It's hard to believe that this is only our fourth day in Scotland. We seem to have been here much longer than that, and not because time is dragging but because we seem to have seen so much already.

Today we thought it would be a good opportunity to visit the Cairngorm reindeer herd, especially as the weather around Blairgowrie was going to be a bit wetter than it has been so far and going further afield seemed a better prospect. So, under grey skies with the uncertain but ever-present threat of rain, we set off North towards Aviemore and the Cairngorms. This is territory well known to us as we have spent a lot of time over the years in this part of Scotland but a visit to the reindeer has become almost a bi-annual pilgrimage since our first visit when we adopted one of the herd.

Arriving with half an hour to spare before the Hill Walk, we made a quick comfort stop and waited for our guide for the morning to signal the start to the tour. In previous years it has been a sizeable group taking the hike up to the range but today there were just seven adults and one tot in the line-up, making for an an intimate little group.

With rain threatening we followed the green Land Rover up the hill to the starting point and joined our reindeer herder for the day, Sarah, for the short hike up the hill.

The trail looked quite different today as we followed the steep path with Sarah forging on ahead with the bag of feed slung across her shoulders, as our last visit had taken place in glorious sunshine. Still, while the day was chilly and overcast it hardly impacted on the adventure and the hike served to generate some heat. (In fact, in spite the physical exertion we didn't even break a sweat).

As usual we stopped briefly at the mid-way point at Utsi's Bridge; Mikel Utsi being the Swedish reindeer herder who, back in the early 1950s, recognised that the area was a perfect habitat for reindeer. Indeed reindeer had once roamed the Scottish highlands but had become extinct about 1,000 years ago. In recognition of the founder of what was to become the Cairgorm reindeer herd, a memorial stone marks both the bridge named after him and the year of Utsi's death - 1979.

Pressing on, we finally crested the hill and reached the enclosure which keeps part of the herd confined and is home to a few dozen animals at any given time. While confined suggests paddocks and zoo-type enclosures, this enclosure covers hundreds of acres and beyond this is the free-range where part of the herd wanders unconfined for some of the year. In yet another area some reindeer can be found resting, some semi-retired, at the owner's farm near Tomintoul. Which animals can be found where depends on the time of the year and the forces of nature. This year it was the one year old and two-year old males and some breeding bulls that were in the enclosure; the females were still out on the open range but would be shortly making their way down to the hillside for the start of the rut.

As we walked through the gate and onto the wooden boardwalk snaking through the often boggy terrain, Sarah started calling the reindeer. Familiar with the twice daily hand-feeding routine the reindeer were not backward in coming forward and soon we were sharing the boardwalk with a number of pushy reindeer. I found myself with a couple of reindeer in front of me and several behind and was being continually nudged by the one immediately behind me to make sure I didn't slow down.

The reindeer are essentially gentle animals, but some of them have huge antlers and it's quite a challenge when they start crowding in to seek out the food to avoid getting an antler up the nose! Fortunately they aren't sharp so even when that happens, and I can attest to this as I did actually get bumped on the nose by one eager beast pushing in for some grub, there's no damage done.

The beauty of a small group became apparent during the hand-feeding ritual. We lost three adults and the tot at the very start of the hand-feeding; the tot cried and the mother seemed a bit afraid of the reindeer so they quickly departed leaving just four of us to hand feed the reindeer - and even then one lady held back as the number and size of the animals enthusiatically pushing one another to get to the food scared her. Which meant that me and Alex got to do most of the feeding!

It was amazing. Surrounded by jostling reindeer all trying to get to the food cupped in our hands. One, Rubiks, was the pushiest young man you could ever hope to encounter - and an absolute guts. He always managed to muscle his way in and it became quite a challenge to keep the food away from his questing nose and give some others a chance.

Our adopted reindeer, Scout, was not there this year; he was over at the farm resting however we did meet his little brother, Boris. Poor Boris had sustained either an in utero defect or a birth injury as he had a very lopsided face, but this was a cosmetic fault only and did nothing to interfere with his daily life - or his appetite.

We spent a long time with the reindeer herd, although once the food was gone our fair-weather friends drifted away to crop the grass and seek out the food mix scattered around by Sarah. One enterprising reindeer found the chaff bag and was busy nuzzling out the last remnants of the food.

The weather had closed in and while it was only spitting fine rain the wind was freezing. The downside to feeding reindeer from cupped hands is that the result is a mixture of chaff and reindeer spit (which seems to activate the gluten in the oats) leaving a sticky, grubby residue which no amount of rubbing seems to remove. So, finally, we said farewell to the reindeer and started back along the boardwalk to the gate. There was hand sanitiser at the exit but alcohol gel does not remove grime; rather I ended up with a gluey black mess and freezing cold hands. Worse yet, the gel did not dry so I spent the trek back to the car trying to get the worst of the unpleasant mixture off my hands. Still, it was worth it, but I couldn't wait to get to some soap and water!

Tesco to the rescue! We drove back to Aviemore and ducked into the rest room in Tesco to wash our hands.

Feeling respectably clean once more we looked for somewhere to have lunch. We found a little place called the Super Panther - a restaurant and bar in the main street. What a find! Delicious food suitable for vegetarians. I chose the Haloumi and Portobello Mushroom burger with rosemary and sea-salt fries, and Alex had a falafel burger with onion rings. I have never had such a tasty burger in my life. Lovely soft bun, not too big, and the fries and onion rings were perfect. The place was friendly and had a nice cheery atmosphere so if you're ever in Aviemore give them a go.

Watered and fed we moved on to our next port of call: The Highland Wildlife Park at Kingcraig. This has also become a regular stop for us and each time we visit there have been changes and new enclosures added. This time we found a new polar bear had joined Walker in the enclosure and there was a completely new exhibit of wolverines.

The weather was still gloomy and grey but the rain held off and as the day progressed the weather actually started to improve so by the time we were getting ready to leave the sky had lightened considerably and the wind was less cutting.

So, we spent a pleasant afternoon wandering around the park and although many of the animals were hiding away - probably keeping warm and cosy - we had a great time watching the wolves, trying to spot the wolverines and watching the antics of the snow monkeys. The babies were so cute and we watched a pair of juveniles fighting over who would claim the end of the branch.

We left the park a little before closing time and made our way home. We ended the day by parking the car at The Jute Store and walking in to Blairgowrie to grab a few items from Tesco. It's a nice walk along the river (about 4km there and back) with a bit of a hill scramble along one section just to keep things interesting where there has been some land-slippage and path has been blocked off for a couple of hundred meters.

And so endeth our fourth day of the trip. Lots of driving again but a good day all round. Time to settle down for dinner, and a spot of relaxing in front of the TV.