Nearly two years ago, I wrote about trying to get an alternate access to our plot. And yesterday, we finally were able to test it. Not the way we originally envisioned – but doable. The exact path is shown on an old entry in the Sasine Register of Scotland as shown below.
We actually only wanted to move our digger to our neighbour’s site to assist in setting fence strainers but along this exercise we had to take our Mule as well. The Mule just fits the track …
Two weeks ago our water tanks arrived. But due to heavy winds, it was only possible to collect them last weekend.
The tanks are manufactured by Enduramaxx, but I actually ordered the tanks from JDP in Inverness, as it was cheaper to buy from them.
And then there were the transport cost … According to Enduramaxx or JDP, delivery cost to Whaligoe would be have been between 1’800 GBP and 1’900 GBP. Hmm, that is actually more than the price for the tanks!
Though JDP on their web site offered free delivery, there is a fine print on their web site (“Remote Areas”), stating that specific post codes seem to be exempt from it. When I suggested to them to pick up the tanks directly from their branch in Inverness (and thus saving me the delivery cost), they told me that I could certainly do that but the delivery fee would also apply. As it seems their branch in Inverness (post code starting with IV1, in the center of the city) is also considered a “Remote” or “Restricted” area.
But then funnily, Farm & Forestry in Ardersier (being 10 miles away from the JDP Inverness branch) was not considered a restricted area and could get delivered without paying a fantasy price.
The next interesting thing was the price of the water tank itself. The price quoted by the JDP main office was cheaper than the price of the Inverness branch – though both would buy the tank from Enduramaxx directly.
Anyway, after some weeks now the both tanks arrived. And I got 2 times the 6’000l version (instead of a 5’600l version that I originally wanted to buy).
And on Saturday, I went to Inverness to load one of the tanks on my trailer. Once again, the trailer proofed its purpose. After unmounting the high side walls we could drop the tank carefully on the trailer bed.
And as soon as we have the roof on the barn, we can start collecting rain water …
ps – yes I had to stop on my way home a couple of times as the road surface and the resulting bouncing of the trailer was not helping at all to hold the tank in place …
After trying to register a postal address for months to no end, I was considering the alternative of applying for a PO box life membership.
And then it was all too easy …
The “problem” was a mixture of not having an access road to the plot where we would like to receive postal mail and having no building on the plot with which the address could be connected to. And then you can only start building with a planning permission. But then how would you get deliveries to the construction site without an address?
Note: yes, this is somehow possible, as in using addresses (which we did) such as:
That Gate on the A9 opposite of
The Red Farm
Caithness
AB1 2YZ
However, often shops do a real-time address lookup and would not find “That Gate” …
When contacting Royal Mail directly via one of their “I would like to register a new postal address” forms, we got the reply, that only the Highland Council could actually register new addresses. Hmmm, so why offering this service in the first place, one might ask?
Highland Council then told us that only with a planning permission and a completed house we could actually register a new address. Bummer.
We are building a house in the future, but we want to start with a barn first, for which we do not need a planning permission.
Rescue came in the form of a “Planning Prior Notification” which is a “notification” (hence the name?) to the Highland Council that we want to build a barn for which we do not need a planning permission, as it falls under “permissible development”.
Funnily, this “notification” still has to be approved by the Highland Council. So, is it then really still a notification? One does not know.
Anyway, with this notification approved we could then ask for a new postal address at the Highland Council by actually getting a “Unique Property Reference Number” (UPRN) first.
Once we got that we could proceed and have the address being activated in the Royal Mail database (but not in the Highland Council address database, as the building has not yet been completed).
And then it was only a matter of days, that I could do a search for “Loch Watenan” and get the address returned.
Our letter box installed and awaiting mail. End of story.
Ok, it was not that simple.
Some things that had to be done before this happened:
Side information here: the road to Loch Watenan actually has a name, though most people here do not know. It is “Watenan Road“.
Originally this was an unnamed road (“U1202” road) while some locals claim, the road was called something like “Marble Road”.
In reality road name or house name, it does not seem to make a difference. The only thing up here that counts, is: the two local mail delivery guys know you exist. So basically one could write any house name with the correct post code on it, as long it has the correct name (your name) on it.
The “Highland Way” I guess …
As part of our training excercise for the upcoming hike our cat and I regularily walk from the house to the part of our plot that some locals call the “Rabbit Run”.
Back and forth this is a good 1’250m, after which the cat sometimes needs to take a break.
You can also consider this video as my contribution to the never ending world supply of cat videos on the internet. Hopefully, this remains an exception.
It is always good to have a generator that is able to power your coffee machine in the morning …
Today I started cutting away some gorse to improve the track towards the entrance of the Rabbit Run. Under the gorse a lot of rocks came visible which might become a good foundation for a real path.
As you might know there are some unresolved issues regarding the access to the plot. So the good news is, yesterday I discovered a new possible path where most of the part would already have some decent road. Problem is: it is over someone else’s plot : -| Have a look at the video below (taken from OSMaps).
The path is using parts of the old railroad track which today is dismantled and only visible in parts.
After our very adventurous trip at the end of the year 2020 we have been waiting for the covid situation to get better and allow us a next trip to our future homeland.
Now we are ready and will be leaving on the 1st of October for the north.
We learned from our past trips and have been updating our gear. For instance, we bought a great 4-seasons tent from Hilleberg, that can be pitched completely without external gear. And we built a little terrasse for the roof top tent, where we can for instance store the diesel heater. Also, Ronald offered me the best Quilt possible. It is made for temperatures down to 20 degrees below zero. So, it is for the first time really a realistic possibility, that I won’t feel cold during the night.
This time we plan to really meet all our neighbours and invite them to over for a Raclette. To do so, Ronald constructed a wilderness Raclette oven.
With this nice construction we will be able to feed 20 people with molten Swiss Cheese.
But of course, that is not the only plan we have. We bought fantastic Brompton bikes and are planning to test them on the route from Loch Watenan to Wick and back.
Apart from that, I have been preparing myself mentally for a new encounter with the wild horses on our land. Last time I was really afraid, and the stallion might have noticed that, which lead to him behaving even more crazily. This time, I will try to not show any fear and I also bought a bear whistle, that might help with wild horses also. I will write an update on how that worked out…
But for the moment, we are getting together our gear because in the tomorrow we will leave around 5 in the morning to reach the ferry in Amsterdam in time.
One minor problem we might encounter before arriving in Scotland on Sunday: UK has seen some shortage in gas. Therefore we can’t be sure to find a place where we can fuel up while in England. But hey… it wouldn’t be our trip if it was not an adventurous one, would it? So, we will walk that bridge, when we arrive there….
Today marked a milestone in our effort to move to Scotland. The contract was signed and we are the prowd owners of a plot at Loch Watenan!
The plot is on the east side of the Loch, but hidden from the street. An absolutely lovely view. And from the highest part we can even see the sea.
Now we have to wait to get the paperwork finished and returned and prepare for our first trip to our future home.
Our Journey to Scotland 