On leaving John O’Groats we were looking forward to the next part of the journey as we had read that the northern Scottish coastline would change quite dramatically from our scenery over the past few days exploring the eastern side of the country. We had enjoyed the relatively flat coastline so far, but we were ready to see what the northernmost coast had to offer. Spoiler alert - it did not let us down!

Early on this leg we passed through Thurso. It was busy, quite small and we struggled to find anywhere convenient to park. As a result, we decided to carry on through making our first stop for coffee at a viewpoint (carpark) on the outskirts of Baligill. As we pulled up we noticed that we had the car park to ourselves. So set about putting on a pot of coffee. Within a few minutes we were joined by another car and recognised the car and driver from our visit to Helmsdale the previous day.

Baligill, Scotland

The guy was easy to recognise in his German registered car, plus he was a very well dressed, elegant gentleman. We greeted him in German, much to his amazement, but we explained that we always like to greet others in their native language, wherever possible. We always felt this was something we experienced wherever we went and it was a nice touch. We quickly got chatting and learned that his name was Günter. He had been visiting his brother in Edinburgh and wanted to visit the north coast route while he was in Scotland. As he was on his own, we offered hm a cup of coffee and a biscuit while we talked. He was grateful of the hospitality and, I think, the company too. He was a very interesting man and told us about his family, where he came from and time flew. Before we knew it, it was time for us to head on, and, as we bid him farewell, we said that we hoped that we would bump into him again before he left.

That afternoon we headed on through Armdale, Bettyhill and Invernaver. Each of these places were small and reasonably unremarkable so we decided to simply admire them whilst passing through. We were already considering how far we were intending to travel and felt that we wanted to cover a few more miles to find a real treasure to stop at.

As we left Coldbackie behind us, we were treated to a beautiful view northwards across the coast and out to some islands just off shore. The view was superb due to the relatively clear skies. So, a quick stop later, we were back in the camper heading on westwards to see what Scotland had in store for us next… and it was a joint automotive and scenery gem. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

As we crossed over the Kyle of Tongue, the view of the waterway both sides of the road was stunning. And as the clouds were turning from white to a deep grey, we guessed we were in for a spot or two of rain. The cloud formation and the resultant cloud burst looked incredible from a distance.

Just outside of Hope, Scotland

Within minutes, the storm seemed to have shown up and left just as quickly. Soon afterward the above picture was taken, the cloud lifted and we were again treated to sunshine. As we headed on towards Heilam, the road continued to narrow, as most of the roads are once you have left Thurso behind you. This section of the A838 could definitely be described as single carriageway. Having said that, the surface was reasonable and the passing points frequent and clearly signed. This helped navigate them, plus no-one really seemed in a hurry, taking the time to give us warm smiles and wave. As we rounded one corner, I could see that there were a couple of cars coming so decided to be kind and let them all through in one go… what a group of vehicles. It is not often that you are passed by a pair of Koenigsegg Agera (I think that is what they were), a Porsche 911 and a BMW motorcycle capturing it all on GoPro cameras. We got an enthusiastic wave from them all as they passed and as they accelerated away. The noise from the thoroughbred supercars was thunderous. We are both big car people, so it took quite a while to wipe the silly grins off our faces.

The Supercar Convoy, Heilam, Scotland

Our journey continued and did not fail to amaze and astound us. Next we were on towards Archriesgill for our next overnight spot.