There have been hugs, kisses, announcements and more hugs, but, as BBC Scotland political reporter Andrew Black writes, Holyrood's first minority government is facing tough times ahead.

Having spent three days in a slightly chilly portable cabin which is the BBC production office at the SNP conference in Aviemore trying to make sense of this historic event, I can't help thinking that I'm coming down with something.

United front - Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond

I'm sure I've caught a cold or flu of some description, but I shouldn't complain really. C'est la vie when you're on the road. Many more BBC staff than I constantly spend time working in such conditions.

And all my technical gear works - something that can't be said for all journalists working away from the office.

The 73rd SNP annual conference has been unlike any other. The place has been packed, and those who've been attending these events for many more years than I, will tell you that they've never seen attendance like it.

There were well over 1,000 delegates and observers, dozens of overseas journalists in addition to the 80 from the UK and a similar number of foreign dignitaries.

Amid the buzz were the usual types of resolutions the Nationalists passed at conferences when the party was still in opposition.

Among these were lowering the voting age to 16 [reserved to Westminster], urging a ban on airguns [reserved to Westminster], Scottish powers over broadcasting [reserved to Westminster]. You get the picture.

Conference called on councils to seek ways of blocking nuclear weapon convoys from their roads, although one councillor said local authorities would have no cash to spare to spend on "political gestures".

But, for the first time, the conference was able to make plenty of government announcements to keep the public-at-large interested.

'It's Scotland's oil'

There was �100m for colleges and universities; increased protection for community health professionals; shaving six weeks off the maximum waiting time for hospital treatment by March 2009 and moves to scrap prescription charges within the lifetime of the current parliament.

Even Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill - who conceded that plans to boost police numbers by the "equivalent" of 1,000 extra officers would not come from recruitment alone - managed a small announcement.

He wants the UK Government to end the requirement that vehicle inspection officers carrying out roadside checks need to be accompanied by two uniformed police officers.

In his keynote speech, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, as expected, underlined his ambition for Scottish independence and that age-old SNP argument, "it's Scotland's oil", again raised its head.

Former SNP leader John Swinney was all smiles

He produced Scottish Government calculations claiming that if North Sea oil and gas was added into the economic figures, Scotland's gross domestic product per head would be bettered only by Luxembourg and Ireland.

Delegates agreed independence was best, then there was a rendition of Scots Wha Hae and it was all over.

This has been a successful conference - probably the SNP's most successful yet.

They're hardly short of inspiration but, interestingly, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was spotted through a stained-glass window, ahead of her speech, preparing in the conference venue's ecumenical chapel.

But back at the Scottish Parliament, Mr Salmond's administration will have to contend with the lack of support for the SNP's plans to replace council tax with an income-based alternative, and the bill to hold an independence referendum.

And in November, Scottish ministers will set out their budget for the next three-and-a-half years, amid claims from the first minister that they had been handed the tightest financial settlement since devolution in the UK spending review.

But if the conference has shown one thing to the world, it's been that after more than 70 years out of power, the SNP has firmly come in from the cold.