Lochan Load

It was a refreshingly short journey from Skye across to our next stop, Balmacara Mains Guesthouse. Even by the ridiculously high standard set previously on this tour, the view from outside our room was amazing. 

After a short wi-fi binge we adjourned to Beth's Cafe for some food, enjoying the unfortunate misuse of quotation marks in the cafe's request for donations for people in 'need'..

Upon reaching Dornie Hall, two things became clear: firstly, that the hall was superbly kitted out and featured a lighting rig, stage and sound system; and secondly, that John's trusty amp had tired of its bohemian existence and had packed up, resisting all his attempts to revive it and feebly flashing 'protect' in small font on the screen. It took an epic effort by John to rig his gear to the existing system but we managed to be ready on time, and once again thoroughly enjoyed the concert and the support of all who braved the weather to be there.

Unfortunately all this excitement had left us rather peckish, and we had forgotten that we couldn't rely on the London-style 24 hour takeaways to give us a post-concert meal. After some frenzied calculations and some sweet-talking on the phone from Ian, we dispatched the luckless John to the nearest Chinese takeaway with the vague direction of 'somewhere near a swimming pool'. Aided by divine guidance he returned some time later with a boot full of nutritious goodness, and we retired to the guesthouse to feast and enjoy a nightcap by the fire with the excellent Norman.

Many thanks to all at Balmacara for their hospitality, and to Melanie, Mary, Kate and Di at Lochan for their help and tireless promotion of the concert (and a retweet from Charles Kennedy!). We leave you en route to Fort William - more soon.