Scotland trip
 

Not sure driving bliss is the correct forum for this but nevermind.

Set off yesterday at 11am and arrived kirkwall 9pm tonight.

It wasn't the shortest or quickest by any stretch of the imagination but the second half was by far the best as I deliberatley avoided the A9 as today was the switching on of a lot speed camera traps.

To be fair i didn't get much above 40 on the Glencoe to Fort William stretch but who cares, some of the best scenery in the world on that route up through Scotland and it pulls at the heart strings and makes me miss the place so much.

Oh and the S8 took it in her stride whilst guzzling down 2 tankfuls of Shells finest.

Well tired now though and sitting here with a well deserved Orcadian beer in hand.

slàinte mhòr :pint:

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1414535608

Nice trip (especially the second half ;)..)

That's pretty good going - one of the great things about the '8 is it's ability to let the driver do such long trips without feeling wrecked. I remember doing Manchester-Aberdeen-Perth in about seven hours a few years ago and finding it a breeze..+++

Ha, ha! Good to tell that you were doing that stretch yesterday afternoon and not in the morning! We had torrential rain, gales and floods. You'd not even have seen the scenery and would have been glad you'd left! :D

The speed cameras on the A9, BTW, are not 'traps' but the longest stretch of avereage speed cameras in Europe. :tuttut:

I've never been that far north - what took you there?

Nice run Del.

And yeah, I bet the first part was pretty boring.

I remember 9-8 years ago, I was going to Scotland to reset my brain every 3-4months, plus every New year (3 in a row I think in Fort William). Phones off, no laptops, emails and other daily rubbish.
Usually I was leaving late evening or night and passing Glasgow very early in the morning and I will never forget the route from there to Fort William in early ours of the morning, amazing. All the way I was struggling to stay awake, as soon I saw the first trees and mountains I was well awake. Twisty roads just kept me going, I felt like after a good sleep well awake all the way from Glasgow to FW. My best times were in Scotland, that peace, wildness and amazing views.

So over the years I visited fair part of West Scotland up to Inverness.
The other times some of the South Scotland, Jedburgh, the other times some of the East South Scotland up to North Berwick.

many times it was unplanned at all, usually when I got feed up with people around me, work and daily b@l@x I just packed my missus, two pillows and a duvet just in case we can't find any hotel and we were off.

The hospitality we've experienced was just amazing.
There was no planning at all, just head north and enjoy, hence the pillows and the Duvet as we did got lost few times :rolleyes:

Once I remember arriving at Smailholm Tower after visiting hours, but when Lady realized from how far we have traveled from she opened the door instantly and gave as a full ''private'' tour with no one else around.
On that week there was some big music festival in Jedburgh, which we obviously didn't know about with no planning, so there was no even a single free hotel room or anything even just for one night sleep until next morning, and it was pretty dark by the time we've finished the tour.
So She said: ''My daughter is at the Uni now so why don't you come over to our house and stay a night?? Don't expect luxuries, but we will feed you and you can sleep in our daughter's bedroom!!!!!!!!!!!
Say whaaaaaaaat????
I couldn't believe how friendly people were.

....oh, and the views :love:

Aye it was evident that there had been some pretty nasty weather as some parts of the road were flooded with debris in some sections with materials coming of the hills. But for the most part the sun was shining and the Autumnal colours were beautiful and I enjoyed the drive, The section of the A9 up past Brora was fantastic in the S8 where I had clearish roads that have steep ascents and descents with switchbacks, car in tip mode and the V10 howling, grin factor 10.

We have came back up here Jim to see the family, I was born in Kirkwsll and my father has since retiring moved back here after spending most of my life in and around Aberdeenshire.

Once we leave the isles I think I'm going to go back down the west coast and then cut across to Aberdeen area to see other friends and family.

I did want to go to cape wrath lighthouse but since researching it I found out you can only walk or take a ferry over where a mini bus collects you, that part of Scotland is so remote its not part of the road network, shame just have to find some other interesting places to go.

Been there a few times, this was fairly recent. Not sure how often the minibus/ferry runs this time of year.
Edit: I think not at all until next April.... http://www.visitcapewrath.com/time-table/
http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps80c992e0.jpg

Sounds like a great trip. Back in 2009 when I'd only had my D2 for around 5 months, I had a trip from down here in Surrey up to Inverness. Total about 9 hours with one stop for fuel (me and the car ;) ). Arrived fresh as a daisy.

There's nothing like an 8 for a good long drive :)

I was unfortunately travelling in a Volvo back then and I can't say same thing about the comfort.
But this year's trip to Annual Meet in 8, 9hours, was like getting up from a comfy sofa in the living room +++

I wish I could say I was that comfortable but my discs are giving me greif at the moment so anything other than standing or laying down aggravates them.

But dare I say it if it wasn't for the comfort of the car and the heated seats I would be suffering far more.

Thanks Man, I spent a good few hours scanning bing maps and google to see if there was another way by car but alas its not doable.