NORTH EAST 250 in the new luxurious Red Kite Motorhome
So it’s that time of year again…my favourite time of year…when the leaves change into a mass of vibrant screaming colours before falling to form our crunchy paths. What an odd year this has been.
It really feels like i just completed last years Autumn post, this year has flown by, but here goes….
Chai tea latte at the ready as I bring myself out of my comfortable procrastinating hideout. Thanks to fellow blogger Jaqui McAlpine your weekly blogs have been a true inspiration to me and I continue to enjoy each and every one you publish.
Please have a look at Jaqui’s blog here for some amazing tips to get you motivated.
https://www.jacquelinemcalpine.com
After all of the uncertainty following COVID-19 we really needed something to look forward too, something awesome to get our teeth into and we found it with Red Kite Campers, we are so happy to have the pleasure of finding this wonderful couple and help to promote their luxurious new Swift Escape Motorhome.
https://www.redkitecampers.co.uk
Let me tell you about the van…
The official details from Red Kite’s website:
Swift Escape Motorhome
Our luxury motorhome has a gorgeous light and airy feel to the interior with so many side and roof windows. It sleeps two in the rear of the vehicle and the living area transforms to sleep another two. This vehicle boasts good visibility and a smart rear camera helps with reversing. Overall length is 6.92m, width 2.31m and height 2.85m. We picked this vehicle for our fleet, as it is a good size, a little step up from the VW’s without being too massive for our roads, especially up north.
In the living area there are two couches which are an L shaped design which nestle neatly around a table and the TV. The two front seats also swivel round and we just love these big comfy armchairs for chilling in the evening.
This ‘home from home’ has a well equipped kitchen with full size fridge, oven, grill, hob and microwave, along with the running water, which is boiler heated. There is also a shower/wet room and a toilet on board, making it the perfect self contained unit. We would recommend using campsites as much as possible for charging the leisure battery and topping up on supplies like water and waste disposal.
Motorhome Features
Four berth
Privacy blinds
Hob, oven, running water and microwave in the kitchen area
Solar Panel
Shower/wet room
Toilet
Tv
Captain swivel chairs
Sat Nav
Reversing camera, sensors
How amazing does that all sound? And it still doesn’t prepare you for how awesome this van is, check out some of our interior photos:
Of course travelling in something this luxurious is not just about ‘road tripping’, it’s about that self sustainable lifestyle you can live on the road in this well described “home from home”. This is the type of van I could see you disappearing for 3-6 months of the year travelling and adventuring knowing that you have all your little home comforts.
I have travelled to many different countries and visited some of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world, yet time and time again I choose Scotland to travel around. Scotland may be small but she is mighty and boasts some of the most epic and romantic scenery I have ever seen. Coupled with this van, you could enjoy a spectacularly romantic getaway travelling around Scotland’s beautiful coasts, lochs and castles, finding distilleries and woollen mills, or following some Outlandish tale, whatever takes your fancy, you can do it here and in a van like this.
I sound like a tour guide for Scotland I know, but I really would consider us ambassadors of our country. Swipe right on the gallery below to have a look through our lifestyle photos from our trip:
Day 1 Glasgow – Aviemore
Our first day was mostly travelling however it was also Pamela and I’s ten year wedding anniversary and what a beautiful way to celebrate.
We travelled from our base at Red Kite Campers to Aviemore, I may have mentioned in a previous post the importance of Aviemore to Pamela and I, this is where our relationship started, and where we spent our honeymoon and where we come back to every year to celebrate our love for one another and our love for Scotland’s scenery, so it was very fitting on our anniversary that we returned here.
As this van is a 4 berth, Pamela’s parents joined us on our adventure and celebrated our anniversary with us as we took them on the tour of our favourite Aviemore spots. Starting with Loch Morlich. This stunning loch is our favourite little place on earth. I have no idea how many times we have come here, every season of the year it is gorgeous and it is our instant happy place, its like when we arrive we’re home.
Loch Morlich is right in the heart of the beautiful Glenmore Forest Park in the Cairngorms National Park. The Forest Park has a lot of awesome walks and bike tracks for all levels including a circuit walk around the loch itself, this is something we have yet to do and fully intend to on our next visit. This day we just strolled along the beach and spoke about our honeymoon and our love for this romantic little loch and how we feel it is the base and foundations of our whole story.
We went for a little drive up to the Coire na Ciste (pronounced Corry na Keesht) literally means a steep hollow in a hillside, Corrie of steepness, this is a memorable car park for us as we set off balloons here in memory of my grandad after he passed away, as he also loved to travel and loved Aviemore.
After our little tour of Aviemore we headed to our campsite for the night, the wonderful Dalraddy Holiday Park.
