Wednesday

Kath, Ryan and I had booked a trek on the Alvie estate carefully chosen to include cantering and no road work. We dropped Martin and Jess at Loch Morlich where they hired a Pico for the day. Our trek was just what we wanted and we trotted and cantered and were treated to lovely views along the ride. On the way back we met a lady holding a goshawk and with a spaniel who had been hunting and had game in her shoulder bag. She was dressed in all the gear but was absolutely genuine and not a tourist attraction!

We collected lunch and met the others at the Loch. Jess and Katherine spent the afternoon with Martin in the Pico.

In the evening (after Kath's home made scones) we walked to the Winking Owl where there was a live band playing great ceilidh music. We were all prepared to dance but, not knowing the moves we didn't want to be first up. Unfortunately,  apart from a mother and son doing the 'floss' no one danced. Never mind, the music was really lively and Jess and I did a bit of a Highland fling in the car park on the way out. At the table next to us was Richard Westcott, the BBC science & tech correspondent who was with his crew - they had been filming 1000 year old trees nearby.

The Harley Davidson banner is up early - there is a rally in Aviemore at the weekend.