We woke to a beautiful blue cloudless sky and what felt like our me first day of summer weather the whole trip. Coupled with a late checkout time of 12 pm we took it easy and enjoyed relaxing in the balmy morning. Elizabeth rode her bike with her new friend, Oliver played in a den or read and Andy and I drank our coffee in relative peace.

The tranquility wasn’t to last and as the clouds rolled in, we rolled out, heading back into the mountains. On the way we stopped by an enormous Tesco in Inverness where I probably bought the most unhealthy shop known to man, consisting mostly of bread, alcohol and chocolate. Basically what has become our staple diet on this trip. Never underestimate the power of a wine gum to stop a child whining on a long walk. Should probably call the whine gums.

It was a relatively short journey to our campsite in Glenmore and right next to Loch Morlich, with the highest beach in the UK. We quickly set up camp, made a packed lunch and went to the beach to have a picnic. The location is idyllic and the kids, especially Oliver, were ecstatic about finally being able to swim in a lake.

After lunch we grabbed our swimmers and wetsuits and headed for the water. Andy managed to swim 150m despite getting brain freeze. I stayed upright only wading in waste deep. The kids splashed about and had fun. 10 minutes later, Oliver was shivering and it was time to get out, showered and make the kids some hot chocolate. It was great fun. We’ve hired some stand up paddle boards for Sunday.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty chilled. The kids rode off on their bikes, managed to get lost and were thankfully shown the way back by one of our neighbours. We picked up a map from the visitor centre and checked out local walking routes. I did laundry (hopefully for the last time).

As the sun set we heard bagpipes. We went to investigate and there he was on the beach playing for his Facebook live feed. I’ve decided bagpipes sound a lot better outdoors!