Caliban and Hilda's excellent Arran adventure

Rolfe

Rolfe

Moderator
2nd Monthly Contributor
Joined
Apr 10, 2023
Messages
12,872
Reaction score
15,762
Points
4,610
Location (town/city + country)
West Linton, Scotland
Driving
MG4 (2022-2025)
Thèid sinn dhan Eilean Arainn madainn a-màireach

Oops sorry. We are going to Arran tomorrow, and to save cluttering up Archev's thread, I'll document the proceedings here. Return tickets booked on the Caledonian Isles (never heard of it), from Ardrossan to Brodick, sailing out on Tuesday 28th and back on Friday 1st May. The weather forecast is fantastic.

1777297105137.webp


I don't much care if it rains on Friday. I can always find something to do before the ferry check-in at ten past four. Wednesday and Thursday are set to be gorgeous. The plan is to get there late afternoon on Tuesday, find somewhere nice to camp (I have an idea from the OS map of what looks like a nice place) and settle down for a quiet evening. Then cycle Arran in two stages - north up Glen Sannox to Lochranza then down the west coast, looping back to Brodick across the middle, on Wednesday. Then on Thursday head back across the middle of the island and do the southern loop round by Whiting Bay and Lamlash.

1777297575094.webp


Each day is only about 35 miles, which is pretty easy really and gives time for sightseeing, nice cafes and so on. My family is originally from Lochranza but I've hardly been there, so I might have a mosey around the graveyard or something. The full circuit is possible in a day, but Glen Sannox is a long pull uphill which I think I can do without having to GOAP, but it could use so much charge that I'd run out before the steep bit between Lamlash and Brodick if I was going all round. Doing it in two loops means I can recharge bike from car (VtV!) for the second day. Also, the road across the middle looks nice. That very minor road going across to Lamlash looks a bit rash for Hilda's capabilities and doesn't really fit into an itinerary anyway, but I might drive it on Friday morning, weather permitting.

Caliban has had his spring-clean and I'm busy getting the bits and pieces together.
 
Charging-wise, I think we'll be OK. It's 77 miles from home to the ferry, so that's about half a battery in warm weather. However there's a charger at the ferry terminal and I might try to be a bit early to top up before we board. Alternatively there is a charger in Brodick and one in Lamlash as a back-up. Both are just the 50 kw CCS/CHAdeMO/Type 2 single-vehicle things like the village charger here, but that's all we need.

I could sleep in the car for three nights without charging if I started high, but I'll probably visit a charger on the island one evening just to be on the safe side - especially since the nights are forecast to be quite cold and I don't intend to be.
 
Rolfe said:
Charging-wise, I think we'll be OK. It's 77 miles from home to the ferry, so that's about half a battery in warm weather. However there's a charger at the ferry terminal and I might try to be a bit early to top up before we board. Alternatively there is a charger in Brodick and one in Lamlash as a back-up. Both are just the 50 kw CCS/CHAdeMO/Type 2 single-vehicle things like the village charger here, but that's all we need.

I could sleep in the car for three nights without charging if I started high, but I'll probably visit a charger on the island one evening just to be on the safe side - especially since the nights are forecast to be quite cold and I don't intend to be.
Click to expand...
Brodick was free but not serviceable when I was there.
 
We went Island hopping in 2021 including Arran in the Vito, yes perfectly capable to handle camping and off grid, but the other half could never understand the joy of watching the world go by when you were pitched up so had to book hotels
IMG_1447.webp
. Beautiful part of the world.
IMG_1428.webp


Still can't work this one out.

IMG_1443.webp
 
Archev said:
Arnold Clarke has chargers at Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. They are Kempower units and are 55p and reliable. You can even book one if you know when you’ll arrive.
Click to expand...

As I have no intention of going anywhere near any of these places, that's not a lot of use. Both Brodick and Lamlash were shown as working on ZapMap yesterday, but I'll try for something at Ardrossan before I get on the ferry just in case.
 
Giller said:
We went Island hopping in 2021 including Arran in the Vito, yes perfectly capable to handle camping and off grid, but the other half could never understand the joy of watching the world go by when you were pitched up so had to book hotelsView attachment 46152. Beautiful part of the world.
View attachment 46151

Still can't work this one out.

View attachment 46153
Click to expand...

I totally love the independence of just finding a nice parking spot and doing for myself. What is it about the sign in the third picture that you can't work out? It seems pretty self-explanatory to me.
 
Giller said:
View attachment 46154
Click to expand...
It's saying "Don't stand on the seat". That might seem obvious, but in some cultures they have effectively a hole in the ground for a toilet thus they squat to "perform". So when they encounter a toilet like ours they often adopt the pose of the left picture. :)

Nice to see the Ardrossan - Brodick route back in service. :)

Last time I was at Brodick there was a charger at the harbour (50kW DC, free at the time - I'd be surprised if it still is) and another one about half a mile or less along the sea front that cost. (That's the one that shows on Zapmap for me, at 70p per kWh - the one at the harbour doesn't show, but it does in PlugShare).
 
I've seen that sign a lot of places. It seems that people used to squat toilets often try to climb on the seat of a normal one, which results in a broken seat. There may be hygiene objections to sitting on the seat. They need to get over it. Sit on a couple of paper towels or something.

So long as there is a working DC charger on the island I'll be fine. I would imagine there would be a fair old outcry if there weren't.
 
Rolfe said:
As I have no intention of going anywhere near any of these places, that's not a lot of use. Both Brodick and Lamlash were shown as working on ZapMap yesterday, but I'll try for something at Ardrossan before I get on the ferry just in case.
Click to expand...
Aye fair comment they might be available but are they available / busy ? At least Arnold’s units are in multiple banks and could be worth a wee detour. Anyway have a great trip, the weather certainly looks promising 👍
 
I'm going to have to be remarkably desperate to consider that sort of detour. If I don't get a charge at Ardrossan on the way there for whatever reason I'll catch the ferry anyway. If there isn't a DC charger on the island I'm in trouble, but I don't think that is likely to be the case - Arnold Clark isn't going to be an option at that point anyway. On the way back, surely Ardrossan will be OK. There are seven charging sites in Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston, six of which are shown as working right now. (I suppose Irvine enters the frame after that.)

1777307790877.webp
 

Similar threads

Rolfe
I should have kept that space saver from the Golf.
3 4 5
Replies
85
Views
8K
Coulomb
Coulomb
Support us by becoming a Premium Member

Latest MG EVs video

MG4 EV Refresh + NEW MG4 EV Urban - UK arrival dates, prices, specs (2026)
Published
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom