To Lewis by ferry

Today we bade farewell to our hotel in Muir of Ord - but not before I beat the boyfriend of the waitress at Carcassonne! Within minutes of mentioning the game at breakfast in the dining room, Katie spirited Simon up for us. It was an interesting game with an expert player, so I was proud of my achievement (though I should admit that I benefited from a little coaching along the way from Mr hazelh). Simon has recommended another game for us, so we will check out Hive when we return home from our holiday.

We caught the ferry (blipped) across to the Isle of Lewis from Ullapool at 17:30 after a late lunch at the Ceilidh Place. It was a perfect day for sailing on a calm sea under sunny blue skies, so we sat outside for the first part of the journey - until it was time to play Carcassonne and Scrabble indoors (I lost both games). There was great excitement amongst the passengers when a little girl spotted several dolphins leaping out of the water a couple of hundred yards from the boat. It was lovely to see these creatures of course, but nothing like our experience of witnessing their salmon-munching brethren on the east coast on Saturday.

On our way over to Ullapool we took the opportunity of visiting Strathpeffer. What an interesting wee town! We walked up to the Eagle Stone, admired the huge Victorian hotels, peered into the Spa Pavilion, paid a visit to the restored railway station, and climbed the steep path up to the stone maze.

We're now at Baile-na-Cille in Uig on the Isle of Lewis for a week of complete relaxation.

Exercise today: walking  (14,557 steps).