Another scenic drive took us away from the highlands, down more single track roads with steep ascents and descents, past more lochs, and eventually to the east coast and the Cromarty Firth.

The last time Andy and I had been here was 9 years ago when we cycled from Lands End to John O’Groats. Two things stayed in our minds to this day: firstly seeing dolphins from the ferry and secondly having the most amazing smoked salmon and cream cheese jacket potato known to man. Our aim was to have both experiences again.

First up was lunch but without being able to remember the exact location of the cafe we went to previously and being slightly short on time we settled on a cafe that served up some delicious looking wood fired pizza (Andy & the kids) and I had yet more muscles and chips. I hope that eating all these muscles will do something for my own that are getting softer by the day… but I suspect not.

Next on the agenda was dolphin spotting. When planning the trip, we considered paying the £1 ferry fee again but deciding that with the kids, we needed to invest in a little more certainty, we booked a boat trip. It was well worth it as 1h in, after seeing lots of sea birds and some caves, E was bored and we started getting worried that the kids would be disappointed. Andy and I appreciated how lucky we were previously and I hoped beyond hope that the dolphins would come out to play. Thankfully there was a sudden flash of fin and we got to watch the playful creatures glide in and out of the water as they fed. They were near the shore so we couldn’t get too close. It was great the way the tour company respected the animals in their habitat. The kids were excited and enjoyed watching the dolphins flip and somersault.

We are free camping again tonight, this time in a nearby MTB trail park and the kids wasted no time in getting their bikes out and trying out the jump track. Oliver once again showed off his prowess and Elizabeth impressed us all with how confident she’s now getting. We’re so proud of her, considering just over a month ago she refused to cycle full stop. We had time to check out the green trail before supper, a fun little trail with pumps and bumps. At one point I slowed as I thought Elizabeth would lose her nerve but she was off! She’s going to have more guts than me on these trails soon!

We’ve got a couple of hours here tomorrow before we set off. Oliver is very excited. He announced this evening that he would like to spend all his time travelling to different bike parks.