Freedom-500

Inverness, Torvean Car Park

Arrival. The starting point of our adventure. We've landed at Torvean Car Park, one of the Highland Council's approved stopover points and the official starting line for the CamperKing Freedom 500. Tomorrow the adventure really begins.

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Inverness, Torvean Car Park (the following morning) > Achnasheen

After a cool night in the relatively unusual surroundings of a public car park, and a quick jaunt to the nearest leisure centre for morning ablutions, we're on the road again. First stop, Achnasheen.

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Bealach Na Ba, Applecross Pass

A must-see spectacle on the route and this is merely day one! This incredible mountain pass, while challenging to drive, is rewarding in equal measure - offering arguably the most stunning vistas in the land. Check out the gallery below - although the pictures don't even come close to doing it justice.

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Kinlochewe Caravan and Motorhome Club Site

Following a stunning journey crossing from east to west in just a few short hours, the close of our first full day on the NC500 has brought us to Kinlochewe, via the incredible Applecross Pass and the Torridon Hills. It will be hard to top this for a day, especially as the temperatures have been in the early 20s throughout. But the drive has topped up our batteries and without even thinking about power needs, we're on site, unplugged, and ready for a great day again tomorrow.

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Kinlochewe Caravan and Motorhome Club Site (morning)

Before setting off on the next leg of our journey, a quick battery check shows two of our vans on 86 and 90 per cent capacity remaining, and our 300Ah models on 66Ah and 68Ah. A day of driving and we should be back up to full capacity later. Still no hook-ups!

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Poolewe/Inverewe

The roads around this incredible part of the North Coast 500 just keep on giving. The stretch between Kinlochewe and Ullapool has been nothing short of phenomenal to look at with some cathedral-esque hills to marvel at. Our journey today ultimately takes us to Ullapool where a quick stock up fills the van cupboards before heading just past the town to our base at Ardmair Point Holiday Park.

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Ardmair Point Holiday Park

Passing the proposed approved stopover point in the middle of Ullapool (another town centre car park was surprisingly low on everyone's wish list) we find the pearl of a campsite, Ardmair Point Holiday Park - a gorgeous spot overlooking Loch Canaird, a sea loch on the west coast and just a short drive north of Ullapool. As we digest our barbecued burgers and microwaved chilli and lasagne, we're reflecting on a journey of so many superlatives it's hard to make the trip sound genuine to anyone who hasn't experienced it. We're all utterly astonished by the scenery we've passed through. Some of us have the option to hook-up here, but we don't need it. We're at 90 per cent on most vans, with our 1,000Ah models back up to 100.

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Ardmair Point Holiday Park (morning)

Starting off the day we find that a couple of the vans are starting to drop in battery level. Clearly the lack of sunlight has been affecting how much energy can be replaced by the solar panels. One van is down at 27 per cent capacity after a night of heavy heater use and some liberal boiling of the kettle. No fear though, we'll be topping them back up today with a longer run up the coast to Scourie via some very special sights en route.

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Achmelvich Beach

Stopping briefly at the ruin of Ardvreck Castle, we pause for photos, before heading on towards our first true destination today - Achmelvich Beach. Here the turquoise waters lap gently at a shallow white sandy beach - it's one of the highlights of our journey so far. Still not much sun but the drive has done wonders to the charge of the batteries and our lowest capacity vehicle is back at 46 per cent. One of our higher capacity 1000Ah vehicles quickly has some water up to a hot shower temperature to help one of our brave swimmers warm up after a dip.

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Kylesku Bridge / Scourie Camping and Caravan Site

The well-known landmark of the Kylesku Bridge is our final photo stop, and we make the most of the evocative misty backdrop to shoot some incredible drone footage. It's then on to the stop for the night at Scourie. Vans are back at healthier charge rates after the longer run, but one - a 300Ah model - is still at 46 per cent, with some charge needed to help power some camera and drone devices through the night. We're staying true to the promise though, so without hooking up, we tether the 300Ah model to one of our 1000Ah models and allow it to top up. The 1000Ah model drops from 90 per cent to 83 per cent, while the other rises to 68 per cent. At one point it draws 140A. We don't think this has ever been done before on a campsite!

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Scourie Camping and Caravan Site

The decision today is to press straight on to John O'Groats as we have a few members of the party now tight for time. However, the drive across from Scourie to JOG is one of the most rewarding of the whole trip. With the sun returning, the scenery is just continually capturing our attention, not least the staggeringly beautiful Ceannabeinne Beach. With the tide out and not a soul in sight, this stretch of sand took our breath away. Just a few miles on, sea mists pouring in from the ocean perfectly framed the towering mountain peaks for a brilliant 'drones out' moment at the roadside. We're charging the vans as we drive today, and with more than 80 miles to drive, and plenty of sun for the panels, they should all arrive in pretty good shape.

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John O'Groats

Our destination for the evening, and a great place to bed down for the night, at the very top of mainland Britain. No hook-ups of course. We're still obeying that rule and the vans are performing admirably. Everyone seems to have put power management out of their minds completely!

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John O'Groats > Inverness (finish line)

Starting the day at the top of mainland Britain, we're now on the last leg of the journey and we'll reach (and pass) Inverness today. After some heavy use of the diesel heaters and plugging in some fairly luxuriant devices (chocolate velvetiser anyone?) we start the day with 21 per cent battery capacity on one of our 300Ah models and 80 per cent on the 1000Ah model. After a brief fuel stop in Wick we skip past Whaligoe Steps due to the heavy sea mist rolling in from the ocean and head for Dunrobin Castle, a beautiful neo-Gothic mansion popular as a final highlight on clockwise journeys of the NC500.

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End of the road

After five full days of touring the NC500 we're back where we started, and we're delighted that all our Freedom models have completed the entire journey without once plugging in. We've had diesel heaters running, kettles boiling, water pumps operating, drones, phones, laptops and cameras charging, along with numerous personal devices and even our Starlink satellite internet system. The power demand has been a true test of the vehicle's capability, with the onboard Renogy power system performing admirably. The lowest battery level seen on a 300Ah vehicle was 12 per cent, while the lowest on our 1000Ah models was 68 per cent.

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