Tovey.org - Fun in Scotland, June 2008

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Fun in Scotland, June 2008

Hi, and welcome to the second in our occasional series of "Fun In" reports. In April 2006, Martyn and his friend Nick spent a couple of days driving a Porsche 997 over some of the most fantastic roads in Wales. Ever since then, they had been determined to undertake a similar trip, and Nick's purchase of a modified Porsche 996 twin-turbo acted as the catalyst for an extended 4-day trip to Scotland in June 2008.

In a change from the visit to Wales (and to add to the excitement of the trip as a whole), the trip was organised by a company called Driving Adventures, run by a couple of really nice guys, Darren Taylor and Graham Collins. They had worked out a good driving route, located and booked some fabulous hotels and provided pre-programmed sat-nav systems so it was difficult to get lost. Our tour consisted of two Porsche 993s, our 996 and a new 997 cabriolet. Darren and Graham drove the "lead" car - an Audi RS4, and the whole group kept in touch on the road via supplied radios (well, as long as the group kept reasonably close together, which proved quite difficult due to some enthusiastic driving by some of the group).

Since Driving Adventures runs commercial tour groups, it would be unfair to reveal the entire route in detail. Needless to say, we had an absolutely fantastic time driving some fabulous roads, so here is a brief summary of the tour and a selection of the highlights:

From our starting point in Bedfordshire, the first target was a country house hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon, where the tour group gathered for a 9:00AM start. With sat-nav systems and radios distributed, the group set off for the long drive to the day's lunch stop at Lake Windermere in the Lake District. We failed the first test, as no-one had told us the code to leave the hotel car-park, so the radios came in handy right from the very start!
Motorway driving becomes slightly more interesting when you are driving a new car for the first time - you certainly have to keep your wits about you in an unfamiliar vehicle, particularly one with around 500BHP and 550 lb/ft of torque. A touch of the throttle sees the car surge forward, so keeping an eye on the speedometer (and the petrol gauge) is highly recommended! To put driving "for fun" in perspective, we passed a fatal accident on the M6 in Staffordshire where two young boys died, proving that driving a powerful car in any circumstances needs complete concentration. Thankfully, we had no incidents of any sort on the tour - all of our tour group were very good, experienced drivers.
From Windermere, we took the exciting Kirkstone Pass road before rejoining the motorway for the remaining miles to Glasgow. Once over the Erskine Bridge, the road past Loch Lomond evens out and becomes much more enjoyable (though always busy with caravans and mobile homes, of course). Our first hotel was the Stonefield Castle Hotel on the shore of Loch Fyne on the Kintyre Peninsula. A really good quality hotel, which served some of the best rib-eye beef that I have tasted for a long time. The hotel restaurant overlooks the loch, and is a great place to while away a few hours as the sun goes down. The hotel has a full-size snooker table, where Martyn and Nick proved that they are certainly not destined for the Crucible.
Day two brought about a leisurely start after a full Scottish breakfast. The day's ultimate destination was the Bunchrew House Hotel near Inverness, via a lunch halt in Invergarry - a total distance of 233 miles. This was perhaps the best driving day, taking in super roads through Oban, Fort William, Invergarry and Achnasheen. If you thought "white van man" drove quickly in England, just watch out for them in Scotland! Still, I suppose they have larger distances to travel, and the roads are much quieter.
Another highlight of the second day was the convoy of cars enjoying themselves down a fast, but twisty mountain pass heading for the Isle of Skye - the Astra VXR was on a mission, as was the black Corsa (pictured overtaking one of our group!). Mad people, but very friendly, spirited drivers.
Once again, the hotel comes highly recommended - sitting on the lawn with a pint of 80/- was very pleasant indeed. On this occasion, Nick and I ventured into Inverness for something to eat, and found some great food and wine (and staff) at No. 27 in Castle Street.
The final "tour" day driving took us from the hotel along the shore of Loch Ness and then to Aviemore and Cairngorm. We lunched at the Ptarmigan Restaurant and then headed for our final night's accommodation at the Roman Camp Hotel in Callender. Due to a serious delay on the A9 (see below), our driving day was shortened a bit, but we still had time to drive the switchback road through Aberfeldy - well worth seeking out!
The hotel was perhaps the best of the tour - we joined the rest of the tour group for a stunning dinner and were the first to head for bed at around 1AM. With a long drive home the following day, the night was quite short, but the room was like something out of a film set.
On our own once more, for the final day we took a circuitous route home, via the Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales. The car didn't miss a beat, and around 1,500 miles were behind us by the time we pulled into the drive at about 8PM that evening.
What about the weather? Well, it was glorious most of the time. As soon as we arrived in the Lake District, the sun came out and whilst there wasn't wall-to-wall sunshine all of the time, we drove on dry roads for the majority of the trip. The one exception was on the 3rd day (when we got stuck in a huge traffic jam on the A9) where an overcast day produced a few drizzly showers. At least we got to see how brilliant the Porsche's traction control, 4-wheel drive and Stability Management systems are - even a really bad driver would be flattered by the ability of the car to keep everything pointing in the right direction. Earlier in the day, we had been to the top of Cairngorm, where we got stuck for a while, as the wind speed was in excess of 85 MPH, so the funicular railway had to stop running. Definitely no cobwebs left after that experience.
During the tour, we (or rather the car) consumed well over £300 worth of petrol, but it was a small price to pay for having the opportunity to drive a supercar - in the company of others - over some of the best roads to be found in the U.K.

If you want to take part in a similar tour, either here or abroad, get in touch with Darren and Graham - they certainly know what drivers enjoy and are extremely good company to boot.

Till the next time...

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Take care, and best wishes!