After getting up at 7.40, we had breakfast at the now-traditional time of 8.30, and afterwards set out. The weather was wet and likely to remain either wet or overcast for the day, so we had decided to restrict ourselves primarily to indoor attractions.
Our first stop was at Moniack Castle, a few miles down the road. This is the site of a winery, not something one would expect to find in northern Scotland, but then the wine produced is not of the usual sort made from grapes. Instead the wine is made from plants readily available locally, mainly berries but also the sap of the silver birch tree. I tried a very small sample of the silver birch (a minimal amount since I was driving), and also sampled some of the wonderful jellies and sauces on offer.
We were taken on a brief tour, which began with a video describing the history of the winery (founded by a pair of Second World War veterans) and then took us around the various rooms, describing the manufacture of their various products, before taking us back to the shop and tasting area.
After making a few purchases, we continued into Inverness, parking in a large multi-storey carpark. We made our way first to the tourist information centre, then decided to visit the town museum as it was right next door. The museum had much in the way of exhibits relating to Inverness and the surrounding area, describing the natural and social history. There was also a small art gallery containing some paintings and sculptures of interest, as well as some of which we thought little.
By then we were hungry and set out in search of an eating establishment. There was a café at Balnain House (a folk music museum) which looked quite good but was full when we arrived. However, finding little else nearby, we opted to wait in Café Balnain, which had a small folk fiddle band playing in the corner. Fortunately we did not have too long a wait for a table, and obtained good if slightly pricey sandwiches.
After lunch, Pauline and I wanted to look around the museum at Balnain House, while Richard wanted to spend some time looking around Inverness. We therefore split up and agreed a time at which to meet up again.
Balnain House is a museum of folk music through the ages, from prehistoric times to the present. Each room, as well as containing various display panels, had a number of listening booths, at which you could select from a list of tracks of music and listen to them on headphones.
The first room went back to the very earliest Stone Age music, and we listened to what was quite literally rock music, in the sense of banging the things together. One might expect the sound of bashed rocks to be exceedingly dull, but listening to some of them, we could hear that certain types of rock could be surprisingly bright with a `ringing' sound.
The following panels and booths showed the evolution to more melodic music, with the first horns and trumpets, later harps and other stringed instruments, and reconstructions of what the music of many centuries ago might have sounded like, there being few, if any, written records. The origins of many songs in the form of rhythms to accompany everyday chores, often long and monotonous, became apparent.
The final room took us to the modern forms of folk music and its influence by other musical forms, turning back to its origins as ``rock'' music (though of a rather different kind) in the form of folk-rock bands such as Capercaillie and Runrig, mixing the traditional and the modern.
A feature of the museum is the opportunity for `hands-on' experience of traditional instruments, such as harps, bodhrans (a type of drum), fiddles and even bagpipes. The fiddles were rather a disappointment, having strings badly out of tune and bows badly in need of rosin to give some friction on the strings, but the harps were in good condition, ranging from small handheld instruments to the large Celtic harp or clarsach. Traditional bagpipes would have been a little tricky in such a museum, owing to the tendency to deafen everyone, but a very good alternative was available in the form of electronic pipes. Essentially this is just a chanter on which the budding piper can practice his fingering, with controls to limit the volume (to avoid annoying the neighbours) and to switch on or off the drones as necessary. Pauline and I spent some time trying out the various instruments.
Having been held up slightly in the shop, Pauline and I turned up slightly late at the car, where we had arranged to meet Richard. The weather having cleared up slightly by this time, we decided to head out to Chanonry Point, on the opposite side the Moray Firth to Fort George. This peninsula is considered a good point from which to watch for seals and dolphins, but unfortunately despite watching the water for some time, there was no sign of anything.
We were about to leave at around 6.30 when we turned on the car radio. Finding ``The News Quiz'' to be on, we delayed our departure for half an hour and sat in the car listening to it while vaguely watching the waters --- unfortunately still no interesting wildlife in sight.
We returned to Contin in search of dinner. Pauline and her family have often stayed at Coul House Hotel in the past, and while the main restaurant was a little on the pricey side for us, Pauline thought that the bar might be a suitable place to eat. Unfortunately it was very smoky and the menu was highly uninteresting, so we left in search of somewhere better. Just on the edge of town is the Achilty Hotel, which proved to be a far better bet. I had a very good meal of garlic bread, honey roast duck and tiramisu.
We got back to the hotel around 9.20, and went to bed around eleven.