We left Kinlochbervie and carried on south along the west coast, no real agenda except driving, stopping to take photos and keeping an eye out for off site parking to stay overnight.
We did find a ruined castle, well worth a stop and cup of tea.
Ardvreck Castle
We picked a spot using SearchforSites (app) and started off on a winding road with good passing places.
We ended up at Loch Lurgainn, a very popular car park for walking up a stunning outcropping.
We had to wait for a space to get the Motorhome in but once settled it was very quiet and a lovely spot to spend the night.
We left Rispond car park on the beach and headed west, we found Smoo Cave, the car park itself was very small but we did manage to find a space.
Boat tours are available on some days but not the day we visited 🙁Steep steps down but worth the walk.
We then headed on and found CoCo Mountain on the right, a craft village and cafe renowned for its Hot Chocolate, decent car park even for Motorhome’s.
We then carried on to our night stop at Kinlochbervie, we stopped right on the harbour itself called Loch Clash, it was £15 with EHU but only £5 without, full use of water, waste and Chemical toilet emptying, the view was amazing with another seal in the harbour as a bonus.
You pay at the spar just as you enter the harbour, good selection of food and drinks, very pleasant owners.
Although it says 5 vans plenty of room for morePopping up for air every 20 mins or soOur view for the night
As a bonus Karen made a cake while we enjoyed the view, win win.
We left Dunnet Head and headed west, we had booked a visit to the Dunnet Bay Gin Distillery, it was very interesting , you sit in a small boat shed arranged in a semi circle (4 sheds) facing the host, 3 tastings of Gin and Vodka with folklore and distillery facts, worth the £10 each, we booked on line.
We then headed slightly back on our selfs to empty at the Ferry View Nightstop, full waste empty and water top up for £5, well worth it.
Our plan was to head towards Durness and sango sands camping with some tea stops on route.
As we drove through Castletown we noticed a lovely stop on the right just past a ruined building overlooking the bay, great spot for a bit of lunch.
We finally found a spot for their night at Rispond in a set back lay-by, amazing views of the bay with a lot of people camping by the beach.
We left Helmsdale harbour and headed north again with a bearing of John o Groats, we stopped at another lovely little harbour called Lybster Harbour.
It’s a long winding road down with plenty of passing places and parking at the bottom even for my 7.1m Motorhome.
As with a lot of these places the cafe, information centres and toilets were all closed so after a walk around the harbour wall we carried on with our journey.
We then carried on, we arrived at a very busy John o groats, we managed to find a place to park and paid the £2 donation for parking (per day) then went for a walk around the shops and take some photos.
All the stickers have been removed from the sign post and a separate board erected just for stickers 🙂
After having some lunch we headed to Dunnet Head for our free night stop. They have stopped parking on the actual car park at Dunnet Head but we managed to get a space just before you enter on the right hand side.
We left Fortrose and headed north, we diverted off to the Falls of Shin.
Large car park with plenty of spaces for Motorhome’s, coffee shop and usually a visitor centre open but Covid has currently closed it.
There are a few walks around the woods and one that takes you along the falls, not a great view of the actual water as you walk through, such a shame, but pleasant enough for a wander.
There was a platform for salmon watching, large enough for 6-8 people to watch them jumping up the falls, we watched a couple of small ones but not much activity.
We then headed to Brora Harbour for some lunch, an old fishing hamlet but very pretty and worth a visit.
We then headed on to our stop for the night, Helmsdale, you can park in the harbour if space or the pub allows stopover if you eat in, we were lucky to find a lovely spot overlooking the water and watched a seal 10-15ft in front us pop up every now and again for air, we did the try the fish and chips from the village as they come very highly rated, big portions but Karen said the fish was a little over cooked, the fish cakes however were great and did i mention the portion sizes!
I only ordered singles but for some reason got double of everything.
They do ask if you stop over to put a donation in the RNLI box by the life boats, worth a fiver at the very least!The best I could get sorry, but it was nice to watch him surface.
We left Loch Lochy heading too Loch Ness, we arrived at Fort Augustus and found a great car park with Motorhome bays that cost us £3.40 for 4 hours.
We had a lovely walk through the village and decided we would take a Loch Ness cruise with CruiseLochNess, it was absolutely brilliant at £15 per adult and dogs were welcome.
After a browse around the shops buying a few souvenirs we headed to Invermoriston Falls. Lovely free car park with a great walk through the woods to the falls themselfs.
We then headed to our overnight stop of Fortrose Bay Campsite, £22 without EHU, £25 with, All emptying facilities with amazing views on the beach over the water.
After a very long drive we finally arrived in Scotland YAY
WE ARE HERE
The Satnav decided to reroute us due to heavy traffic, although I feel it actually added a few hours to our journey we did see some very nice sights.
It was again getting late, we were originally going to stay in the Foristry Commission car park at Glengarry as they have opened a lot of them up for over night stays for 2020
But as we started our journey along the Lochs we spied a lay-by stopover on the very edge of Loch Lochy with some Motorhome’s already parked, we slipped in and had a great view overlooking the water.
We started from Bournemouth, very excited about our 2 weeks touring the NC500 in the Motorhome, It’s something my wife Karen has always wanted to do so we thought we would get on with it during the Covid Restrictions restricting our European travels.
Our first stop was a CAMC stop at The Lodge, Red Hill Lane, Halmer End, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST7 8AX.
Just off J16 of the M6
A nice CL with grass and hard standing, lovely views, well laid out and pleasant owners, we were met on arrival and shown to our pitch, it was late and dark so we settled in for the night.
£12 a night without EHU or £15 with, toilets and showers (closed for Covid) all waste emptying and fresh water if required.
Our first rally after lockdown, although for the moment they are called “Temporary Campsites (TC)”.
Day 1: We arrived around 11:30 Saturday Morning, lovely weather with just about a sea view.
All Pitched Up.Around 40 Vans altogether.
We walked into Dawlish along the coastal path, started enclosed but then opened up and then was right along the waters edge, had chips for lunch and walked along the river watching the ducks and black swans
Lovely Walk along the railway line. Great place for Ice Cream, Cream Teas or Pasties. The Home of the Black Swan. Lots of places to sit and ponder.
Day Two:
Lazy day today, started to glorious sunshine and pretty much stayed the same all day, the wind was a little chilly out of the sun but out of the shade it was very nice, we had a lovely home made Afternoon Tea in the van, perfect.
