We bid farewell to the lands of Scottish historical battlegrounds and drove towards the coast at Kennacraig. Happily too, a return, one of our last, to the big scenery that we will remember so fondly from our Scottish adventures this past 4 weeks. Loch Lomond was pretty and clearly a tourist mecca during high times. Some slow vehicles, the odd snow flurrie, cold and slippery roads made us grateful for a nice efficient get away from our hotel after breakfast. Remaining as calm as possible for me as driver has been important, and I have been super grateful for the accuracy of satellite navigation on this trip as we've explored all sorts of places with very few times of navigational uncertainty.

Arriving at Kennacraig ferry terminal, the ferry to Islay was much larger than we'd imagined and made for a very smooth and comfy crossing (about 2 hours). A 20 minute drive into Bowmore and arrived at our accommodation for the next 3 nights...a simply stunning place. As we drove into town, there are a line of three houses on the waters edge...ours is one of them (well we're staying in a converted shed at the rear of the property...the view is incredible, looking over the Loch Lothian across to Bruichladdich...glorious). The water is quite shallow and with the wind and rain, some very pretty patterns across the water are visible. We even have some water birds with funny little top knots and a pair of white swans that seem to call this area home.

The afternoon spent looking at the various whisky locales, tour options and a quiet night in over a home made chicken tikka and some deadliest catch on telly.