Day 10: Roisinis to Carinish, RTN (12Nm, 4hrs)

I'm lying in my bivvy bag at the end of another good day. I'm lacking inspiration to write - maybe a few swigs of whisky will help - yup, that's better...

Today was a day of rest. I used the MSR petrol stove, to save effort of collecting heather, to cook porridge with jam. I enjoyed the porridge more than I ever have before, enjoying the change from concentrated protein breakfasts of eggs and blackpudding. After breakfast I went for a wash in the nearby loch and took the opportunity to wash some clothes too. It was unbelievable refreshing, after I'd got over the shock, splash my face, rub myself down with sphagnum moss and go for a swim.

After some sunbathing I made a shopping list and set off for a day trip to the shops to restock. It was a longer paddle than I had thought, however I was working with the tide, so that was nice. I got to Carinish Inn to have a pint and hopefully find some local producers. I didn't find the latter, but the pint was great - a nice cold Tenant’s Lager! After chatting to people I got a list to the nearest shop, got some locally produced food (bread, jam, oatmeal) and walked back to the boat.

A pleasant paddle back in the sun followed. The weather was just fantastic! I got back at 6pm and started preparing dinner: cleaning mussels; peeling potatoes; and collecting heather + firewood. Tonight's dinner was the most decadent yet - venison + mussels, potatoes, with golden syrup cake (baked in the UK), although I ate the cake first! It was all really nice, but I'm longing for fresh fruit and vegetables!

I'm happy that I've now caught up with daily writing and video diary entries. Pretty tired...

Day 9: (Morning) Preparing to leave Loch Ayenort for Roisinis

I was too tired to write last night, so I'm now sitting on a rock on the shore in Loch Ayenort, in front of the fire that I cooked breakfast on and am now burning some peat, which has got a lovely yellow coloured ash and nice smell. The morning sun (9am) is casting a pretty light on the Loch, and I'm just about to start packing my boat before going up to say a final good bye to Archie, Angie, Margaret and Graham, who are some of the most generous and hospitable people I've ever met - thank you for all your help!

Yesterday was as usual, a good day. I got the fire going for breakfast, cooked some porridge with jam and boiled some water for a flask for tea, collecting some of the leaves that Archie said could be used for medicinal tea - I later found it was Comfrey.

Then I went up to meet Alistair McEachan, who again was very kind. We had already arranged by e-mail to meet, so Alistair came with gifts of Record potatoes, lamb chops, a joint of lamb and a leg of venison! That'll be on the grill tonight with a few herbs! We had a cup of tea with Alistair before he left.

Then it was off fishing with Archie along a few headlands and reefs out of Loch Ayenort. My fishing attempts so far had failed, so I was eager for success! And to cut a long story very short, it was successful and by the end of a few hours we had over ten lithe and sathe. Also on the trip out we collected some pigeon Cach from a cave, saved a lamb from certain death on a cliff, collected some sea gull eggs which I just hard boiled for breakfast and lunch, and collected some mussels which are tonight's dinner together with fish and venison, or maybe I'll save the venison and mussels for tomorrow!

We had a nice tea with chicken soup, mussels, Barra (Jimmy Ferguson's) pork with Alistair's potatoes, and some jelly for pudding.

I've learned quite a bit over this few days, not least that mussels like a bit of fresh water. So with my faith in humanity refreshed and my water bottles full, I head off to face the next challenge...