the border was still "closed" for these trips?
Correct.
I thought the border was still “closed” for these trips?
Sturgeons not doing a very good job then, maybe she needs to build a wall.
Yeh, annoying for those of us desperate to see family south of the border, but not doing due to the restrictions.
And still no update on travel to/from the islands.
Nope 🙄
Nope, looks like we have to wait until the 20th for more info...
Will be watching with interest. Last year’s June trip to Tiree was cancelled so moved the booking to this June. Really hoping it goes ahead, not sure how the locals will view visitors, I suspect half with nervousness and half with relief given the island economy is almost entirely reliant on tourists like me.
Drove over to Mull today for a progress meeting with our builder on our house build. Was quite noticeable the relative lack of traffic - virtually all was tradesmen / locals and nothing that you'd assume 'tourist' traffic. Maybe the snow forecast put them off? I did have one 'sideways' moment at Laggan but it got a lot better during the day. No one parked at Creag Meghaidh either.
She said... "I mentioned earlier on that the next scheduled briefing that I will give here given that we are in a pre election period will be Tuesday 20 April. If there are any unforeseen developments there may be a briefing before that, but the next scheduled one will be 20 April.
At that point I hope – that if the virus is still under control – that I will confirm the further reopening that is due to take place on 26 April. And at that point I hope also to give more detail of what we think will be possible in the middle of May and afterwards to try to continue where we can accelerate that journey back to much greater normality."
Not sure whether that means no information will be given before then? who knows
Thanks
Reading between the lines I'd call that "we know that if we announce the detail of the changes now, people'll just start doing it so we're waiting til the 20th so that it's less of a bollocks"
We carried 23 hill walkers to Arran today who came from outwith Ayrshire, they were met by the Police in Brodick and refused permission to get off the boat.. Some folk just don't get it .
Why were they allowed on the boat then if it was known?
I know Northlink were asking if you had an essential reason for travel previously (a few questions to answer over the phone) as I had to book near the end of lockdown 1 for a trip to Aberdeen,but not sure if they are currently screening bookings.
The only other time I know of a similar turn around was in Orkney in a lockdown 1 when police met the ferry in Stromness to turn back a bunch of stock takers employed by Tesco to do an overnight stock take and audit. Turns out they were actually cleared for the travel, but due to the 'local outrage' Tesco decided to send them back to the mainland anyway.
Why were they allowed on the boat then if it was known?
If you're a North Ayrshire resident, you're perfectly entitled to head over to Arran for the day.
I suspect the mainland police aren't that aware it have it as a priority. I suspect there's a notice when you book or board explaining guidance that's being ignored.
The officer on the island however is probably pretty protective of thier community. Easy to do - the officer just stands at the ferry ramp and speaks to passengers.
Enforcing an immediate return also wastes 'offenders' time, a good deterrent to others.
The walkers have to give details when they book, they were advised not to travel as they lived outside North Ayrshire but they insisted that they were going. Calmac cannot deny them tickets but alerted Police in Brodick who then returned them to the mainland.
Happy that their time was wasted and a warning to others. Just seems a waste of staff time too, but money for calmac.
Odd that calmac can't deny bookings, but Northlink could (can?).
Seems some North Ayrshire residents also turned back.
Isle of Arran SNP
1tSlp8romnshomredn ·
FERRY TRAVEL TO ARRAN IS PERMITTED FOR NORTH AYRSHIRE RESIDENTS
Following numerous emails and Facebook contacts from residents of North Ayrshire who had been turned around at Brodick by Police Scotland after travelling from Ardrossan to Arran, Kenneth contacted the Locality Police Inspector for Three Towns, West Kilbride, Arran and North Coast & Cumbraes.
The inspector confirmed that North Ayrshire residents may legally travel to Arran for non-essential reasons. She also expressed disappointment that some North Ayrshire residents had been prevented from disembarking at Brodick, despite the Scottish Government’s Stay at Home rule having been replaced by a Stay Local requirement from Friday 02 April.
If you have any questions or concerns about this, please email kenneth4CN@yahoo.com and Kenneth will take them directly to Police Scotland.
ENDS
Until very recently our inter-island ferries were also restricted to essential use, which is above Scot Govs stated tier 3 guidance.
They were asking your reason for travel when booking, and anecdotally people were turned back as 'they'd already been to Tesco twice that week' sort of thing.
Odd that calmac can’t deny bookings, but Northlink could (can?).
Of course they can deny bookings - they don’t want to be seen as the arbiters of who can/can’t travel so have elected not to - but they can refuse travel if they wish to. They do it voluntarily with camper vans on the Tiree ferry every year (no proof you have an official pitch = no ferry) and were at least partially policing the travel for the outer islands in earlier stages of covid.
If the cops in Brodick refused people who were entitled to travel within their own LA area this week I expect they will be getting a phone call from above for some “retraining”. Police Scotland have gone out of their way to make sure they weren’t stepping over the mark - and if a councillor is upset, I dare say John Scott QC’s inbox has some mail!