We have never camped in a Motorhome before, so septic tanks and waste water etc.. are totally new to us, but Dalraddy is totally spot on with its signage and guidance of what to do. This is an awesome campsite and we will definitely be back here on our next visit to Aviemore. After settling in Pamela’s mum made us a beautiful fajita wraps dinner then we all played some UNO (Tristan’s new fave game he has got us addicted to) then settled in for our first cosy nights sleep.
Pamela and I slept in the converted living area and were snoozing within minutes.
Check out our Google Maps Local Guide review of Dalraddy Holiday Park
https://goo.gl/maps/uNYDVV1EPb5yGGzD7
Day 2 Aviemore – Findochty (Finechty)
After a long lie and after my confusing breakfast,I opened my little nesquick variety pack cereal box to find it empty 🤨 could have ruined the whole day right there🤣 So we headed up the A95 to join the NE250 at Bridge of Avon. Our first stop for the day was Lossiemouth, we haven’t been here in a few years but that beach is amazing and we were desperate to cross the little bridge and visit, how disappointed were we that the little bridge is no longer safe to cross.
We enjoyed a little stroll along the water edge watching paddle boats having fun in the crystal clear water. As well as having a lovely lunch in the van, using the cutlery, plates, cups and all the essentials that it is fully equipped with.
Swipe right on our gallery below to see our detailed photos:
After lunch we headed further along the Moray Coast to Buckie, Pamela’s dad’s family were originally from this area and he felt a feeling of kinship whilst we were there, he was really excited being in an area where his ancestors have been.
Our last stop for the day before going to our campsite was Portnockie to visit Bow Fiddle Rock. This rock is a famous tourist spot in Scotland due to its unique shape, it resembles the top of a fiddle bow. The rock is thought to date back 1000 – 541 million years ago during the Neoproterozoic Era… wow that’s an old rock formation, it is apparently 2,400 meters thick and used to be made of Quartz Sandstone but heating and pressure over the years compressed the sandstone into Quartzite.
It’s a really amazing structure and we spent at least an hour wandering about, there is a cave next to it which I tried to get into but wasn’t wearing the correct footwear, however my father-in-law managed to climb down into it no problem.
We stayed here until sunset for Pamela to get some pictures of nearby cliffs and birds, the rocks are always filled with herring gulls and black backed gulls.
After sunset we headed to our campsite for the night Findochty Caravan Park, this is a great little sea view caravan park, a bit more basic than Dalraddy was on our first night and I did have a hard time finding the waste tank disposal, the lights weren’t working around a lot of the site too so it was hard to get about, but the views were cracking, the staff were friendly and the toilets were clean and freshly painted.
Read our google local guide review here:
https://goo.gl/maps/KA2AcUZbd4uzYKvR6
The van itself is really easy to work and literally just pull out and walk away with the toilet waste. The grey waste and fresh water are just emptied with buttons above the van door and are really fast depending on how full the tank is and this van has a huge water tank under the seats in the back.
We never used the shower in the van but it was amazing knowing it was there and the large water tank means that you can shower confident it wont run out really quickly, there is also a shower on the outside of the van too which is a nice extra if you have gotten all sandy and want to wash off before going in the van. Red Kite included a hose in the underside of the van to refill the tank at the campsite too.
This night we had to level the van off for sleeping with the levelling ramps provided and on both nights we connected to electricity with the connections provided too.
The heater kept us lovely and warm all night and you can change the temperature settings to suit yourself.
Day 3 Findochty – Glasgow
After another cosy night and some brekkie, we headed through Cullen and had a chat about Cullen Skink, a traditional Scottish soup recipe that originated in Cullen, maybe next time we’re there we’ll stop and try some.
Our next stop was Portsoy (Port Saioidh, meaning Saithe Harbour or Fish Harbour) where we spent a bit of time as it was absolutely gorgeous, our Promo video shows Portsoy from a drones eye view which shows how beautiful it is.
The Harbour is over 300 years old and has featured in some tv series and films. The port itself is famous for jewellery made from Portsoy Marble, which is actually not marble at all and is serpentinite which is a type of mineral found in serpentinite rocks. The harbour is the oldest on the Moray Coast.
After leaving Portsoy we headed to Fraserburgh and stopped to get a quick photo with the Lighthouse Museum castle then down to Peterhead where we stopped next to the Scottish Maritime Academy for lunch.
After lunch our journey took us more inland and down to the Cairngorms National Park again, we followed the NE250 route through Braemar and past Glenshee Ski Resort before stopping off at a beautiful spot along the Old Military Road A93 to take some cool promo photos of the van, this area was covered in pink/purple heather in full bloom with the River Shee in the background, definitely a good spot for an overnight camp. Google Pin below. From here we headed back home and finished our amazing tour.
Check out our dropped pin on google maps
Please check out our Promo video below to see how amazing this van really is. And don’t forget to check out www.redkitecampers.co.uk and consider them for your next camper tour of Scotland.
I Hope you enjoyed reading about our Motorhome NE250 adventures and please come back and read our next blog, you can sign up for newsletters below.
