What make to defect to

[fka]

Try driving north now up the north west coast; one of the most beautiful coast roads in the UK............................. When we were there in May Plockton had the highest temp of just under 28 deg. I have never liked the Insepid Insignia. Aweful car like most of the other GM cr4p. I had a 1.4 Corsa while mine was in - show it a hill and it cried and ride was like on rollerskate over ball bearings...........

You could have done it in the 9-3 with sensible stops. We get from just south of Norwich to Invergarry (bottom end Loch Ness) in the day in our VW camper with a few stops - we go via Stirling up A9 to Dalwhinney and across to Spean Bridge. Best method is to start early in England so you get past industrial areas of the North. I assume to get to Plockton you went via Inverness and cut down to Strathcarron?

Drove over the pass to Applecross today - Amazing road, I'll be impressed if you did this in the camper

[Norfolk Jim]

Oh yes................................ first time was in Volvo V50, second time was in DE 9-5 1.9TiD Vector Sport Est auto and last May in the T5 camper following some old cars from Applecross campsite in rather foggy conditions that cleared at the top....................

Snap photo.

[sgould]

That pass is best coming from Applecross.  First time we did it, we were in a Metro.  My wife was driving and the view appearing at the same time that the road ahead disappeared, she gave vent to some words that our young sons weren't supposed to hear!!

[Norfolk Jim]

That's the way we did it in the camper Will after a stormy night at Applecross campsite. My eldest has said he'd love to try up from Kishorn in his Impreza - not sure I'd want to be in it; I've been round a roundabout in it at 50 and that was enough........................

The view across to Raasay and Skye is truly awe inspiring and why we love the area so much. Folk can't get up the one and only hill in Norwich when it snows but on Applecross the snowplough driver ensures people can always get through - awesome.

We are still considering living up there when we retire one day but for the moment with an elderly mother (89) in Norwich it would be a bit wrong; still I'll prob work for another 7 or 8 years.

[fka]

Nice pic Jim.

As we were day tripping we went across in both directions. Driving wise, going to Applecross was more fun, taking the hairpins going up hill. But agreed, the view on the way back was belting.

I was really amused by the number of foreign drivers coming in the other direction who completely missed the point of 'passing place' and pulled over onto our side of the road to into the passing place

[Norfolk Jim]

I found out that's why they have arrows on the road showing correct direction to drive.

They get loads of German and Dutch tourists and have had one to many fatal accidents where they'd pulled out onto wrong side of road at junctions and likewise in passing places.

Looks like we'll soon need to show passports to get north of the border 

[Audax]

We are still considering living up there when we retire one day but for the moment with an elderly mother (89) in Norwich it would be a bit wrong; still I'll prob work for another 7 or 8 years.

That'll only happen if they haven't used EU money to rebuild the wall by then. 

[fka]

Sadly not far from becoming reality :/

[fka]

I found out that's why they have arrows on the road showing correct direction to drive.

They get loads of German and Dutch tourists and have had one to many fatal accidents where they'd pulled out onto wrong side of road at junctions and likewise in passing places.

Bless them
I think there were a few yanks (maybe) in hire cars doing the same..

[collywobble]

My partner has to visit  the specialist department in a hospital up north once a year and her consultant (an angler and a Scot who has a croft on Skye to get away from his busy professional life) told us a story about going over Bealach na Ba in an old Land Rover which lost all its oil on the way up.  On the way back having being given a lift they were stopped by the police who told them to be careful as some idiot had covered the road with oil! He did own up to them!

[Norfolk Jim]

My partner has to visit  the specialist department in a hospital up north once a year and her consultant (an angler and a Scot who has a croft on Skye to get away from his busy professional life) told us a story about going over Bealach na Ba in an old Land Rover which lost all its oil on the way up.  On the way back having being given a lift they were stopped by the police who told them to be careful as some idiot had covered the road with oil! He did own up to them!

Now that did make me smile............................. nearly as much as a couple of comments I heard this morning about that game with a ball going on in France something about that's why mum's go to Iceland  and the other was England exit Europe twice in less than a week; 3rd time lucky?

Yeh a croft on Skye at Staffin when we were there was up for sale for £125k - I actually had a look round and it needed some work but you could throw £30k at it and make it into wonderful eco friendly self sufficient home with a wonderful view and close to civilization - put rest of your money under the bed and forget about everything............................

[collywobble]

One of the richer members of my family tried to buy the croft in Sutherland where where late mother and her five sisters and three brothers were born, unfortunately the estate that owns it wouldn't sell it to her.

[Norfolk Jim]

very nice and I cold go to town on it inside environmentally and make it efficient - where about's it is apart from beside a loch 

[collywobble]

It's on the Cape Wrath side of the Kyle of Durness, some maps name it - my maternal grandfather was the farm manager of Keodale Farm, Durness. My mother used to tell me she had to cross the Kyle by a small ferry and walk to school - where they used to thrash her because she wrote left- handed. She instilled in me a great love of reading and her ashes are interred in Balnakiel churchyard with her parents and our ancestors going back to Rob Donne MacKay (1714 - 1777), the gaelic bard admired by Sir Walter Scott.

[David]

Great post collywobble.