Predictions then for the further information on the 20th for Island travel?
(as I have said, our holiday is booked on Harris & Lewis first week of July)
I predict:
- Locals get priority booking and residents can travel freely.
- no accommodation booking (incl. campsite), no travel.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-56661199
Good to see the great spirit of I'll do what i want is alive and kicking ! As per my previous post, turns out next door have not just one set of rellies staying, yes they have 3, yep 3 entirely separate sets of rellies all staying in the house - two from England and one from Scotland. Residents work for the NHS as well and have young kids. Amazing. Nobody gives a fig.
Calmac cannot deny them tickets but alerted Police in Brodick who then returned them to the mainland.
Well they've been doing exactly that on the Cumbrae ferry. Seems more like the folk in Ardrossan just can't be ****ed (I'm not saying they are necessarily at fault, the public are the worst).
/blockquote>
Should have left him there for a few nights before picking him up, ha ha!
I wouldn’t be surprised that the ‘missing’ paddle was somehow assisted on it’s departure - otherwise a numbtie for not making sure it was secure. Article doesn’t make it clear if her was relieved of some of his pounds before departure?
^ yeah too late, they left on Tuesday. Naughty though.
I wouldn’t be surprised that the ‘missing’ paddle was somehow assisted on it’s departure
😂
Walla-i-by surprised...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-56661833
Still no update on island travel. Still no news on when there might be an update. Still no strategy for it. Crowds at football matches will be fine though.
Article doesn’t make it clear if her was relieved of some of his pounds before departure?
I think almost certainly will have been - but a fixed penalty notice if paid quickly is less than the cost of fuel for the trip... its a parking ticket, hey if there was a £30 fee for camping on the island for the night they'd probably have paid it happily.
Still no update on island travel. Still no news on when there might be an update. Still no strategy for it. Crowds at football matches will be fine though.
Interesting priorities...
I'm 56, been informed that they have no record of a vaccination appointment for me and that I have to wait 4-6 weeks for resolution as they have a significant backlog of enquiries. Apparently my record has no date of birth, there's no escalation route and nothing I can do except wait...
Local upset re any changes in restrictions in that Islands consultation concluded over a fortnight ago and Shetland Islands Council (SIC) says it remains none the wiser as to whether the islands will be moved into new-look level three restrictions or whether more freedoms, such as household visits and extended opening hours for businesses, might be permitted.... And obviously no idea over travel to mainland either.
And... I really DGAS about footy and have been totally bemused all along about the exemptions been made for professional sport through this, particularly when it would seem they can't even behave themselves when they have been lucky enough to get exemptions.
https://www.scotland.police.uk/secureforms/covid19/This does make me worry a bit that after Co-vid we will have a grass culture where everyone thinks it is Ok to basically shop their neighbours for the slightest thing.
This does make me worry a bit that after Co-vid we will have a grass culture where everyone thinks it is Ok to basically shop their neighbours for the slightest thing.
What makes you think we didn’t have that culture before? What makes you think that form is doing anything other than letting police Scotland signpost people there so they can get on with the day job?
My interpretation of the “islands issue” is there is no clear single opinion from the islands themselves on the preference. Obviously plenty of tourist businesses very keen to open, but plenty of people not benefiting from tourism who would prefer not to take the risk; some of whom might want the freedom to leave the islands themselves.
Not an easy problem to solve; and of course you can probably extend the same discussions around other rural communities. Whilst I’ve been largely supportive of their approach I think they’ve made a mess of the levels - and either they need totally rewritten for the whole country or they need scrapped for the whole country. I think there is an argument for keeping them, but perhaps entire local authorities are too big (in West Lothian there are council wards which appear to have zero cases for several weeks, and council wards which are the worst in the country for a couple of weeks running), and the criteria are probably wrong in a post vaccination world.
I’m surprised we can’t just vaccinate the entire islands (and find a clinical justification because of lack of medical facilities) then open them a few weeks later. If there isn’t a clinical justification for that, I doubt there is a clinical justification for keeping them closed - in which case there seems to be human rights issue with restricting travel without a compelling public health basis.
And… I really DGAS about footy and have been totally bemused all along about the exemptions been made for professional sport through this, particularly when it would seem they can’t even behave themselves when they have been lucky enough to get exemptions.
I’m with you on that. Which political party is going to stick its head above the parapet and tell the football obsessed central belt, flag waving, agro population that football is not important a month before an election?
So far as football is concerned I think the exemption for some clubs has been a good thing for some people watching or listening to a match has been a major source of relaxation and enjoyment in bleak times. Not for me I'm a celtic fan 🙂
What makes you think that form is doing anything other than letting police Scotland signpost people there so they can get on with the day job?
See also dashcams/headcams. I doubt the Police will respond to any more than a tiny fraction of any complaints.
There is definitely a question of balance regarding the islands. However it's not just worried residents vs struggling business folk. Families are split up, normal travel across the country is affected, islanders are being isolated. So far, there hasn't even been any sort of strategy laid out, let alone dates.
