I don't know if Scotland has a national colour, but if not, I propose they change the referendum to pick one. I'm gonna suggest 'purpley-lilac', cos no matter when you go there, it's everywhere - if not the ubiquitous rhodedendron in early summer, then it's either the bluebells in spring, or the heathers in autumn. Eitherway, anytime is a great time to go 'north'.

This year's roadcrew consisted of the following:

Day 1 - Too many roadworks

We met up at Trinity at 6.00am on a lovely bright and dry morning. As we were sailing from Belfast rather than Larne, we'd a little more time to get there than usual, so no problems getting checked in and lashed down onboard. Mind you it was a flat and calm crossing anyway.

Breakfast onboard with extortionate prices is as you know, obligatory. We docked at Cairnryan at 9.50am and were off up the road towards Girvan with no hassle. No matter how many times I drive up that road towards the Erskine Bridge, it never quites seems intuitive how to get there, but we did, and didn't lose anyone en-route!

Blue skies overhead, we refuelled at Dumbarton and put on the summer gloves before picking up the A817 towards Garelochhead and Arrochar. Loads of bluebells in the woods along Loch Lomond, we reached Crianlarich and soon after Tyndrum, for lunch at the Green Welly. I must confess to liking their Cullen Skink, but ouch, it ain't cheap!

A superb run continued over Rannoch Moor and past Glencoe, where there was still snow on the higher mountain sides. Another refuel in Fort William, traffic here was mustard, and it must be a motorcycling first when Edwards' and my GS'es almost overheated in Fort William, second on the world's coldest places just behind the Ross Ice Shelf (ok, I made that bit up). It turned out to be all due to roadworks just on the Spean Bridge side of town.

The 65 mile run up to Inverness from Fort William is always nice with lovely sweeping bends, especially if there is no traffic - or roadworks. Just south of Drumnadrochit they were reinforcing the rocks alongside the road and operating a convoy system for cars, so 10 minute turnaround each time. Never mind, we'd a good day's riding and fatigue was starting to set in anyway.

We reached the Premier Inn around 5.30pm, 256 miles after leaving the boat. Dinner was booked for 7.15pm and pretty good as usual at the Thyme Restaurant. A wander around the downtown Inverness area wrapped up the evening, most were ready for a decent night's kip.

Day 2 - Over the sea to Skye

With dry, sunny weather like this, the opportunity to see Skye the way its meant to be seen was too good a chance to miss, so at 9.30am we headed back down the A82 past the convoy roadworks one last time before veering right at Invermoriston towards the Kyle of Lochalsh.

Bill and Kenny got stuck at the road works while they were blasting the rocks but it gave us time to grab a few photos between there and Skye, including Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness. The A87 along side Loch Cluanie was superb in the early morning sunlight. Stopping at Dornie for a photo of Eilean Donan castle, we caught up with rest of the team at the Kyle of Lochalsh before rolling on over the bridage to Skye.

The roads here really are fantastic, and not to mention the scenery all around - through Broadford and round Loch Sligachan, we rode through a busy Portree and headed up the A855 onto the Trotternish peninsula and past the famous Old Man of Storr towards Uig. After a quick bite to eat, we headed back down towards Portree and the mainland, turning north in Auchtertyre onto the A890 and the superb-stunning-incredible traffic free Wester Ross trail. 75 miles later found us pulling into the Premier Inn again around 6.00pm with smug, contented faces and sore bums, but heck, no pain no gain!
A great day out.

Day 3 - Homeward bound

Watching the weather forecast again and again invariably doesn't guarantee that you'll stay dry, but in my mind, it does seem to increase the chances. Rain was coming in from the west so we were going to get wet 'somewhere' but it was impossible to say where and when - come on, this is Scotland after all.

And so it was.

A lovely clear morning, we headed down along the east side of Loch Ness, a single track road in some places, but a great alternative to the roadworks 1 mile away as the crow flies across the loch and not a monster in sight.

Picking up the A82 again in Fort Augustus, we followed it as far as Spean Bridge before heading towards Laggan and Dalwhinnie, and picked up the A9 south for Pitlochry. A quick refuel (loads of bikes here today) and we were onto the A827 along the River Tay, stopping for lunch at Kenmore on Loch Tay. And pleasant enough even to sit out!

As we got further south after lunch, the drizzle started to fall, and on the twistiest road in the Highlands (the A821 past Loch Venachar) we got stuck behind a Renault Clio and Volvo for what seemed like an eternity. Reaching Aberfoyle, we found straight roads again and on through Balloch, we refuelled at Dumbarton, our last stop before the boat still 90 miles away, and the rain was starting to fall a little heavier.

My satnav was predicting that we'd arrive there at 6.45pm, precisely the last check-in time for our 7.30pm sailing, so not a lot of slack there really. In hindsight, it seemed that every horsebox and Volvo driver was on the road that evening, but we made it with 4 minutes to spare, with a spirited run along the coast and just a little sodden; it didn't really matter though, we were on the home leg.

We docked in Belfast at 9.50pm, and with still a lot of light in the sky, the gang dispersed quickly along the M2 and Westlink to mark the end of a great weekend. Bring on 2015...!

Full photo gallery can be found here.