Daily route pages: Day twenty four

Walking Scotlands coast.....

MORRIS, PHIL, DOUGLAS AND A GUEST APPEARANCE FROM JOHN

After a very comfortable and enjoyable night in the excellent Station hotel we set off walking down to Links Bay and round to the harbour. There had been snowfall overnight and although the sky was clear it was cold with several inches of snow underfoot. We followed a ‘Nortrail’ marked path out of town passed what had been an outdoor swimming pool onto a minor road for a short distance before edging the fields on the clifftops towards Redhythe Point where we joined an excellent coastal path towards Sandend Bay. The mound of Durn Hill some two miles away dominates the inland landscape. We made our way down onto the beach at Sandend and walked along the sea edge road through the village and joined a path signposted Sunnyside beach. The path took us up the hillside above the village where the views of the snow covered landscapes were amazing. We followed this path to the viewpoint at Findlater Castle and on passed Sunnyside beach. From this point on the path the large ‘dovecot’ near Barnyards of Findlater is clearly visible inland to the south. Passing above Sunnyside beach we walked round the edge of the fields passed the ‘trig’ point near Logie Head. There was no visible path and we had to find our own way to the caravan park at Cullen. We decided at this point to stray from the sea edge and cross the disused railway viaduct to gain the views {which proved worthwhile}. From the elevated position an alternative path near the sea edge could be clearly seen. On the viaduct we were met by a retired former colleague of mine John Crawford who joined us on the rest of the walk to Buckie. From Cullen we followed the excellent well signposted Moray coastal path through Portnockie (where we viewed Bow Fiddle Rock) and Findochty (where we enjoyed a snack and refreshment in the very welcoming Admiral Hotel) and onto today’s destination Buckie. After depositing our rucksacks at our accommodation, the Old Coachhouse Hotel we accepted John’s invitation and paid a very worthwhile visit to the Buckie and District Fishing Heritage Centre where he is one of the volunteer workers.

Summary; Snowy covered but good walking conditions with no testing undulations.
Highs; Some fabulous snow scenes.
Lows;  None, an enjoyable days walking.