Well, we are here and settled in at last. Friday we set off at 06:15 (only a quarter of an hour later than we had intended) and drove all the way up to Inverness, arriving at 17:50. We stopped on the way for breakfast, lunch and probably too many coffees but the end result was that we were quite refreshed when we arrived at Glendruidh Hotel, a delightful little place that was run by Michael, the owner, waiter, barman and receptionist! His wife was the chef, but we never saw her. We spent a wonderful evening in the bar talking to Michael and Jack, one of the other guests who lives on Orkney and was also on his way over here.

Saturday dawned bright with blue skies for our drive up the A9 to Gills Bay where we caught the ferry over to the island. Jack’s tip of locking the car but not setting the alarm proved to be good advice -I hope I remember on the way back.

A 35 minute drive took us to our cottage’ where we have spent a quiet night, waking up to stormy weather! Today we’ll be off exploring.