Five Countries Four Marlboroughs: Cairngorm National Park - Reindeers, Clay Shooting and a night in the Faskally Wood

We woke to a beautiful sunny day in Inverness, it was 4 degrees but the sun was shining.

I'd really been looking forward to today as we were going to drive through the Cairngorm National Park to feed reindeers! The drive into the national park was just so beautiful - stunning Scottish pines with mossy, green undergrowth and smooth, misty lochs. We arrived with 30 minutes to spare - i didn't want to miss this experience! Clouds were starting to come over so i crossed my fingers the rain would stay away.

Once at the Reindeer centre, we would follow the guide by car and then walk around 1km to see the reindeer. The Cairngorm reindeer herd is Britian's only free ranging herd of approximately 150 deer. We were given a safety talk - the bulls had been separated as it is their mating season - and we would be given the opportunity to feed the reindeer. We were told that after the reindeer had finished the food in our hands, we were to show them we had nothing left by showing open palms. The reindeer were used to people and as soon as we got there they started walking on the boardwalk with us. They were so beautiful and we were all really excited. The antlers were at James's eye height and when they surrounded him i thought he could easily lose and eye as whilst the reindeer were gentle they were quite pushy and occasionally pushed each other out of the way. We stayed for over an hour and enjoyed it so much, we were the last people to leave!

On the way to the reindeers I had seen clay shooting and i was really keen to give it a go. We called through and there was a free instructor, Maria. Terry knew it wouldn't be in best interests of his shoulders to shoot, and James although curious was hesitant to try it, so it was just Will and I. Mother versus son!

We were sized up with a 20 gauge Italian Beretta and an English Stirling - and then we headed to the range. Our instructor was fantastic and she made us feel very confident. Before my first shot, she said, 'Own the gun Belinda, just think about when you want the kids to clean their rooms and they won't - get some guts about you and take charge! You're the boss here and you're going to hit these targets. ARGH!' And so i did! The first clay targets came straight out of the trees 100-150m away directly at us in a high arch - to simulate a bird coming straight at you. We had two practise aims without without pulling the trigger and then we were into it - 'PULL' we'd have to yell (yes, with guts as well!) and Maria would hit the button and start the target. Will hit 2 out of 4 and I hit 3 out of 4 targets. Terry was impressed and I was in the lead! Maria then asked if James would like a try. By this stage you could see he was keen - he said later that he was nervous about the recoil - and he hit 2 out of 2 on his very first try! I've always said this kid had the hand eye co-ordination of a pilot gained by playing his playstation. So off he ran back to get a box of cartridges.

Now the competition was really on! We moved on to our next targets which would fly out from next to us and into the distance. Then onto another lot where two targets would come out one after another from different angles. James and my arms were starting to get sore - we just weren't strong enough - and this left Will to take the lead! Will was on 12, James on 10 and I was on 9. We then went to the target simulating a rabbit - and it seems if i had to shoot for my dinner, rabbit it would be! I ended up being King of the Rabbits hitting 3 out of 6 targets. The final score was James on 10, I was on 12 and Will finished the winner on 13. Not too bad for our first time - we had 28 shots in total! Terry just loved watching us and was soooo jealous - but was wise enough to know his limits! He's never wanted to do something so bad but didn't want to risk ruining what's left of his golf game. James has decided this is going to be his new sport.

We then made our way to Pitlochry where we would spend the night and we had tickets to a light and sound show, The Enchanted Forest in the Faskally Wood. Pitlochry was a quaint little town and when we got to our warm little room, we were all doubting our ability to go back out into the cold - our tickets were for 9pm and we'd already had a huge day! We met a couple at dinner that told us how good the show was - I decided I was going to go - and one by one the rest of the family signed up. We rugged up and made our way to the bus line. We travelled a short way to the wood and had a fantastic night walking around the forest looking at the light displays. It was definitely worth going to - we all had a great time - and we crawled into bed just before midnight happily exhausted - again!