David S

I remember seeing it when it first came out, it was a good program. I have watched a few of the YouTube episodes.

very nicely done

Yes that is it with the exception that some of the Scottish contingent may want to head straight for home as opposed to the Fort William stopover.

Sounds good to me.

Dunollie booked, so that's me done as well.

Following Bob's lead, I have just booked in to the Wild Orchid Guest House ( http://www.wildorchidguesthouse.co.uk/). They have 8 rooms in total, Bob and Mo have 1, I have 1, so there are still 6 available. They have twin rooms to share and a triple to share if required. Also off road parking. A room for just me was £45 BB.

Back on post #51, Whiz said he had spoken to The Dunollie and they have provisionally reserved us 12 places for the 2 nights. He was going to gt a booking reference for us to use. I fired off an email to them last night to ask about a reservation but I haven't heard back from them yet.

OK peeps, someone had to be the first. I have booked the following: Thursday 14th Premier Inn Stafford North (Hurricane) £45 - breaks up the journey north a bit Friday 15th Premier Inn Dumbarton/Loch Lomond £35 Tuesday 19th Premier Inn Fort William £45 Still Skye and Durness to sort but this is a start.

I think this is the final list. I am happy with this if eveyone else is. Friday 15th - Premier Inn - Dumbarton/Loch Lomond - For the Southeners or anyone who wants to join us Saturday 16th - The Dunollie - Skye Sunday 17th - The Dunollie - Skye Monday 18th - Lazy Crofter Bunkhouse Hostel - Durness Tuesday 19th - Premier Inn - Fort William

Andy - Shall we book individually or are you getting numbers to make a block booking for us?

Need a dislike button

I have been doing a bit more digging for accommodation on Skye and in Durness. On Skye I think we are probably looking at The Dunollie like last year. Every other place I have looked is either booked already when I have checked the dates or are in to 3 figures per night for B&B only. If people don’t fancy The Dunollie, we could just leave it to each person to find their own accommodation and then we just meet at a central place at a specified time ready to do the tour of the island the next day. Personally I think it would be nicer if we were all together. Andy (Wizz) rang them last year and got us a group rate so perhaps he would be kind enough to do the same again this year? As for Durness, there appears to be 2 actual hotels in Durness. ! isn't open until May, and the other doesn't have enough rooms for all of us (The Smoo Cave Hotel). There are a number of B&Bs, but you need to go away from Durness a bit to find more hotels. I used the interactive map from the Notrth 500 web site to find some options. http://www.northcoast500.com/interactive-map.aspx These are just the few that I looked at and it would be good if someone else were also to have a look. There are a lot more but some are probably too expensive or are miles away from Durness. I suppose it depends what people are prepared to pay! http://sangosands.com/ - camping from £8 per night - Not sure I fancy that in April!! http://www.tonguehostelandholidaypark.co.uk/ - Hostel type place with rooms from £39 or £18 in bunk rooms - Not sure about this but may be OK just for 1 night if there is nothing else. http://www.tonguehotel.co.uk/index.php - has 19 rooms from £45 per person BB or £60 DBB per person. This may be OK if we get in sooner rather than later but is a way beyond Durness. These next few are on the road towards Durness. http://www.rhiconichhotel.co.uk - This has 10 rooms. A single is £60 B&B and the doubles £98 B&B http://www.kinlochberviehotel.com/ This has 12 rooms from £40 per night upwards http://www.kyleskuhotel.co.uk No idea how many rooms but this is from £70 per night upwards It is looking a bit like it might be a free for all in Durness. Perhaps it will be up to people to sort their own place and then we agree to meet at The Smoo Caves the next day at a prescribed time? Perhaps others can have a look and then we can reach a consensus. It would be good to get this tied down so we can get things booked sooner rather than later.

Following on from Paul's findings, could day 5 come back down to maybe Fort William instead of Dunfermline? It might cut a hour or so off the day? The locals may want to head for home but the Southerners might prefer a slightly shorter day with there being a long trek the next day. The other thing I have been doing is looking at accommodation on Skye. There are a lot of hotels but not many are under 3 figures per night. The place we stayed last year was OK and I think Andy rang them up and got us a deal on the rate. We paid £60 DBB last year where as this year they are quoting from £95 if you go on the website. There may be better options that I am not seeing. Perhaps Andy could work his magic again? I am also struggling to see where we could stay in Durness in a large group? Has anyone else had a look yet? Like Bob and Mo, I will stop on the way back to break it up and add an extra day on that way.

The way I see it is this: For the Southerners Thursday 14th - Possibly travel part way up to somewhere around the Stafford area Friday 15th – Travel north – Suggest overnight at the Premier Inn Dumbarton/Loch Lomond - The Scottish contingent could either also stay or join us on the Saturday morning. Saturday 16th – Travel north via Fort William and then Mallaig for the ferry to Skye – Accommodation to be agreed. Sunday 17th – Stay on Skye to see the whole Island as we missed a lot of it last year - Accommodation to be agreed but possibly the same place. Monday 18th – Travel north ending in Durness – Visit the Smoo Caves – Accommodation to be agreed Tuesday 19th - Head south – Suggested accommodation at the Premier Inn Dunfermline Wednesday 20th - Head for home possibly stopping half way to break up the journey

Assuming the first night will be around the same area as last year, then I have had a quick look at prices. The Travelodge we used in Helensburgh is quoting £45 on the saver rate (pay up front) for the room only. Dinner and breakfast would be extra and in the pub next door. Dinner last year was OK but the breakfast was pretty poor. There is a Premier Inn, listed as ‘Dumbarton/Loch Lomond Hotel’, not far away that is quoting £35 room only on the saver rate. It has a chain type pub next door and although standard fayre, I suspect the food would be better here. It looks like a new build hotel as well.

Where is the 'Dislike' option when you need it! You will be missed Dan.

Absolutely Would be good to meet up somewhere around the Stafford area and go on up from there. Once we have the itinerary and overnight stops we can start booking the accommodation. Really looking forward to it.

I would be heading up from Gloucester, so probably the west coast. I have booked the Friday off work so can be there for the 15th.

Is there any news on the trip? If it is still on, we need to start looking at accommodation pretty soon.

I think the rear of the wheel arch should line up more with the back panel so needs to go back about 2 inches, then the wheel would sit in more central. I think you see this from Richards pictures compared to yours

Femi - If you can't get one closer to home, you can borrow mine. I won't be able to send it until after Christmas now though. Let me know.

Got to say I love the red Femi, but the blue is also nice. Glad I don't have to make the choice

Welcome to the forum and the club Chris. I have had a read of your blog and you are making great progress. There are quite a few of us who have been through what you are doing so there is a lot of experience on hand, so don't be afraid to ask questions.

There is a Westfield bonnet and nose cone for sale on ebay at the moment. I appreciate you don't want Westfield parts per ce but if they are only to practice on then no worry. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westfeild-kit-car-nose-cone-/331715791698?hash=item4d3bcd4b52:g:tFgAAOSwv-NWU1vu http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westfeild-kit-car-bonnet-/331715794538?hash=item4d3bcd566a:g:KS0AAOSw7FRWU11K

They are the same as the basic seats I got from GBS when I built my Zero, The holes for the runners are in the base you just need to find them through the covering. If you have the runners, it pretty much guides you as to where they are. I had the same issue with the sides on the base digging into the back of my legs so I opted to change mine. I bought a single Tillett GRP seat for me and left the passenger seat as it was as I very rarely take passengers anyway.