We started our Scottish adventure in Glasgow where we spent three nights with the Saunders family, Ross, Lyndsey and wee Blake. We couldn’t have asked for a warmer welcome, after a month living out of the van it was the perfect place to pull up for a few days in their delightful guest room.  We were treated to a guided tour of Glasgow city by a real Glaswegian, Ross, who showed us the city centre, a quick peek in the museum and a look around the ‘prestigious’ Glasgow university. We were taken up into the surrounding hills and waterfalls and shown the Kelpies, which are large horse statues standing 25m high on the side of the highway. It was great having our very own tour guides and we have to thank Ross and Lyndsey for such a lovely stay in your home with all the homely comforts, Olympics banter and a fab tapas night. We will also not forget our new names anytime soon, as their young two year old Blake renamed us Pepe and Digger, a few laughs were had over this.

Before a final goodbye with the Sauder’s we headed out towards Loch Lomond, here we walked around the village (slightly cold for the Aussie), some duck feeding with Blake and a nice seafood lunch before saying goodbye and we were back on the road making our way towards Islay.

Aiming for the ferry to Islay we stopped off in the town of Inverary where we purchased our ferry tickets for the following morning. It was a really rainy Scottish day and braced with jackets and an umbrella we had a quick look around town before seeking shelter at the Prison museum, we spent a few hours inside before we were back on the road heading south. We found a place by the sea to pull over for the night where we attempted to cook in the wind and rain which was a few laughs under our small ‘sunshelter’ side tent, a really good Thai green curry was the result so we were pretty pleased with ourselves. With an early wakeup and a quick pack up we made our way to the ferry and after a few hours sailing we had arrived in Islay.

Islay, famous for its whisky distilleries was the reason we had ventured across for a visit, with it being such a rainy couple of days spent on the Island it was perfect to hide in the dry, warm tasting rooms of the distilleries. Pete did a professional tasting while I sat in the comfort of the Lagavulin lounge. I was now the designated driver as we made our way around island visiting various distillery’s, each unique, some very corporate and some really rustic. The following day we took the afternoon Ferry back to the mainland and attempted to make our way to Oban. We had started to drive in the dark to get a few kilometres under our belt for the next day before we were shortly turned around by the police as the road was flooded. The officer pointed us in the direction of Crinan which was a tiny fishing village hidden away just a few miles back the direction we had come from. We awoke on the side of the road to the amazing coast line and 18th century canals that went for miles.

After a few weetbix we were back on the road to Oban where we stopped off for a bit of a stretch and a look around. Oban is a really picturesque town and definitely worth a stop, we had some lunch and even managed a skype with Pete’s family on the wharf. After lunch we stocked up on some supplies and headed onto Fort William, with Ben Nevis in our sites.

We spent the night at the Base of Ben Nevis and the next morning set about the 5 hour climb. It was definitely not our most exciting climb with no great view and the summit was covered in mist and cloud but it was still a really fun morning with a few laughs with other hikers along the way. Once back at our campsite we took advantage of the showers, freshening up before we hit the road again, a quick coffee in Fort William and we were off to Skye.

We got into Skye late in the evening and found a spot right by the ocean that we thought looked perfect to spend the night, that was before we got out and were immediately attacked by swarms of midgies. Tired and exhausted from the days events we did some crafty ninja work and managed to set up our bed without opening the door again that evening. That morning we made our way out of our beachside view and quickly up to the cliff where there was some wind to keep the midgies away, it was a lesson learned that’s for sure. We spent the day driving around Skye in what you would say were perfect conditions for Scotland, not a cloud in the sky and the sun very much out.

We made our way off the island in the afternoon commencing the Highland 500, the road that follows the west and north coast through the highlands. This would have to have been one of our highlights from our trip so far, with stunning views and a really fun drive through steep mountain ranges we found ourselves at a village called Applecross. Here with the sun still shining we stopped for the evening, making our way to the local pub with beach views, there was tourists and locals alike soaking up the sun. So at the recommendation from a local Scotsman we met in Ireland we had the famous fish and chips and a G&T and watched the sun go down.

The next day we continued our trip along the Highland 500 where were stopped in at small fishing villages along the way. Loads of smoked salmon was consumed along the way as every village had at least one smokehouse, it was amazing. We saw our first highland cows which are so hipster with their long fringes and chilled out vibe, we were able to take many pics of these beauties. Late that evening we made a quick stop off as we spotted a fierce looking mountain that we just couldn’t pass by, the sun was out and we thought we would have the best views from the top. The mountain was called Stac pollaidh according to the map and with the afternoon sun on the rock, the views from the top were breathtaking, this hike was 100 times better than Nevis! After a long day of driving and tired legs we found ourselves at a beachside campsite near Loch Inver.

Still not keen for a swim at the beach we continued our journey around the coast, spending a night at the northern most point of Scotland, and passed through John O’Groats until we made our way around the top of the island to Inverness. Inverness was not much to write home about although the sun was still out and we did walk around for a few hours enjoying the sunshine before we made our way out to Lochness. We found Dune beach where many documentaries have been made about the man who has been searching for Nessy for 17 years. We continued around the lake until we found a nice spot on the side of the road where we could Nessy spot, no sightings from us I’m afraid so back on the road we went.

We made our way to a small town north of Inverness called Fortrose where we were meeting friends Rose and Mel, who we had previously seen in Copenhagen and who seemed to be following us around! We went for a lovely coastal walked and dolphin spotting before retiring to a café for some lunch and a wine. Somehow we ended up at a Wake that evening in the town pub where people welcomed us with open arms, it was a fun but strange night.

On the road again and we were making our way towards Edinburgh, we hadn’t driven far before we saw a sign in the town of Nairn that said Highland games. Evidently we had to make a stop for this, we were treated to some highland dances, some running races, marching band and some hammer throwing, unfortunately we couldn’t wait around for the caber tossing. We stopped off for the night somewhere along the east coast in a visitors carpark before making our last few km’s through Perth and Aberdeen to Edinburgh.

We spent the next three days at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where we saw so many great comedians, the streets and bars were buzzing. We ran into a friend we met in China, Lynn, and had a really great catch up as she had just arrived back in town from Asia and we all had lots to catch up on.

Edinburgh was our final stop in our Scottish adventure and we loved every minute of it, we were sad to be leaving and would have to say it was the best place in the UK!