With the end of summer in sight, Monty decides it is high time he tried to be completely self-sufficient, so he sets himself the task of only eating what he has caught, shot or grown himself. This provides a great opportunity for him to do the things he hasn't had time for so far, like deer stalking and trout fishing. After a big thank you party for all the locals, Monty leaves Beachcomber Cottage for the last time, a very different man from the one who arrived six months earlier.

It is the Highland Games season and Monty wants to take part in the local games at Applecross. Determined to make a good impression, he pops along to the neighbouring Lochcarron Games to get some tips and check out the competition. He also confronts the dark side of his new lifestyle when he has to shoot and butcher one of the sheep he has been raising over the summer. And when the time comes to prove himself at the Applecross Games, he surprises everyone - not least himself - by winning one of the main events.

Monty goes in search of basking sharks with the help of a friend who flies a makeshift paraglider and spots them from the air. When his girlfriend Antje comes to visit, it's the perfect opportunity to explore further afield and dive with a colony of seals off the Isle of Skye, but she is less impressed with how little Monty has done to make the cottage homely. There's an unexpected visit when the Chilean descendants of the last family to farm his croft pay a visit.

Monty's daily chores are complicated by the hottest and driest spring for many years. Keeping his vegetables and animals alive means constant trips into the village to get water. He is having no luck at sea either - the mackerel are not biting and he is still eating out of tins. But things look up after a chance meeting in the pub leads to a spectacular encounter with a pod of dolphins.

Inspired by his childhood love of otters, Monty moves into a run-down cattle shed overlooking an isolated beach. With the help of a team of locals, he turns it into a comfortable home. The spring weather is the best anyone can remember and Monty is soon bringing the croft to life, with a crystal clear sea inviting him to explore.