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The inner child is still working well.We again took the road least travelled taking us through small towns and villages and beautiful farmland interspersed with birch, beech or pine forest. The river Spey stayed with us most of the way. Sheep and cattle dominated the fields either on the lush green flats or hillsides. We were lucky enough to see a few pheasants along the side of the road foraging for food. We drove slowly stopping numerous times. Our stop at Keith was for a morning coffee and fruit scone with strawberry jam and cream.
From there we headed for the Coast Trail and not a moment did we regret. Banff, not to be mistaken for the Canadian Banff which we had visited many times in’86 but the Scottish beachside Banff, was a long layover with Jane testing the North Atlantic with her feet whilst we wandered the beach, the high side consisting of fist size smooth stones while the low side of ‘nearly’ white sand. We both chatted with locals, Jane on the beach with a couple who have lived in 10 countries and me further up from the shore with a bloke who was tending his plants and who worked as a welder in
Goodbye photo of our Boat of Garten accommodation. Our room directly above the entrance.the oil and gas industry in the North Sea.
Not far along was the fishing town of MacDuff with larger trawlers and boats tied to wharves. Continuing we ventured down to Gardenstown, a fishing village right on the sea, named such in 1721. Prior to that it was known as Powieston. It is set between two heads, Crovie and Mohr, both cradling Gamie Bay. Seawalls protect the fishing boat harbour with the lower houses and businesses, the pub, Garden Arms, and fishing suppliers built on walls of stone. The narrow roads were very steep and hence the views were constantly magnificent.
After Fraserburgh we sped, not as fast as the locals, to Aberdeen to catch the ferry to the Shetland Islands before the closing of check-in at 3pm. We made it with 30 minutes to spare. With the car stowed it was to the outside observation deck of the ferry to wait for departure so to catch the sights of Aberdeen when we cast off.
We had booked sleeping pods to hopefully sleep as we would be at sea for 14.5 hours. The choices on the dinner menu were many. We dined and didn’t overindulge, returned to
Granton on Spey ... Graiglynn Hotel.our pod to settle. The Captain has notified all that the seas are calm.
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Pat
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A beautiful adventure
It is all looking like a soul nurturing journey. Enjoy. XX