Caught the bus into Oban today, entertained ourselves watching the ferries then had a mooch about looking for food.
We hadn’t done any research today so we were thinking we might end up with fish and chips again. Completely by chance we came across a little cafe called “The Potting Shed”, a vegan/vegetarian cafe tucked up a side street. We had a coffee and some gluten free toast for a late breakfast then returned later for lunch. They impressed us by checking if we were coeliac before preparing our toast under the grill. For lunch we had pie and salad. The pies were “Clive’s pies” which were gluten and dairy free. The salad even had some gf pasta in it.
Travelled 150 miles from Moffat to campsite 12 miles outside of Oban today which meant we raided our supplies for food: cold chicken, salsa, tomatoes, beetroot and a pack of golden vegetable rice (stir fried). Nothing exciting but it tasted lovely.
As it was our last day in Moffat, so we went to Dumfries. I’m not sure what to make of this place felt a bit like Herne Bay. We thought we were going to struggle with gluten free food, the local M&S had a few sandwiches in the cafe but a Google search revealed a little unassuming chippy in the centre of town, don’t be fooled, this place has separate frier hidden downstairs and can do a nice GF fish & chips. Apparently the local hospital sends their coeliac patients there.
The spork is mine
On returning to Moffat we decided to head the co-op to stock up on GF food. Taking a short cut through Moffat Mill’s carpark I found a young woman’s passport laying on the floor. A short bit of Facebook stalking I was fairly sure we had messaged the right person but it didn’t look like she was going to pick up the message so we thought we’d wander up to the local Police Station and hand it in. As we started up the road a young couple parked their car and headed down an alleyway towards one of the hotel bars. I thought the young woman looked familiar, then realised this was the woman I had messaged a few minutes earlier. With Cath saying that it wasn’t her we went into the bar and in true secret police fashion we “demanded” that she identify herself. Amazingly this was the woman!!! She hadn’t even realised she’d lost her passport. She was really grateful as she was heading to Berlin later in the week!
We’ve had a lazy day in Moffat, went to a local hotel for a gluten free Sunday roast, our server is also gluten free. She said when she saw on our booking that we were gluten free she thought “oh good, a friend”
They understand!
The meal was delicious and there are plenty of options for coeliacs
It was a mostly DIY day food wise care of the local co-op although we did find some lovely chocolate cake, unfortunately for Cath it wasn’t dairy free so she couldn’t have any. I did make a point of telling her how nice it was.
Gluten Free
This evening we had a bit of culture (I know, unlikely) and watched a play about two young girls in Margate, one who was born there and the other a refugee from Kosovo. Fantastic production, with minimal props.
We left Kendal and headed North into Scotland, we’ve stopped at a small Town called Moffat which appears to have history as a spa town and part of the wool trade in the past. The camp site is industrial in scale having about 150 pitches. The showers in the morning might be interesting. We actually had some sunshine today which gave us a chance to dry out the awning a bit however as I write this the rain has caught up with us. I think I am a bit tired today, we’re still getting used to living together in a small space, that combined with the rubbish weather has taken a bit of getting used to. The feeling of “omg what have we done” crops up every now and then.
Tomorrow we leave Kendal and head across the border into Scotland. Our visit to Kendal has coincided with a very wet start to June so we’ve not ventured too far. Food wise we’ve found a great gluten free chippy and have eaten there twice. They are very switched on and even have gluten free vinegar. Well worth a visit.
The day started in a bit of a rush as we stocked the camper fridge with food, read the meters and handed in the keys to the estate agent. It started raining at 10am and continued until the evening of the next day. We planned to stay at a small site near Audlem about 5 miles from Nantwich.
We had a quick instant meal and as the weather was so awful we retired to our sleeping bags early. Not a great start to our adventure
Free From Bus 