Postcards From... North Coast 500

woman standing on the shores of loch ness with the loch and hills in the background — On the banks of Loch Ness

1st of September 2021, two days before my 27th birthday, I drove four hours from my grandparent’s house in Ayrshire to Inverness to start my solo camping road trip of the North Coast 500.

Three and a half weeks later I had driven over 1000 miles, taken over 1000 photos, and gotten another year older.

It was September in Scotland and while I was extremely lucky with the weather, of course there were days where I had to sit in my car for eight hours because it was too wet to step outside. Sleeping on the floor in a tent for three weeks wrecked my back, and I went an embarrassing amount of days without having a vegetable.

I had the most incredible time.

footprints in the sand on dornoch beach in scotland with the sun shining and the sea in the background — Sunshine and storms over Dornoch Beach. It was about 23C so I paddled, but the water was freezing.

view over the cliffs to the duncansby stacks in scotland — Duncansby Stacks

view of the cliffs and the duncansby stacks as the sun sets — Watching the sun go down at the Duncansby Stacks. There was absolutely no way to get down to that beach, but somehow there was a guy walking along it and I have no idea how he did it.

signpost at john o groats showing the distance to lands end — Made it to John O’Groats and was briefly the northernmost person on the British Mainland at Dunnet Head

overlooking the cliffs and the sea and the castle at wick — Stopped for lunch at the cliffs of Old Wick Castle

breakfast roll overlooking the beach at sango sands campsite — Bacon, egg and black pudding breakfast roll at Sango Bay.
I had one every morning I camped here because they were so good.

cheese and tomato scone with a pot of tea on a wooden table — The biggest (and best) cheese and tomato scone that I’ve ever had. It was as big as my face
The Mountain Coffee Co. Gairloch

sango bay beach with the sea and rocky outcrop in the background — Evening walks on the beach at Sango Bay

sunrise over the sea at sango sands campsite — The most incredible sunrise on my last morning camping at Sango Bay

sunset over the scottish sea with a small stone hut in the foreground and hills and islands in the background — Roadside stops on my way down the West Coast

single track road sign covered in stickers in the fog at the top of applecross pass — The view from the top of the Bealach Na Ba. I drove down the other side and found a coffeeshop/art gallery and it was like finding an oasis. I bought a piece of art and the title in Gaelic turned out to mean ‘mist’ which was extremely apt.

view of achmelvich beach with the blue sea and rocky hills in the background — A secret beach over the rocks from Achmelvich beach. It was 25C and the beach was deserted so I spent an hour paddling and getting sunburned

grassy verge and sandy beach at dunnet bay in the mist — All three days at Dunnet Bay were misty. The beach went on for hours and it felt like walking along the edge of the world

gravel path through the grass overlooking the hills around loch ness — The view from the Suidhe Viewpoint on the road around Loch Ness. It was the windiest place I’ve ever been and I had to hold onto my glasses to make sure that they didn’t blow away

sunset over the sea at big sands in gairloch — Watching the sunset over Skye on one of my last nights away.
Big Sands, Gairloch

Those three weeks were incredible and a welcome break from eighteen months of lockdowns and quarantines. As the weather gets colder and new variants arise, these memories are keeping me going until the world can open again.

Travel, Postcards From...Elanor Sims16 December 2021travel, scotland, nc500, north coast 500, camping, road tripComment