📖🚐 The Highland Odyssey: NC500 + Skye
- John Nickolls
- 8 hours ago
- 4 min read

📖🚐 The Highland Odyssey: NC500 + Skye
15–28 September 2025🔥 One Man · One Van · Two Drones · A Legend 🔥
⚙️ Pre-Launch Rituals — Preparing the Hero’s Quest
🔋 Power — Nemesis ⚔️, Zoom 🌀, EOS 📸 fully charged · Jackery & solar primed · Vanilla humming with anticipation 💾 Memory — 1x SD per day 🎞 · nightly backups → iPhone/Mac · nothing erased until double-saved 🦟 Midges — Avon Skin So Soft ✅ · head net ✅ · Highland battle armour donned 🪖🗺 Maps — Apple Maps live + PDF backups stashed in Vanilla’s glovebox ⏰ Golden Hours — Sunrise 🌅 ~07:00 · Sunset 🌇 ~19:30 — the magic light
📕 Chapter Two — Dolphins & Stone
Day 1 — Inverness ➝ Dornoch (🔶 65 miles) 🟢 Chanonry Point (IV10 8SD) — dolphins leap through silver surf, Nemesis sweeps the skies 🟢 Dornoch Beach (IV25 3LX) — Zoom races low across untouched sand 🟢 Dornoch Cathedral (IV25 3SH) — EOS captures sunlight piercing stained glass🔵 Camp — Dornoch Firth Caravan Park (IV25 3QD) 🔵 Pub — The Eagle Hotel (IV25 3SX)
✨ A beginning blessed by dolphins and bells — and sealed with the first Highland pint.
📕 Chapter Three — To the Edge of Britain
Day 2 — Dornoch ➝ John O’Groats (🔶 110 miles) 🟢 Dunrobin Castle (KW10 6SF) — Nemesis glides past fairytale turrets 🟢 Wick Harbour (KW1 5HA) — Zoom dodges gulls and ropes 🟢 Whaligoe Steps (KW2 6AA) — EOS peers into a stone stairway carved into the abyss 🔵 Camp — John O’Groats Caravan Park (KW1 4YR) 🔵 Pub — Seaview Hotel (KW1 4YR)
✨ At the top of Britain, the true journey begins.
📕 Chapter Four — Cliffs, Causeways & Caves
Day 3 — John O’Groats ➝ Thurso (🔶 40 miles) 🟢 Dunnet Head (KW14 8XS) — Nemesis films waves hammering the UK’s northern crown 🟢 Castletown Beach (KW14 8TG) — Zoom carves patterns above the breakers 🟢 Dunnet Bay Distillery (KW14 8XD) — EOS captures copper stills glowing in firelight 🔵 Camp — Thurso Bay Caravan Park (KW14 8AA) 🔵 Pub — The Comm Bar (KW14 8AG)
Day 4 — Thurso ➝ Durness (🔶 90 miles) 🟢 Kyle of Tongue Causeway (IV27 4XH) — bridge like a blade over mirrored waters 🟢 Balnakeil Bay (IV27 4PX) — turquoise waves dance under Zoom 🟢 Smoo Cave (IV27 4QA) — waterfalls roar in the shadows 🔵 Camp — Sango Sands Oasis (IV27 4PZ) 🔵 Pub — Sango Sands Bar (IV27 4PZ)
✨ Here the Atlantic becomes your companion: wild, relentless, magnificent.
📕 Chapter Five — Whisky & White Sands
Day 5 — Durness ➝ Scourie (🔶 25 miles)⛱ Ceannabeinne Beach (IV27 4QE) — Nemesis arcs high over bone-white sands 🎨 Balnakeil Craft Village (IV27 4PT) — EOS catches splashes of colour in the grey 🔵 Camp — Scourie Campsite (IV27 4SX) 🔵 Pub — Scourie Hotel (IV27 4SX)
Day 6 — Scourie ➝ Lochinver (🔶 55 miles)🌁 Kylesku Bridge (IV27 4HW) — Nemesis sweeps over its graceful arc🌊 Clashnessie Bay (IV27 4JF) — Zoom skims surf and spray👀 Drumbeg Viewpoint (IV27 4NL) — EOS frames dragon-backed ridges 🔵 Camp — Clachtoll Beach Campsite (IV27 4JD) 🥧 Food — Lochinver Larder (IV27 4JG) — Highland pies worthy of kings
📕 Chapter Six — The Gathering of Mountains
Day 7 — Lochinver ➝ Ullapool (🔶 55 miles)🗻 Stac Pollaidh (IV26 2XY) — Nemesis soars past jagged crowns🌊 Ardmair Bay (IV26 2TN) — Zoom dances with gulls over shallows 🌌 Corrieshalloch Gorge (IV23 2PJ) — EOS stares into roaring darkness 🔵 Camp — Broomfield Holiday Park (IV26 2UT) 🔵 Pub — Ferry Boat Inn (IV26 2SX)
✨ Ullapool at night: fiddles, fire, and salt in the air.
