Scotland has really turned on the weather for us. Today was beautiful and sunny and 24 degrees!
\nAnd the drive today was incredible.<\/p>\n
We started by driving down from the mountain where we\u2019d camped for the night to the little seaside town of Applecross.<\/p>\n
It was a quaint little fishing village, and there were guys selling what they claimed were the world\u2019s best bacon rolls. Unfortunately, we\u2019d just had breakfast. Bad timing.<\/p>\n
From Applecross we continued north, following tiny single-lane roads that twisted their way around the coast. There were mountains on one side, the sea on the other, and every time we rounded another corner there seemed to be another enormous view.<\/p>\n
There were loads of viewpoints along the way, so we stopped at one, toasted a cinnamon bagel and smothered it in butter. Diet starts now!<\/p>\n
We also realised that, despite having absolutely no intention of doing it, we were now well and truly on the NC500.<\/p>\n
The NC500 is a 500-mile circuit around the north coast of Scotland. I\u2019d heard that it could get ridiculously busy, with motorhomes queuing up along the single-lane roads, so it sounded like exactly the sort of thing we\u2019d hate.<\/p>\n
But here we are, doing it. And it\u2019s been incredible.<\/p>\n
Even more surprisingly, it hasn\u2019t been particularly busy for the end of August. For long stretches today we had the road almost to ourselves.<\/p>\n
I reckon we might have hit a sweet spot where the kids have gone back to get ready for school in September, while the motorhome folk are waiting until September before heading away. Whatever the reason, right now it\u2019s amazingly quiet.<\/p>\n
We are absolutely loving the Highlands. It has that remote feeling we love, with huge empty landscapes, mountains, lochs and, of course, lots of winding narrow roads.<\/p>\n
The only problem is finding somewhere to sleep for the night.<\/p>\n
Most of the suitable places seem to have signs saying \u201cNo Overnight Parking\u201d, which seems a bit rude. Plenty of Scottish people come to New Zealand and sleep for free in our country!<\/p>\n
There are a few places where you can pay \u00a310 for the night, but you don\u2019t actually get anything for your \u00a310. No toilet. No facilities. Just somewhere to park. Nope!<\/p>\n
So today we really struggled to find somewhere to stay.<\/p>\n
Eventually we pulled into a little layby where we could get right off the road. It had absolutely incredible views across to Quinag, one of the distinctive mountains of Assynt.<\/p>\n
It was a beautiful spot, but we weren\u2019t 100% sure about staying. The ground looked like it could get pretty boggy if it rained, and there was a rather ominous dark cloud looming in the distance.<\/p>\n
We cooked up a burger (diet starts tomorrow), had some dinner and spent a while debating what to do.
\nThen we decided it probably wasn\u2019t worth the risk and moved on.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, in the next little town we found a rest area with no signs saying we couldn\u2019t stay overnight. It had a beautiful view, plenty of room and just one other van parked there. Perfect.<\/p>\n
We settled in for an early night after what had turned out to be one of our best driving days in Scotland so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Scotland has really turned on the weather for us. Today was beautiful and sunny and 24 degrees! And the drive today was incredible. We started by driving down from the mountain where we\u2019d camped for the night to the little … Continue reading