A little haven
We hadn't intended visiting this site but we were driven inland from a north west coastal tour by heavy rain and gales that were the strongest we'd encountered for years. So driving to Kinlochewe even we were pleasantly surprised by the beautiful scenery despite the rain and low cloud. It was the end of September so we had fingers crossed that the midge season had ended as reviews for the site often mentioned that they were problematic. Midges don't seem to always understand that beginning of June to end of September is their alloted eating time and not before or after. However despite an even bigger storm predicted for the night of our arrival at Kinlochewe (hence our retreat inland), the usual “lull” of calm and rain before a storm didn't mean we were eaten alive by midges. Thank heavens this year they seemed to have retired from their human feasting a little earlier.
The site is right in the middle of the small village of Kinlochewe which is very handy for using the local amenities. There is a small hotel/pub, a shop/post office, a petrol station/shop and an excellent quirky cafe called The Whistle Stop Cafe where we ate a couple of times. The site itself is nicely laid out and afforded us more shelter than any on the coast could have done, although that night was still a very stormy one indeed. The wardens were simply excellent. I always think they have a very difficult task and need a sense of humour and excellent interpersonal skills to do the job well. When we arrived I was given a cheery greeting from Norrie who was striding purposefully across to the laundry with a hammer in hand. When I queried him, he simply said the tumble drier had broken and he was going to fix it. My silent but quizzical expression prompted a further explanation from him that first he was going to threaten it back into use, and if that didn't work the hammer gave him a second albeit more brutal option. We never did find out which approach worked.
The toilet and shower blocks were in excellent condition, they looked as if they had recently been refurbished and were kept scrupulously clean and warm. The whole site is level and set out on a gravel which drains well (a pleasant change from the mud bath we left the day before on the coast). The minimum standard that we have all come to expect from Caravan Club (CC) sites is refreshing and welcoming when we come to use them. We probably use private sites about 75% of the time, purely because there are more of them in the areas we visit, but so many times with those you pay a lot more than the CC club sites for greatly inferior facilities, even taking into account the CC membership fee.
The day we left Kinlochewe calm had returned to the north west of Scotland and the journey back to the west coast.
Julie and Bob
Reviewed on 08/12/2016 09:38
