Archie the VW camperVan tastes the good life

Everybody has a dream. Mine is to travel the world in a VW camperVan. But sometimes you have to drip feed those dreams; tackle them bit by bit in the hope that one day the individual bits come together in one great big piece of fulfillment.

So this week, a little bit of my dream came to life when I borrowed a lime green camper VW camperVan called Archie from Kiltie Campers and travelled as much of The Seafood Trail as was possible in a few short days. Oh, the joy! I once sledged down a steep snow-drifted slope in a business suit and screamed at the sheer pleasure of throwing caution and common sense to the winds. Archie had the same effect and whilst my husband was heard to mutter on more than one occasion that there were now 'three people in this marriage,' nonetheless I grinned from ear to ear, loch to loch and langoustine to langoustine at the sheer downright ageing hippiness of traveling in such smile-inducing style through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world to sample seafood and shellfish at its best.

We travelled West from Comrie, freeing Archie from his Perthshire constraints to arrive in the fishing village of Tarbert, Loch Fyne, just in time to watch the fishing boats coming home from their early morning adventures. Picking up some friends en route, we headed more West over the moor to Skipness, a tiny hamlet overlooking Arran and where only those on the evolutionary upside of an oyster would venture in the darker winter months. But Spring has sprung on the West Coast, snowdrops bursting out of the frost cracked earth; reminding us to tread gently in our wellies towards the beach.

We knew that the Seafood Cabin would be closed. Sitting in the grounds of Skipness Castle, a basic wooden shack belies the freshest of shellfish, served in the simplest of style. Steaming mugs of tea; a thick glass of chablis and jugs of local hill water accompany huge plates of langoustines and crab rolls that taste like the crabs have side-stepped into the soft bread baps and surrendered. Fresh? Never fresher. Sophie, the owner, is also the farmer and spends three frantic months lambing prior to opening for the season over Easter Weekend.

Nonetheless, not open was not enough of an excuse to not walk the deserted beach, chasing rainbows, collecting lumps of driftwood and causing my husband to hyperventilate because he's not really into stuff that you pick up from the beach even if it will make a wonderful coffee table. We shall return . Not perhaps with Archie, who will most likely be exploring the gentler Perthshire slopes, but certainly with more friends and even greater anticipation. So much seafood. So little time.