Today was the first of what will be three consecutive days of travel that will take us from the north of the Isle of Skye down to Youlgreave in the Peak District of England. We have enjoyed our three nights on the Isle of Skye and our comfortable chalet overlooking Loch Snizort Beag (and yes, I believe I have spelt that correctly, just don't ask me to pronounce it).

We arrived on Skye over the bridge but would be departing on the ferry from Armadale in the south of the island to Mallaig on the mainland. Armadale was one and a quarter hours drive from the chalet. We didn't do it all in one go.

Our first stop was at the very unexotic Boots in Portree so Linda could get a brace for her knee. It is improving steadily but still very tender. She was thankful not to have to walk on it much today.

Our next stop was at the somewhat more exotic "The Handspinner Having Fun" wool shop in Broadford.

This was on a side street with a wharf at the bottom.

From here we drove down to Armadale, stopping at Armadale Castle. No, we didn't go in but we did enjoy their cafe. It served some delicious slices.

Then it was time to farewell the Isle of Skye. The ferry was fairly small - it took 20 odd cars and two or three buses - but the journey was similarly short, only half an hour port to port.

As we were leaving port we saw an otter swimming in the sea - a remarkable coincidence seeing Facebook informed us it was World Otter Day - and halfway across a dolphin blessed us with their presence. Both were fleeting glimpses, too short to capture in a photo. Then we were back on mainland Scotland at Mallaig.

We didn't hang around in Mallaig as our accommodation for the night, in St Fillians on Loch Earn, was two and three quarters of an hour drive away.

We did make several stops in the valley behind Glencoe to take photos. This reminded us of the South Island - but without having to walk far from the road to see it.

Our accommodation for the night was at "Achray House Restaurant with Rooms" which is exactly like it sounds. It is a restaurant rather than a hotel but it is far enough away from civilisation that it offers rooms so you don't have to drive after your meal.

We chose to have the six course tasting menu for dinner. Claire, the characterful manager of the restaurant told us "you don't get menus, I bring you the food, you enjoy it" - and that is exactly what happened.

I don't remember every course but the hero course was wood pigeon, which tasted surprisingly like lamb. Linda couldn't quite bring herself to eat it but I did and really enjoyed it. There is a family of kereru in Arapito Rd who should be very worried when we get home.

After dinner, we felt the need to go for a walk along the loch to help the dinner settle.

We found a Heelin Coo seat.

We also saw some Heelin Goats.

We returned to Achray House full and satisfied with our day.