camping – Wattle and Ash

A night at the Huisinis Gateway

March 29, 2018December 5, 2021by wattleandash2 Comments

Sometimes you stumble across places that not only amaze you while you’re there, but linger in your memory in the weeks and months afterwards.

For me one such place is the Huisinis Gateway on the Isle of Harris – a very special camping ground Adam and I stayed at during our road trip through Scotland last year (read more here and here).

The site had opened only weeks before our visit and we took a gamble going, but I now feel so incredibly lucky to have been one of the first people to have stayed at this wonderful spot…

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Travel

Skye and the Outer Hebrides

January 4, 2018December 31, 2017by wattleandash6 Comments

The Isle of Skye is a very special part of Scotland. It’s easily accessible from the mainland, but once you drive over that bridge you’re transported to an island that’s completely different to any other I’ve visited.

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Travel

The Scottish Highlands

December 21, 2017January 17, 2018by wattleandash16 Comments

For the majority of the year, Adam and I talked about doing a big road trip through northern Scotland. I’d developed a real soft spot for the country during my first visit to the U.K. in 2010 and Adam had seen glimpses of it through numerous work trips, but had never had the opportunity to explore it properly.

We managed quite a few trips north (see here and here) but never into the Highlands where we longed to go. Adam had a huge desire to give sleeping in our beloved Volvo XC70, Bjorn, a go so in late November we packed up the car and headed north.

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Food, Travel

Green Man

August 28, 2017January 18, 2018by wattleandashLeave a Comment

I’ve never been a big music festival goer. In Australia they always tended to occur in the hottest part of the year, and when you lack height (like I do), standing at armpit height on a 40 degree day in the blazing sun with thousands of others just doesn’t seem appealing.

When Adam and I met he told me about a four day music and arts festival called Green Man that’s held in Wales in late summer. He described it as a bunch of people sitting around eating good food and listening to good music. He told me it was very civilised and an awful lot of fun.

I was intrigued so we decided early in the year that we’d be at Green Man 2017 …

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Local sights, Travel

Camping in the Cotswolds

April 20, 2017April 18, 2017by wattleandash3 Comments

I love being outdoors but until I met Adam, camping was never really something I did. My mum loves a clean bathroom, comfortable bed and warm shower, so growing up the closest I ever got to ‘roughing it’ was staying in a self contained cabin in a national park!

When Adam suggested we camp over the Easter long weekend with a group of friends I was excited for the experience but also a little worried about how I would handle it all. Adam’s family have a long history of camping holidays and when we arrived back in England there were boxes of his own equipment, plus countless other relatives we could call on for a loan of gear. We took advantage of their generosity and on Good Friday packed up and drove to Thistledown Farm, a camping ground in the neighbouring county of Gloucestershire.