Surrender!

We say goodbye from the rugged north and from the rest of our travel plans. It's good that the planning has brought a lot of joy and the evening hours were not completely in vain.

Although we were well prepared and had a plan B for every eventuality, the only completely unpredictable factor, the weather, ruined our plans: we could never have guessed that in June we would expect the worst summer storm in 30 years and now we know what it feels like to have gusts of wind at 75 km/h in the tent.

Last night we slept more than we thought, but less than necessary. The wind, announced with about 50 km/h, picked up speed after 10:00 pm.

Originally, we wanted to wait out the day and make another Tesco trip to Ullapool. But as the stormy winds got stronger and were expected to last until Tuesday evening, and our tent collapsed several times, we made a reasonable decision. In the hope of shorts weather, we are now heading to central Scotland.

None of us wants to leave. Assynt really appealed to us, and even Ida boycotted the departure and clearly said she doesn't want to go. Doubts sneak in quietly: have we expected too much from the Highlands? Was it maybe a crazy idea from the beginning?

No, not really. The first almost 1.5 weeks didn't go as originally planned, but we still enjoyed them, gained an impression of three different areas (it can hardly be called "getting to know" even after six weeks because it's just too varied) and spent valuable family time together.

The miserable weather, even by Scottish standards, was just bad luck; and sticking to the original plan at all costs would have been foolish. Now rest comes before adventure, milder climate before wild landscape, and family time before wanderlust.

Unfortunately, Ida doesn't appreciate our efforts at the moment and showered us with curses and grumbling during our visit to the Culloden Battlefield.

(Monument for the fallen Highlanders)

(Sickbay of the English army)