SKCC does Scotland – Unplugged….
Southern Kit Cars Goes to Scotland – The Unplugged Tour
This is the diary of 2 intrepid petrolheads from SKCC who decided to do a 5 day tour of Scotlands finest roads. The adventure was threatened before the ‘Off’ by awful weather at home and away, but in the true spirit of the Club they set off anyway!
Here, below Neil one half of the double act recounts their exploits on a daily basis, so do keep looking back for the next instalment. They had worked out a rough itinerary, but decided not to pre-plan too much and just find Hotels and Hostelries the hoof.
Day 1 – 507 miles – ALL DRY AND SUNNY.
I kid you not but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The alarm rang out at 5.30am not thst I needed it as I’d lay awake for half an hour waiting and wondering what the day had in store for us. A quick look out the window confirmed it was still dark but very little else in terms of the weather. So up, dressed and out to the car. By 6am I was ready for the off:
By 7am I’m at the usual Thurrock Rally Point and meeting up with Dick:
Today was all about getting up the country and our one itn (albeit a large one) doesn’t start until tomorrow:
Today was all motorway and with 3 fuel stops and one fuel stop for us:
We headed north. The weather was stunning and the further north we went the less cloud there was. To the point where as we arrived at Stirling 507 miles later there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. There was snow on the top of the mountains though.:
And from my room window at 7pm:
See wasn’t joking. Its been a stunning day.
I also learned (nay invenred) a couple of things today that I am compelled to share for any of you that find yourself having to munch the miles of motorway.
1. While wearing a crash helmet push it against the headrest so the cheek guard is slighly off your face but you can still feel it. Then blow out through your mouth so your lips “rattle” in a horsey sort of way. It gives you an all over face massage. Word of warning though, don’t blow too hard or you will need Rainx on the inside of the visor.
2. When approaching the car in front decide by looking at the rear of the car what the driver is going to be like. Male, female, sexy, brute, gay, straight etc etc . Harder then it sounds. Drivers are not like dog owners in resembling each other. With some obvious exceptions. Scobby drivers for example!
Anyway those two inventions helped eat up the miles today and fave me a fully relaxed face at the same time. Perfect.
Well thats enough for day one. I’ll post up day 2 tomorrow when we start the sight seeing.
Sweet dreams good people.
Day 2 – 304 miles STUNNING
Yesterday we saw snow covered mountains in the distance on the way up the M6. Today we drove through those mountains.
As predicted it was a bright but frosty start as we packed the cars up for start of day 2:
Today would take us through the Troscices towards Pitlochry then turn left and head towards Loch Lomand then loop back towards Fort William and finally to look for bed down for the night neaf Loch Ness.
The early morning frost kept us awake and on our toes as the roads twisted through jaw dropping scenery. Rolling hills turned into snow covered craggy sheer faced mountains
As well got higher we could see how bad the weather had been just days before as we drove on dry roads with hard packed and ” way above the height of the car” high snow drifts either side of the road creating a tunnelling effect.
It was at this point I looked at my satnav and the blue shaded area depicting a lake on the map translated into a frozen expanse of white next to the road. I’m not talking little pond I’m talking 1/4 of a mile of water.
After that we dropped down the other side of the mounrain range and the roass kept on giving as they twisted and turned around the contours of the map. Breakfast time came snd went as we were having so much fun it was 10.30 before we even thought about it and we eventually stopped for a 2 course brunch. Dick made me eat cake bscause he wanted apple pie. Honest
In the middle of the day and having turned left about 20 miles from Pitlochry towards Loch Lomand we encountered traffic for the first time. Not heavy but enough to stop us enjoying the twists and turns and long for a straight piece of road so we could get past. We turned keft away from Loch Lomand to head towards Fort William and came across a sweeping smooth; dry and beautiful road that was empty. Thank you lord! And on the 2nd day it was good!!
After a quick coffee stop to compare notes on how awesome tgat road was and to confirm Dick had his camera running when I passed him we headed out to the the ferry about 20 miles from Fort William
Great little trip across the Loch that actually added 50 miles to our journey! Perfect as the road it added was a stunner. 70 miles later we were in Fort William and headed to the Commando memorial. Awe inspiring
From there we headed towarss Loch Ness and after over 300 miles of twists, turns, ups, downs, breathtaking moments and continuous smiles this roller coaster day drew to a close.
