A better day than yesterday, weatherwise. It began very hazy but before long the sun began to shine through, looking more like the moon - see extra. We had a fair bit of light sunshine both morning and afternoon, which lit up all the white houses beautifully.

We set off along the narrow road where we park the car - above the cottage where we're staying, which is my Blip today. Our house is the one below the picnic table - the harbour lies between our house and the ones opposite. This road leads round the corner into the village next door, Port Wemyss.

In Port Wemyss we parked the car and walked down to the viewpoint, looking across to the island of Orsay and the Rhinns of Islay lighthouse. On the way back we met a lady clearing out her garage and stopped for a lovely chat. She was actually born in the village and having spent most of her life abroad had retired to her native home.

We continued on to Bruichladdich where we planned to visit the local craft fair. We'd noticed this before we left home, but picked up a leaflet yesterday confirming that it was held each Tuesday and Thursday until October. The hall was silent and empty!

Mrs M wanted to visit Port Ellen, which is right down at the south end of the island. We hoped to stop for coffee on the way, but couldn't find anywhere, so carried on to the town which is spread right around a curved bay. By this time it was nearing lunchtime, so we looked for likely lunch stops. The first hotel was closed, the second wasn't doing lunches but advised us to drive back a half mile or so as the local farm shop had a restaurant. The notice on the door confirmed this, but the place was locked and empty! We were forced to try the only place we could find, the exorbitantly priced SeaSalt Bistro, where we enjoyed Cullen Skink again, a little hotter this time!

On the way back we visited the RSPB reserve at Gruinart where we called in at the hide on the lookout for rare birds. It's a lovely place, a real wetland, but all we saw were mallards, a family of Mute swans and a solitary lapwing.  Maybe the weather was too windy for them!

So back to the house for a cuppa, before setting off again for dinner at the Port Charlotte Hotel, where we had lunch yesterday. A good day, with several disappointments, but that's life!