My socks are sucking up peaty water and raindrops are slipping down my neck but I couldn’t be happier. There is something pure about these tough little Scottish islands that sweeps one away, like the streams that rush to the sea.

Cruising must be the best way to visit the Inner and Outer Hebrides and our ship, the Hebridean Princess, carries just 49 passengers. It is so unobtrusive that we can visit private islands, bob up to bird sanctuaries and land on the remotest shores. Queen Elizabeth chartered the ship for a similar trip on her 80th birthday.