Week 4
Week 4: Surprise Scotland
Nothing but Natural Splendor
When
26.10.19 - 1.11.19
Where
Drumclog, Scotland, UK
Inverness, Scotland, UK
Dingwall, Scotland, UK
Tounge, Scotland, UK
Ullapool, Scotland, UK
Isle of Skye, UK
WHAT
This week started with a big question mark. We had no real plan aside from ‘Scotland‘ in terms of what to do to pass the time before our LPG upgrade in Bristol. Is Ireland too ambitious? How long do we need to drive the North Coast 500? Will it be too cold/icy/snowy/miserable? Is there a bridge to Isle of Skye? So we drove our beast of a camper into the unknown and put her to the test.
Friday Night we parked up at Dingwall on the last night of the season for camping pitches. Dinner at the local pub lead to our induction into ‘staggies’ supporters in the Scottish premier league. Later in the week we would watch our new team getting absolutely demolished by the Rangers at a home game, played in 1 degree with rain and sleet. This was our last campsite stay for the rest of the week as we were told by the lovely owners that nowhere north of here will be open and it was snowing up in the mountains so be prepared for the ice.
We set out cautiously on Saturday heading North to John o’Groats, the Northern most point of the Island of Great Britain. From Sunday to Tuesday we edged our way through vistas that more that rival New Zealand’s South Island with roads that really put our driving skills (and the van) to the test. The route consists mainly of single track lanes with very tight passing points making travel slow. Thankfully the views were so glorious that we didn’t much notice. Heading anticlockwise around the NC500, we have to say that tracking down the west coast was the most breath-taking. We were hardly clocking up miles between stops for all the vistas, hikes, and castle ruins. By Tuesday we had covered our fair share of the highlands and after a delightful chat with the tourist office in Ullapool, we decided to head back south via the Isle of Skye - a suggestion we will be forever grateful for.
Side note: wanna read about seeing Wild Otters in Scotland? Read here.
Wednesday to Friday we were treated to absolutely crisp, blue skied days and the most otherworldly and sublime hikes, drives, views and natural wonders of the Isle of Skye. It is inconceivable now that we had not planned to come here. The Island is small and drivable that we found ourselves with plenty of time to explore on foot. Seeing wild otters at Kylerhea, hiking the Old Man O’ Storr (read our guide to visiting here) and the Quiraing and watching the sunset at Neist Point lighthouse were just a few highlights of our time on the isle. We also went and saw Patrick’s families clan castle ruin and the lands the Scottish side of his heritage came from. Friday and Saturday were spent in Glasgow and were a bit of a financial blow out but even in the absolutely miserable drizzle, Glasgow certainly made a positive impact. Read our guide to visiting the west end of Glasgow here.
And for the peace of mind of our respective Mum’s and Dad’s; The van can withstand gale force wind and rain - drive up and down 17% gradients without flinching and got us from Inverness all the way around the 500 and Isle of Skye and back down to Glasgow on a single tank.
Pit
The road to Kylerhea
Peak
Off-piste trail on the Quiraing walk