Why Winter is the Perfect Time of Year for a Scottish Road Trip

This blog was original posted in the Daily Telegraph Travel Section and was the winner of their Just Back travel writing competition.

It was 5.30am and I was already awake, peeking from my warm bed in our camper van to see the full moon to one side and a lighthouse flashing on the other.

John O'Groats - The Top of Britain?!

We were two days into driving the NC500 route around Scotland’s north coast and parked near Duncansby Stacks – geographically closer to Norway than to London.

I was wearing five layers and my nose dripped as we slid down the muddy pathway to view the cliff stacks. Below us were dozens of seals – snoozing, feeding pups or swimming in the sea, their blubber effective at keeping them warm.

As we drove back into John O’Groats, two small deer thrilled us by leaping over a fence and into the bracken. All we could spot were their white tails as they blended perfectly into the foliage and pretty soon disappeared completely from view.

Dunnet Head and the View of the Orkney Islands

John O’Groats is the most northerly inhabited place on the British mainland, but Dunnet Head is the most northerly point full stop – and perfect for morning coffee as the sun illuminated the Isle of Hoy in the Orkneys. We could even see the “Old Man of Hoy” cliff stack as we watched a heavy grey rain cloud glide across the stormy sea, creating two rainbows that appeared from nowhere, grew more vibrant, wider and taller, then disappeared as the cloud moved past.

A little more driving along the coast, then: “Owl!” A beautiful, beige barn owl was sitting on the fence as we drove past. We quickly parked and tiptoed closer with our cameras.

Sadly, he wasn’t for posing and flew across the road, disappearing into the gorse. I was excited nonetheless, having never before seen an owl this big or close-up.

Then Chris’s eyes nearly popped out of his head as he silently but animatedly gesticulated across the field. Four stags were munching away happily – two standing, one sitting, and another behind a bush. So close. And we were camera-ready. Click.

The NC500 (North Coast 500 miles) Route, Scotland (photo courtesy Wikipedia)

They looked at us, assessing our intent (were we going to shoot them?), stayed for a bit, then seemed to confer and after a few minutes deemed their posing time done and – whoosh – dashed off as one, hurdling fences into the bushes.

Finally we arrived at Skerray Bay, our stop for the night – the crashing sea held at bay by a small harbour wall, two tiny fishing boats waiting for the tide to come in, and a roofless building containing two rotten upturned boats and, somewhat oddly, paintings hanging on the wall.

We had travelled 70 miles that day. The NC500 seemed a route for lingering, following our noses, exploring winding lanes and having no fixed agendas.

Duncansby Stacks, A Great Place to Wake Up

We had thought visiting Scotland in the winter might be foolish, but for us it proved the perfect break. The weather was cold but surprisingly sunny; the roads were empty, so photo stops and single-track driving were cruisy. There were vibrant coloured trees, the deer were down from the snowy mountains, and we slept each night somewhere beautiful and alone.

Global Gumboots - Chris and Helen are two 40+ year olds who decided to 'live life today' and travel the world while we are young enough to enjoy it! Originally from the UK, our home has been NZ for 15 years. At the start of 2019 we set off on a big “OE” (Kiwi phrase - Overseas Experience) and spent 6 months travelling through India - from the very southern tip to the Himalayas in the North. Following an unexpected spell of time in the UK we've bought a camper van and are travelling through Europe.

We’ve been documenting our travels and the things we have learned as Global Gumboots - you can follow us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and through our blogs.