The Hermitage, Dunkeld

Another straight-into-the-sun shot, because no other angle was possible.

Steve and I whizzed up from Gilmerton, near Crieff, to Dunkeld, where there's a fabulous wooded area called The Hermitage, complete with a waterfall where salmon leap upstream in season (reader, we saw them!), a romantic building housing a viewing platform, a cave, and Scotland's tallest tree. And all the colours of autumn, of course!

I had been there twice in the 1970s, but not since, so it was a great time to go back, 40 years on, and see that there are still salmon running, and to share it with Steve in the autumn.

We also visited Pitlochry, the dam and fish ladder (not as good as the falls of Braan at the Hermitage) and Killiecrankie, where the autumn leaves in the pass were at their best. A red squirrel crossed the road ahead of us. Again, something I haven't seen in Perthshire since the 80s.

Finally, we drove into Perth and located an Indian restaurant with the aid of my phone and SatNav. I wouldn't have had a clue without them: Perth has trebled in size, and when I thought we were approaching the banks of the Tay, we were actually at the Inch!

Back along the well-known road to Bridge of Earn (I went to school there: shudder) and then through the darkness of Glenfarg we drove, until we reached my friend Elspeth's house, where we were enveloped in warmth and wine. Journey's End, at least for tonight and tomorrow.