📕 Chapter Seven — Fire in the West
Day 8 — Ullapool ➝ Gairloch (🔶 60 miles)🌊 Gruinard Bay (IV22 2EE) — turquoise fire🌸 Inverewe Gardens (IV22 2LG) — flowers defying drizzle 🔵 Camp — Sands Caravan & Camping (IV21 2DL) 🔵 Pub — The Old Inn (IV21 2BD)
Day 9 — Gairloch ➝ Applecross (🔶 70 miles)🌊 Loch Maree (IV22 2HW) — mirror water🏔 Torridon (IV22 2EZ) — ridges like fortress walls ☎️ Shieldaig (IV54 8XN) — EOS finds beauty in the ordinary 🔵 Camp — Applecross Campsite (IV54 8ND) 🔵 Pub — Applecross Inn (IV54 8ND)
✨ Sunset at the Applecross Inn: seafood, whisky, and the world at your feet.
📕 Chapter Eight — The Winged Isle (Skye)
Day 10 — Applecross ➝ Broadford (🔶 85 miles)🐉 Bealach na Bà (IV54 8LR) — serpent road into the clouds🌴 Plockton Harbour (IV52 8TP) — palm trees by the sea 🌉 Skye Bridge (IV41 8PH) — gateway to legend 🔵 Camp — Broadford Campsite (IV49 9AE) 🔵 Pub — Broadford Hotel (IV49 9AB)
Day 11 — Skye South (🔶 70 miles)🌊 Talisker Bay (IV47 8SU) — surf like thunder🥃 Talisker Distillery (IV47 8SR) — copper stills glowing amber 🔵 Camp — Glenbrittle Campsite (IV47 8TA) 🔵 Pub — The Old Inn (IV47 8SR)
Day 12 — Skye North (🔶 60 miles)🗿 Old Man of Storr (IV51 9HX) — stone giant staring skyward🏔 Quiraing (IV51 9LB) — ridges twisting like myths⚓ Portree Harbour (IV51 9DB) — EOS frames pastel houses 🔵 Camp — Staffin Campsite (IV51 9JX) 🔵 Pub — Isle Inn (IV51 9BX)
📕 Chapter Nine — The Falling South
Day 13 — Skye ➝ Fort William (🔶 115 miles)🏰 Eilean Donan Castle (IV40 8DX) — guardian of the lochs🌊 Loch Cluanie (IV63 7YW) — water still as glass🎖 Commando Memorial (PH34 4EG) — silence and salute🔵 Camp — Glen Nevis Campsite (PH33 6ST) 🔵 Pub — Ben Nevis Inn (PH33 6PF)
Day 14 — Fort William ➝ Glencoe ➝ Inverness (🔶 110 miles)⛰ Buachaille Etive Mòr (PH49 4HY) — Nemesis’ final heroic flight 🏞 Glencoe Visitor Centre (PH49 4HX) — EOS captures ghosts in the glen 🔵 Pub — Clachaig Inn (PH49 4HX) 🏁 Finish — Inverness (IV2 3TR)
✨ The circle closes: the Highlands etched forever into memory.
🎤 Epilogue
Fourteen days. Eleven hundred miles.🐬 Dolphins. 🏰 Castles. 🕳 Caves. ⛰ Mountains. 🥃 Drams. 🎶 Songs.
🚐 Vanilla bore the road.✈️ Nemesis soared.🌀 Zoom darted.📸 EOS remembered.
This was not just the North Coast 500.It was a Highland Odyssey.And the Highlands, in their fury and beauty, will remain — forever — with the man who dared to drive them.
Comments