After bumming around in Sheffield for more than a week, our infinite travel time suddenly became finite and we realised we had only given ourselves five nights to see Scotland. This was made even shorter by the sun, which has developed a frustrating habit of setting before 4pm. Luckily Scotland is a relatively small country so we felt we were able to enjoy the best of it in such a short period of time.

We took advantage of our hire car's unlimited milage and drove nearly the hole length and width of Scotland. We even saved a few pennies by toughing out the cold and sleeping in the car most nights. These rough sleeps however, were always rewarded with chirping birds and unbeatable misty views in the morning.

The terrain was far more beautiful than we anticipated and we felt ourselves stopping every couple of miles to admire the landscape. For the most part of our drive, we were surrounded by wild, craggy mountains and huge clear lochs. When we weren't being tailgated by crazy Scots, there were always some comically hairy sheep or 'highlan' coos' on the side of the road to keep us company. We were so taken in by the scenery that we felt like any night time driving was pure blasphemy.

With little more than a tourist brochure for a road map, we set off from Newcastle with one goal - to find a nice place near Edinburgh to camp for the night... We hit jackpot when we woke the next morning at a popular little nature reserve called Aberlady Bay. Flocks of geese and lapwings were dancing and singing right in front of us in a beaut little coastal wetland! We eagerly jumped out of our sleeping bags, thew on our hiking boots and set off with the camera on the ready. Our expedition took us on a short wooden boardwalk over the wetland. Apparently these huge flocks of pink-footed geese had recently migrated all the way from Iceland. Afterwards we continued through some rugged hilly grassland and eventually popped out onto a gorgeous empty beach! Not a bad place to stop!

Not caring much for the cities this time round, we stopped in Edinburgh for just enough time for a few quick snaps of the castle and a peep around the tourist haunts. With Scotland's most famous city ticked off, we kept rolling all the way up to Inverness.

Our scenic drive of Loch Ness started off grim, with the whole area covered in thick fog. Our chances of spotting the monster ourselves seemed rather dim. Fortunately the fog didn't last long and lifted just as we were pulling into the Loch Ness Discovery Centre at Drumnadrochit. This centre ended up being a lot less gimmicky than we expected as the exhibition systematically went through the tales of monster sightings on the loch and the various hunting expeditions. They didn't leave much to the imagination, and essentially denied any possibility that the prehistoric dinosaur could exist. This didn't stop them selling cute loch ness monster teddies in the gift shop..

After Loch Ness, we aimed to make it to the Isle of Skye by nightfall. We would have been on track if the drive from Fort Augustus to Skye wasn't the most beautiful part of Scotland. The drive took us winding in between wild, untamed mountains. With majestic lochs down below reflecting the setting sun, the scenery was breathtaking! As we pulled around one particularly scenic corner, we noticed an amazing castle, perched over the water. The Eilean Donan castle was a complete surprise to our scenic drive and the fading orange glow behind the classic silhouette was the cherry on top to one amazing day!

We woke on the Isle of Skye after another camp out in the car and once more were struck by the sheer beauty of the Scottish highlands. Unbeknown in the dark, we had pulled over in a little clearing between the ocean, beautiful red and green peaty hills, paddocks filled with slightly bemused sheep and our very own deserted castle ruins!

Driving around Skye in daylight proved to be just as spectacular as the drive to get there. Around the northern point of the Isle was an amazing cliff face aptly named Kilt Rock. The bizarre shape owes to a series of volcanic sills, left standing after centuries of erosion of the surrounding sandstone. Although appropriate, it took a bit of imagination to picture the giant kilt among the fascinating geology. Our state of awe was amplified when we arrived at the Old Man of Storr. The Old Man is a grand standing rock formation, standing high and proud over the coast below. There is a reason why so many tourists flock to this place every summer!

On the way back towards England, we detoured for an obligatory photo of the Glenfinnan viaduct. If you check out our pictures, you might recognise this one as the railway line for the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter movies!

Keen for a shower, we decided to splash out for our last night in Scotland. We hit jackpot again with a fantastically friendly Inn in a town called Callander. The staff were classic, with a sweet old lady running the place, and a friendly barman to keep us entertained. After some hearty pub grub, we embraced their well stocked whisky collection, chasing with some smooth local ales. The small room quickly filled as a local folk band began setting up for their weekly performance. The band were surprisingly good and gathered a decent crowd. After we assured them that we had no English blood, they entertained us all with a series of anti-English folk songs. It wouldn't have made any difference to us, even if we were English patriots, as it was nearly impossible to discern the lyrics over their thick Scottish accents! We were even treated to a rendition of Walzing Matilda, and were surprised to hear the whole pub singing along with us!

After a haggis and black pudding breakfast, we set off the next morning, sticking to our schedule. Before departing Scotland, however, we passed two significant landmarks.

The first was Doune castle. Although not famous by name, it was easy to recognise the grassy hill leading up to Monty Python's Holy Grail castle! We only had to imagine a mad, hostile white rabbit and it was complete! What you don't see in the movie is the beautiful river winding around behind the castle. The river was full of life with dozens of salmon jumping upstream, and a clever heron waiting patiently for lunch.

Our final Scottish landmark was the William Wallace Memorial. We were led high up into a tower with a lookout over his most triumphant victory against the English, the battle of Stirling Bridge. Using Wallace as a symbol for freedom, it wasn't hard to sympathize with the Scotts' lingering resentment towards the English.

It's hard to imagine that we managed to fit so much into five days, but I guess that's the upside to a little bit of research and planning! For now it's another race against the sun down towards one of England's most praised areas, the Lakes District!