A COUPLE who travelled the North Coast 500 route have told how it was “one of the best holidays” they’ve ever had – and revealed the thing they’d do differently next time around.
Husband and wife Richard and Bev Dunhan took on Scotland’s answer to Route 66 in style as they drove the iconic coastal route in an Audi convertible.
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Richard, 56, and Bev, 63, jumped in their car and toured the country’s most breathtaking beauty spots during an eight-night trip.
The couple, who lived in Cambridge at the time, fancied a different type of holiday from their usual trips to Tobago, where they got married.
And after stumbling across the route in a car forum, Richard, who commuted to London for work, thought it looked interesting and showed it to NHS worker Bev
Having never gone any further north than Aberdeen for business trips, they decided to “give it a whirl” and began planning their latest adventure.
Richard and Bev, who now live in South West France, told the Scottish Sun they had a “super time” on their adventure as they captured Scotland’s stunning scenery.
Richard said: “When we did it I was 51 – it was just the right thing at the right time for us.
“We got married in Tobago and we usually go back there in March each year but we didn’t go that year and wanted to do something different instead and that’s when we came across that.
“We thought it would be a nice idea to do a road trip!
“I first saw it on something mentioned on a car forum on something like pistonheads, where you get a small group of car club enthusiasts.
“And when I saw it I thought wow that looks interesting.
“I’d never been further north than like Stirling which was to buy second hand car, and Aberdeen on a business trip so we thought let’s give a whirl!
“We joined the NC500 club and then got more info on it and was recommended map and then we started looking into it.
“We planned for May to avoid the midge season in 2016, and we just sat down over a period of a few days to book BnBs.
“That was like four or five months early and they were already starting to book up.”
After conquering the road trip for the first time in 2016, Richard revealed the one thing that they would do differently if they got the chance again.
He explained how he would attempt the drive in the opposite direction – saving the west coast stretch of the journey for last.
Richard added: “If I was to do it again, I’d do it the other way around – we went clockwise so this time I would go anti-clockwise.
“No disrespect to the east coast – but the west coast is just stunning, so save the best for last!
“We stayed in Pitlochry to start with for our first night and then we travelled round to Lochcarron, then Ullapool, and worked our way round to Gairloch, Kinlochbervie, Thurso then Brora and then back to Pitlochry over 8 nights.”
But the thing that really made the trip for them was the beautiful weather that let them drive with the hood down in their convertible the whole time.
The couple also enjoyed some wildlife tours off Scotland’s islands as they went in search of whales and dolphins.
Richard said: “We had the best weather – it was a little but misty but other than that we had the top down in the car all the way round.
“It was gorgeous – we lucked out on the weather to be honest!
“We done a whale watching trip, which was amazing. I messaged my step daughter saying if you’re thinking about doing it the you absolutely should.
“That was with the Hebridean whale cruises, didn’t see a great deal but was good fun!
“We also went to look at the dolphins on the east coast, it was lovely watching them.
“Every corner we drove round was like a different view to stop and take more pictures – it was superb and very quiet.
“It wasn’t peak holiday season and wasn’t Easter so it was really nice and we had the road to ourselves. We didn’t see traffic anywhere.
“We had a super time, we were sitting on deserted beaches that look like caribbean beaches having picnics – what more could you want!?
“I’d been to Glasgow on business, and Aberdeen, Edinburgh and payed golf a few times but nothing touristy before. This was a first.
“It was probably one of the best holidays we’ve had.”
A year after their NC500 trip, Richard and Bev moved to France in September 2017 for a quieter life.
They bought a small web based holiday property rental business and gave it a complete makeover, and had a good couple of years before Covid hit.
Although Richard said the last couple of years have been tough but they’re still there and are enjoying life in south west France.
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