Dolphin Spirit

It was Tom's birthday today and he had no idea what I had planned, so we jumped in the Fig and I told him to drive up into the Highlands.

Eventually we arrived in Inverness, where I'd booked us on a dolphin sightseeing boat as a decoy to put him off the scent.

Dolphins might not be the type of animals you expect to find in the cold seas of Scotland, but the Moray Firth is home to the largest school in the UK with over 130 dolphins recorded.

Excited to see some wildlife for ourselves, we were invited on a dolphin sight seeing cruise with Dolphin Spirit in Inverness.

Each cruise has a trained guide to narrates the trip with local history, stories and wildlife facts. They're also very eagle-eyed when it comes to spotting the dolphins, so it's a good idea to take their lead.

Though the chances are almost 50/50 as to whether you'll spot a dolphin on your cruise, we were extremely lucky as a mother and her calf had swam into the port before we even set sail.

It was amazing seeing the two fins swimming side by side as they hunted for fish below the bridges.

The dolphins were really playful and when the mother caught a fish, she swam up close to the boat to show off her the catch in her mouth.

Our guides top tip was to look for the birds, who will follow the dolphins in hopes of stealing their fish.

Another good place to look for dolphins is at the front of ships because they like to play in the jet streams.

Even if you're not lucky enough to spot any dolphins on your tour, the boat trip is lovely with views of Inverness, the bridges and the Black Isle.

We went for lunch at the Mustard Seed, a pretty little restaurant in a tall warehouse building down at the river.

We sat up in the rafters and I tucked into a pumpkin puree and vegetable dish to start, followed by gnocchi and a massive side plate of roast vegetables.

Tom had fishcakes and salmon while looking curious about where we were heading next.

I distracted Tom by taking him for coffee at the Inverness Coffee Roasting Co, where they treated us to birthday fudge, while my Mum & Dad got into position ready to give him a big surprise.

He didn't know they were coming and looked so shocked when he saw them.

We continued our drive up north and stopped off at the Black Isle Brewery so that Tom could buy some birthday beers.

We then stopped off at Chanonry Point to take a walk along the beach.

The walk was really pretty but we couldn't really relax and enjoy it because the sand was covered in baby jellyfish and we were so frightened of squishing them.

There was also an adorable little mouse running along the beach.

We took a mini detour on our drive back to show Mum & Dad the Clootie Well and all the clothing and rags that people had left as offerings.

It was then time to tell Tom where we were going, as we pulled in to Sleeperzzz in Rogart to spend the night in a train carriage.