Part 2

park assist TO THE RESCUE

This is another fantastic piece of tarmac, almost like Eau Rouge on the Spa F1 circuit in places, such is the scale of its sweeps, and almost deserted as most traffic takes the A9. We join that HGV-heavy road briefly as we navigate towards Inverness for our overnight stop. Speed limit recognition and cruise control ease the strain.

It’s a jolt to see the sprawling retail parks of the Inverness suburbs, the chic restaurants and the traffic after so much wilderness. Inverness provides a chance to put the Park Assist of our 2008 to the test – activate the system, choose from parallel or perpendicular parking, then the Peugeot pings up a message when it finds a match. Slot reverse and it does the steering while you do the pedals and gears (scroll down for more tech detail).  

We treat ourselves with a stay at the five-star Ness Walk hotel, crunching over the gravel car park to look out on the River Ness, which flows fast and wide and full. There are some smart cars here, and the 2008’s modernist design is a good fit.

2008 road trip day two

Before the sun’s risen the next morning we pack our stuff back in the 2008’s boot – a decent size given the compact footprint – and take the A9 over the Moray Firth. It’s raining hard and the traffic kicks up spray to make conditions tricky, so the 2008’s LED lights that cut through the gloom with their distinctive three-claw signature are very reassuring.

Our itinerary sees us initially joining the North Coast 500 route, before cutting cross-country on the A835 and picking it up again in Ullapool, a shortcut that lets us make John O’Groats by dusk and take pictures.

We refuel at Ullapool then stop and watch the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry load with lorries and cars before striking out in to the Atlantic for Stornoway – a reminder that this remote coast is a lifeline to the even more remote Outer Hebrides. Wind screeches through the rigging of smaller moored boats and spray whips up over Loch Broom. 

to the north coast 500!

The A835 is far more inviting. It’s a road that will make you fall in love with the freedom of driving all over again. The few drivers you follow know what they’re up to – a Tesco delivery van carves the most delicious lines, its body leaning and suspension bobbing about through the long, sweeping turns, though I suspect the fruit and veg inside will be nothing but soup come journey’s end. More than anything, though, this is the most beautiful place, one that will feel fascinatingly alien to most of the British population.

Our DAB radio signal squelches in and out, so I Bluetooth The Remote Part by Idlewild through the (£590 optional) Focal stereo – soundscape and landscape perfectly in tune.

Just above Unapool we cross Kylesku Bridge, which opened in 1984 and spans the loch below like a taut archer’s bow. Rain continues to hammer down and again there’s that screech of wind through the bridge’s railings, but we push on, through Scourie and Rhiconich, then the A838 cuts inland, lopping off the most north-westerly tip of Scotland. When it rejoins the North Atlantic coast near Leirinmore, we pull over at a beach that’d make the Cornish gawp – the sand so near-white and firm and untouched it feels almost wrong to put a footprint on it, the turquoise water topped with a fizzing white spray off the breakers; right on cue the sun breaks through the clouds like a smile cracking a frown. Further up the coast we’ll see surfers suiting up to jump in the wintry Atlantic. Inside a Peugeot 2008, two Sassenachs won’t even open the panoramic sunroof.