This morning, with it starting to rain, we checked out of the unit and caught a taxi down to the Hertz car hire at Picardy Place. We drove out of Edinburgh, crossed over the Firth of Forth Bridge and headed up into the mountains via Perth.

It was a damp and misty day which seemed appropriate for the location. We stopped for lunch at Braemar and then headed off the last few miles to Balmoral Castle. Almost magically, the weather turned sunny while we were at Balmoral and the castle and its grounds looked stunning. I can see why the Queen loves it there.

We continued on over the highlands and the weather closed in again, but by the time we reached our destination Nairn on the North Coast it had cleared up beautifully. We checked into the Braeval Hotel and were shown to our room which was great, with a fantastic view over the shoreline. After a top quality meal at the hotel's restaurant, we went for a walk down to the beach and dipped our toes into the North Sea. The beach felt surprisingly like home with clean white sand.