The photos here are only a sample as I also used my other camera which I’ll downliad back home but one thing Dick and I agreed today was this time of year with the weather as it is now is a spectacular time to see Scotland.
Day 3 sees us do Skye, Applecross and up towards our mist northerly point of the trip before heading bsck towards the East side of Loch Ness.
See you on the flip side.
Oh and for Matt Top tip today using a ferry to increase the road niles you have to do can be a good thing and is highly recommended.
Later good people
……. Neil
As we left Fort Augustus in a flurry of snow and given all 320 miles was north of where we started from we were somewhat speculative as to whether we would need to ammend our route to accommodate the conditions especially as the snow started to lay on the road as well as the hedges.
We pushed on and eventually the snow cleared. Well what a good decision to keep going. The day just got better and better. I am not going to be able to put today in to words but heres a few pictures to help.
This was on the road to skye. Then when we got to Skye we lapped the isle and came across this
The road to Valhalla. It really was that awesome.
Having lapped the bonny isle we then crossed back to the mainland and pushed on to Applecross. We then got confronted by this challenge sign.
Sounds like a must do to me. So we did but not before we read the rules of the game
What the meant in reality was this
And this was at the bottom. I looked at Dick
And he looked at me and we launched up rhe climb. Dick video’d this and I can’t wait to see the footage.
So we got to Applecross. To prove it the pictures
Drink and a chat later we headed along the coast road towards Ullapool. We found a stunning hotel and we are now sitting in front of the fire well fed and chatting.
What a fantastic day. Absolutely amazing.
Until tomorrow good people.
……. Neil
Day 4 – 302 miles GET OUT OF THE WAY SNOWBOARDER YOUR NOT RAD ENOUGH
Let me start todays update at the beginning of the day. The hotel we stayed at last night was a reall find. A beautiful Victorian house with 17 bedrooms, open fire in the lounge and a great menu. Only one other family staying this weekend as they are quiet after the easter rush. Just s flavour of rhe house, this is the sraircase up to the rooms:
£40 for b&b and £29 for a five course meal. All in the same price as a room only at a premier lodge we’re staying at tonihht.
Anyway enough of the holiday hotel report. Today we left said hotel at the same time as the sun came up
Yes it was thst awesome. Oh and for Nige yes cold but both Dick and I had multiple layers on and honestly we haven’t been cold except for hands. Both Dick and I agreed the snow made it incredibly special and much more of an adventure.
Today the route took us from the the west coast near Ullapool across the top to Inverness via the Loch and as far east as Elgan before turning south towards the Cairngorm’s and Pitlochry with a surprise twist on route but more of that in a while.
Now Paul mentioned snow the other day and suddenly it appeared well today was a mix of snow and I mean reall snow, rain well a little and sun warm sun. First the snow. To get up towards rhe A9 Ullapool – Inverness road you have to drive over this mountain on this road and yest it is that wicked
And the snow doesn’t stop falling all the way over the A9 and even when we turn south towards Loch Ness its like this
I can confirm R1R’s are excellent snow tyres.
Luckily Loch Ness was actually properly sunny and we did see the beast at Loch Ness and got a photo
Now the drive from Ness to Nairn to Elgin was all uneventful but then we turned south to head towards Pitlochry. Some cracking roads were had but then we started to climb and I mean up. Snow came down roads started to get a covering. Dick had his camera rollinf so we continued to push on.
Now the surprise I mentioned early was a “you know you’ve done something a bit weird when” moment. What was it? Well when we reached the summit of the mountain it was in fact Glenshee ski resort, it was open and people were skiing. Surreal doesn’t do it justice. People stopped skiing to look and point at us.
Two snowboarders just looked at us as we drove past and they may well have topped themselves because we were way cooler then they were. MAN!
From there to Pitlochry was a stonking road once we got back under the snowline and the twists and turns were supplemented with new tarmac. Magic.
So now we are back at the same Premierlodge we stayed at on Friday. The full ITN complete and nothing to look forward to but 500 miles home tomorrow.
We will in reality drive the entire length of the country tomorrow grinning like fools and we will be accompanied by some amazing memories.
What an adventure. We hope you enjoyed the reports and that it inspires you to get out there. These cars and this country are begging ro be explored.
If you do decide to go on an adventure please don’t forget to invite me.