Work, Save, Travel, Repeat...

Sunday 9th July 2017 Rydal to Home Route Not strictly the NC 500 today as we are in the Lake District and start the day with a Cumberland breakfast. Unfortunately the warm sunshine of yesterday has been replaced with grey skies but warmer than it looked. We left the car on the car park at the Glen Rothay and walked around he Hamlet of Rydal, the Church, Wordsworth's house at Rydal Mount and later Rydal Hall and Dora's Field. Our walk took us uphill to Buckstone Jum, a delightful spot that the locals as a wild swimming pool Brrrr! Great views back down the valley and we saw pretty waterfalls on the way back to the village. Lunch back at the Glen Rothay before setting off for home after 9 epic days.

Saturday 8th July 2017 Dornoch to Ambleside Route 08.15 start to our long drive south 560 miles as we crossed the bridge back to Inverness. No hold ups for us heading south but the northbound traffic was much heavier than last week. The skies brightened the further we travelled and we stopped for lunch at the Falkirk wheel, we could have explored longer but still have a long way to go. Farewell to Scotland, we have enjoyed our road trip and your hospitality. We arrive at the Glen Rothay Hotel (an inn since 1604) next to Rydal Water at 5.00 pm almost 9 hours after we set off. Warm sunshine called for a couple of pints on the front lawn before a good pub dinner followed by a walk around the lake. The Lakes seem much busier, greener and less isolated than the Highlands.

Friday 7th July 2017 Keiss to Dornoch Route A grey morning with a chilly breeze gave an autumnal feel but the overnight rain had stopped. Our first stop was an accidental find. A deserted cliff top parking spot at Sarclet, where a grassy path led down to a natural pebble beach and a safe haven for the herring boats. A rusty winch a reminder of the past. Our intended stop was a few miles further down the coast at the Whaligoe Steps. Here 365 stone steps wind their way down to the beach and a man made platform called the bink where the women gutted and smoked herring so that it could be collected by schooner. We spent  a good while bird watching here, Razorbills and cormorants being the main stars today with a few puffins on the far cliff. Lybster was our next stop, still a working harbour but not as busy as it's heyday when it was the third biggest fishing port on the East coast of Scotland. The waterlines visitor centre had some very interesting display...

Thusday 6th July 2017 Durness to Keiss Route The weather forecast wasn't great for today but we managed to escape the rain. The first part of the drive was much more scenic than we imagined. Our first coffee stop was at the causeway across the Kyle of Tongue. Soon the single track road widened out and we made fast progress passed the decommissioned nuclear power station at Dounreay. We picked up some lunch supplies from Lidl, the first sign of civilisation in Thurso, the most northern town in mainland Britain. We actually ate our lunch at Dunnet head which has a latitude on N 58.40.142, higher than John O'Groats. There were puffins on the cliffs, a lighthouse and derelict military lookout posts and an earthcache but little else but we could see the tip of The Old Man of Hoy sea stack just of the Orkneys. Just back on the main road was a stop I had been looking forward to, The Dunnet Head distillery. No tours of the factory available today, but...

Wednesday 5th July 2017 Lochinver to Durness Route The best weather of the week so far, almost wall to wall sunshine especially on the coast. The scenery was stunning and we had only travelled for 10 minutes when we made our first stop. A deserted golden sand beach was reached by a rocky path which passed a derelict corn mill, no direct road access or a corn field for miles! I could have lingered there longer but it was 11.30 and we had only just started our journey. There were many stops for photographs along the way, beautiful golden beaches and azure blue sea. We picked up some supplies for a picnic which we ate next to Scourie beach, we watched the sand disappear as the tide came in. We visited large sea caves of Smoo caves and walked out along the headland, I shut my finger in the car door here which hurt - a lot! We checked into our room at Mackies and were pleasantly surprised it was huge and well appointed. We took the recommendation of ...

Tuesday 4th July 2017 Gairloch to Lochinver Route An excellent breakfast to start the day followed by a visit to the falconry. There were blue skies above us and very little breeze, ideal conditions for touring. I'm sure we should have planned our itinerary but we just seem to drive along and find plenty of interesting stops. First stop today was the Gairloch war memorial, placed at a viewpoint overlooking the loch and golden beaches. Second stop was an unassuming lay-by, one of many with a photo opportunity. There is a cache nearby called 360 degrees which implied we could get a better view but for this we had to climb! We found a way up but we should have changed our shoes! Next was the Corrieshalloch Gorge, the deepest slot gorge in Britain. Well worth a visit and a walk across the suspension bridge gives you a sense of vertigo, especially if someone makes it wobble! Our lunch stop was in Ullapool at the excellent Seafood Shack, fast food with a diffe...

Monday 3rd July 2017 Inverness to Gairloch Route An early start today, we are driving from the East coast to the West coast across the infamous Bealach Na Ba which rises to a height of 2053ft. Our first stop was at Rogie Falls where we had a very pleasant woodland stroll to the waterfall. We had good driving conditions, the roads were mostly dry with good visibility. The car coped admirably with the 1:5 gradient and by midday we were on the top of the pass, where we stopped for a very blowy photo opportunity. It seemed easier going down the other side and we were soon in Applecross where we had excellent fish and chips and ice cream for lunch. Our next stop was 5 km  further round the peninsula at Sand Bay, we decided against a paddle due to the amount of Jellyfish stranded on the beach waiting for the tide to come back in. Our hotel the Shieldaig Lodge is a renovated shooting lodge situated on the shore of Gairloch. We decided to make the ...