Thought I'd put this here as well despite taking the Clio instead of the 225! Finally getting round to writing this up. This year we decided to go down to CSS and see my wifes cousin and family whilst we were there and then go straight on our holidays after that. It wasn't until we got to Cambridgeshire we realised we probably should've kept going and gone to Europe but hey ho, next time! So firstly the CSS pics DSC_0027 by john.holligan, on Flickr Vee by john.holligan, on Flickr Vee by john.holligan, on Flickr Mk4 Cup Racer by john.holligan, on Flickr Supercharged flower by john.holligan, on Flickr Sally B by john.holligan, on Flickr Salmonds new toy by john.holligan, on Flickr Spitfire Duxford by john.holligan, on Flickr Spitfire Duxford by john.holligan, on Flickr Spitfire Duxford by john.holligan, on Flickr Spitfire Duxford by john.holligan, on Flickr Spitfire Duxford by john.holligan, on Flickr Sally B by john.holligan, on Flickr SR71 Blackbird by john.holligan, on Flickr
After that we came back up the road on the Sunday, stayed at home on the Monday and left on the Tuesday for the next section, the Heilans! This was on Skye View from Skye B&B by john.holligan, on Flickr Parked up for the night by john.holligan, on Flickr Quiraing by john.holligan, on Flickr Quiraing by john.holligan, on Flickr At the Quiraing by john.holligan, on Flickr 3 wheeling by john.holligan, on Flickr Near the Old Man of Storr- Skye by john.holligan, on Flickr Portree Valver by john.holligan, on Flickr Portree by john.holligan, on Flickr Dunvegan Castle by john.holligan, on Flickr The road to Talisker by john.holligan, on Flickr DSC_0153 by john.holligan, on Flickr Eilean Donan Castle just south of Kyle of Lochalsh Dunvegan by john.holligan, on Flickr Dunvegan by john.holligan, on Flickr Eilean Donan by john.holligan, on Flickr
We stayed in Lochcarron for the second night and headed up to Kylesku, via Applecross, Gairloch, Poolewe and Ullapool At the start of the Bealach-na-ba by john.holligan, on Flickr Foggy Pass by john.holligan, on Flickr No pics at the top as you could barely see your hand in front of your face thanks to being slap bang in the middle of a cloud! Outside the Inn by john.holligan, on Flickr If any of you watched Monty Halls Great Escape on the BBC you might recognise here Beachcomber Cottage by john.holligan, on Flickr Beachcomber Cottage - Applecross by john.holligan, on Flickr Beachcomber Cottage by john.holligan, on Flickr This is Mellon Charles near Ault Bea Ault Bea by john.holligan, on Flickr The road to Ullapool by john.holligan, on Flickr Between Aultbea and Ullapool by john.holligan, on Flickr North of Ullapool Who needs the Isle of Mann?! by john.holligan, on Flickr The road to Kylsku by john.holligan, on Flickr View from Kylesku by john.holligan, on Flickr Kylesku Hotel by john.holligan, on Flickr DSC_0337 by john.holligan, on Flickr Better leave it in reverse then by john.holligan, on Flickr The loch was so clear you could see hundreds of these DSC_0349 by john.holligan, on Flickr DSC_0352 by john.holligan, on Flickr (I was quite drunk when I took this pic, its the best of a bad bunch but it was right outside the window of the hotel) DSC_0375 by john.holligan, on Flickr
Kylesku hotel was great and we will defo stay there again. Unfortunately the next day it was sideways rain so I couldnt get the pic of the bridge like I intended to. We were heading along the North Coast that day via Durness, Tongue and staying in Thurso Durness by john.holligan, on Flickr KGX - Durness by john.holligan, on Flickr We had spotted a lot of classic cars back in Ullapool, couple of Bentleys but mostly Bugattis, unfortunately hadn't managed to get any pics but then, as we were in Cocoa Mountain these 2 turned up. The owner of the open top was a lovely guy who moved a LandCruiser out the way for pics and was happy to chat. The owner of the other one was a grumpy cunt! Bugatti in Durness by john.holligan, on Flickr Bugatti in Durness by john.holligan, on Flickr Bugatti in Durness by john.holligan, on Flickr Bugatti in Durness by john.holligan, on Flickr Bugatti in Durness by john.holligan, on Flickr It was great to see them out in the open and being used properly, much better than being sat in a museum imo. Then we went onto Smoo Cave Smoo Cave by john.holligan, on Flickr The North Road by john.holligan, on Flickr And then the battery died, cos I'm an arse and had forgotten to charge it, properly annoying as the scenery was great and the weather cleared up! Gave it a quick charge at Thurso and had a cheap dinner out- chippy in the car! Thurso by john.holligan, on Flickr Busy little Port by john.holligan, on Flickr Chippy and the Sea by john.holligan, on Flickr Looking out to Orkney by john.holligan, on Flickr View from Thurso B&B by john.holligan, on Flickr We watched the Orkney ferry come in and you could see Orkney very clearly, we'll head there at some point
The next day we were heading to Inverness via Dunnet Head, John O'Groats, Wick, Lairg for the Falls of Shin and Tain. Turns out the Falls of Shin visitor centre had gone on fire and as we needed lunch and the loo we didn't even get out of the car! Dunnet Head by john.holligan, on Flickr Dunnet Head by john.holligan, on Flickr Dunnet Head by john.holligan, on Flickr John O'Groats by john.holligan, on Flickr Dunnet Head pisses all over JOG, which in all honesty is a hole! The next day we woke in a very nice B&B in Inverness and knew that one of my brothers was in the region having hired a boat to go from Inverness to Fort William and back. We were having dinner with him and his mates that night but we decided to fire down to Fort Augustus to meet up with them in the morning. I can barely walk on a boat and they were all properly hungover but it was still a laugh. My bro is the one not wearing Dannys gay Pirate hat Fort Augustus by john.holligan, on Flickr Then we went on to Plodda Falls where the walkway stops at the top of the falls. And I shit myself everytime! Plodda Falls by john.holligan, on Flickr Plodda Falls by john.holligan, on Flickr Plodda Falls by john.holligan, on Flickr Plodda Falls by john.holligan, on Flickr The falls were the smallest we had seen them, but it had been very dry for weeks. Probably the last time we go to them in KGX though, the road just is too much for it! This is pretty normal for the smaller Highland roads, great fun Tomich Road by john.holligan, on Flickr After 2 nights in Inverness we headed to Aberdeen and stayed in a nice but slightly strange guest house, Aberdeen by john.holligan, on Flickr Aberdeen by john.holligan, on Flickr and visited Cruden Bay Cruden Bay by john.holligan, on Flickr
Cruden Bay by john.holligan, on Flickr Cruden Bay by john.holligan, on Flickr I took the wrong tablet that morning so my hayfever was mental and then I fell asleep- tool! However, my wife had been doing a fair bit of the driving anyway so it wasnt much of a drama. When we got home the car was minging! Home by john.holligan, on Flickr Home by john.holligan, on Flickr Home by john.holligan, on Flickr In the end we covered 2499 miles and were knackered! But now we know where we want to go back for longer and where we won't bother going back to! Well done if you got this far! Cheers John
Cheers mate, yeah it was really enjoyable, we're thinking of going back up to kylesku in the next month or 2 again!
