[ubo]

Recent trip with friends before further lockdown restrictions kicked in:

Video / drone courtesy of TP.

 

[johan]

looks as it was cold out, but that road

 

[ubo]

Thanks, not quite as spectacular as the north of Scotland but fun none the less.

 

[cb789]

where was this exactly? that road looks pretty good!

 

[ubo]

It's the A702 from from Carronbridge to Elvanfoot. Just off the M74 on the Scottish side of the border.

 

[cb789]

It's the A702 from from Carronbridge to Elvanfoot. Just off the M74 on the Scottish side of the border.

nice one, thanks!

 

[JazzCatGab]

Nice. Looked it up on Google Maps and saw there isn't much in the way of straights on that road. Wonderful!

 

[ubo]

Nice. Looked it up on Google Maps and saw there isn't much in the way of straights on that road. Wonderful!

Yes, Romans didn't travel that far north too often so retain curves. If you're in Scotland any time though and looking for some serious corners, look no further than the Bealach Na Ba ("pass of the cow" in Gaelic): Bealach na Bà - Wikipedia It's single track so passing places only if you meet something coming the other way.

 

[cb789]

that looks amazing! i really want to get up to Scotland and do the NC500!

 

[ubo]

It's amazing, beginning of May is a good time of year to do it. Still some snow on the mountains, driest month of the year and no midges...

 

[cb789]

thanks for the tips! I defo want to - just waiting to see what state the world is in next year! that, and I need to plan as its a 7 hour drive up there for me..! gonna require some planning

 

[ubo]

Happy to help out on planning come the time, thanks.

 

[JazzCatGab]

@ubo we were very close in 1987 when my wife and I were leaving the Isle of Skye. We took this crooked little road down to a tiny ferry which had to cross Loch Alsh because we accidentally, by sheer luck, ended up not far from Eilean Donan Castle. I'm sure the bridge for A87 wasn't built in those days. If you, are someone you know, is up on the history of that area, I'd love to know where that scary little road down a mountain (or large hill) side and ferry were.

 

[ubo]

If it was a small ferry to Skye (couple of cars) it would have been the Glen Elg ferry (Skye Ferry: homepage). There's a little single track road that goes from Shiel Bridge to the Glen Elg terminal on the mainland. Not change much there since 1987!

 

[JazzCatGab]

If it was a small ferry to Skye (couple of cars) it would have been the Glen Elg ferry (Skye Ferry: homepage). There's a little single track road that goes from Shiel Bridge to the Glen Elg terminal on the mainland. Not change much there since 1987!

Thanks. I guess that must have been it! Quite the adventure.

 

[ubo]

Thanks. I guess that must have been it! Quite the adventure.

Yes, it's quite an entertaining road. Although in my day job (COVID allowing) I have the privilege to travel a fair bit to rural Latin America, some interesting roads for sure if you're off the beaten track there.

Couple of photos from a trip to the top of Bealach na Ba taken by a friend of mine, the mountains in the distance are on the Isle of Skye:

 

[JazzCatGab]

Scotland is an old and beautiful place. My wife was an exchange student and lived with a family in the Isle of Whithorn. We stayed with them a few days and there was a friend of the mother visiting from New Zealand. One evening after dinner, this woman told her that they have the first British house built in New Zealand in a museum, and that their house is more than 100 years older than that one.

 

[ubo]

New Zealand is a pretty neat place as well, amazing for a driving holiday. My aunt used to own a house in Wellington where the author Robert Louis Stevenson would stay when he visited.

 

[JazzCatGab]

Yea, I have a friend that worked in New Zealand for a year. She loved to hike, etc., and every dang photo she posted online from her walks could have been used for a postcard advertising how beautiful the place is. I'm sure it is "amazing for driving holiday"! I'd like to get there someday, but we will see.

 

[DriveInHouston]

New Zealand and Norway are countries, that after every turn on the road, there is a postcard vista!