ME AND THE "BOYS" ON OUR ROADY
With no rugby game this weekend, I decided to make the most of it and get out of Dundee. I threw my golf clubs and a change of clothes in the car and I was off. Left about 10 a.m and the weather was picture perfect. First stop was a place called Brechin where I pulled into a cafe and grabbed a much needed coffee. After that I headed east towards the Montrose basin. I veered of the main road and ended up on the Bridge of Dun. Refuelled at the shell station in Montrose, then I took the coast road A92 winding north. Gentle rolling hills with ploughed fields were the theme of the morning. Just before Stonehaven I spotted a sign for a castle. There were a few cars and a tour bus in the car park so I thought it must be good. The dramatic ruins of Dunnottar Castle are spread out across a grassy promontory rising 45 metres above the sea. The original fortress was built in the 9th century; the keep is the most substantial remnant; but the restored drawing room was more interesting. There was a large contingent of French students at the castle and while queueing for a ticket I was interviewed about my knowledge of France which was not very good to say the least. I unsuccessfully tried to take a closed road into Stonehaven. Looped round the main centre in Stonehaven and carried onto Aberdeen. Stopped on the outskirts of Aberdeen at the Tesco and picked up some lunch. I drove in to the centre of down, Aberdeen lives up to its name as being the granite city, because all the buildings are made of granite blocks. I found a guesthouse near the centre of town, the Royal crown, and I checked in and parked the car. I walked down the main street, Union street, the place was fair bustling and there were all sorts of people on the street, young, old, homeless, wealthy, corporate, you name it... Aberdeen had it all. Headed to Aberdeen’s maritime Museum, which has interesting displays on the off shore oil and gas platforms, fishing, boat building etc. I then wandered around Aberdeen’s harbour then back up to the main centre. Popped into one of Aberdeen’s oldest buildings Provost (Major) Skene’s house, a late medieval , turreted town house occupied by the mayor in the 17th century. Back through the some of the shopping malls (Bon Accord, St Nicholas) I picked up a ham and cheese calzone to munch on. I bought a t-shirt in one of the shops in preparation for the ‘Scottish summer’ I sincerely hope i get to wear it! My next mission was finding a pub to watch the rugby. Scotland V Ireland first up, what a great game with my new home team edging the Irish out 23-20 at Croke Park. I downed a few pints and got chatting with some locals, good craic. The England v France game was not quite as a good a spectacle with England blowing chances to beat the frogs on their home patch, 12-10 France. Was the last person to order KFC before wandering back to the guesthouse. Up at 8 a.m. for a cooked breakfast, had a good chat with the owner about Aberdeen and the long terrible winter they had just come through. Driving back through the centre I caught a small glimpse of Marischal College (through the renovation scaffolding), the second largest granite structure in the world. Taking the costal route north my first stop was Balmedie country park, where I checked out the dunes and the long sandy beach, the water didn’t look to inviting though! Continuing North the sandy beaches gave way to rocky coves and Collieston, a quaint fishing village, basically a small breakwater and a few shacks. Colliestons claim to fame is that it is the holiday spot for T.E. Lawrence from Lawrence of Arabia, wow...! Cruden bay was next stop and a place I definitely want to go back to, the links golf course there was an impressive sight, I tried to get a round in but they wouldn’t let me tee off until 12.30 pm, no non-members in the morning... The course is ranked in the world top 40 apparently. I drove through the town and down to the harbour, where a lass was playing the Scottish national anthem on a recorder, it made all 1/8th of me feel very Scottish! I bought an Iron Bru and some scones at the Local shop which had a very loud bell that rang as you opened the door. I also tried to get some cash out from the machine in the store, I typed in £60 and only got £20 out of the machine. I think it must be some kind of secret tourist tax! I’m sure the shop owner was grinning at me as I left the store. The further north I trecked the more I was getting into drug country according to everyone I have talked to. Peterhead was pretty boring, the most exciting thing there was a power station. The drive so far had been awesome, views of the coast, gentle winding bends, and a clear warm spring day, I wish I could ride it on a motorbike. Fraserburgh was my next stop, I drove through the town and to Kinnaird Head, where the Scottish light house was situated. I wanted to go and do the tour but time was short, because I still wanted to get in a round of golf in! Walked round the outside and out to the point where I saw my first fog horn. Took a few strange photos, one of a wine cellar, one of posts with colourful woollen socks on them (maybe knitting large socks is an activity for the recovering drug addicts?!) and a photo op with the boys! Or should I say buoys?! The coastal trek signs changed from North to West, Sandhaven was another quaint village which had a lot of elderly people signs, obviously a retirement village, so I wizzed through it. Driving along a section of coast I spotted a golf course, the Rosehearty golf club, I paid for green fees (£5) at the local pub and played two rounds of the nine hole course, the golf was pretty average. The next part of Journey was probably the most scenic, dramatic cliffs, rugged beaches (Arberdour) and steep winding roads. I dropped down to the historic fishing village of Pennan (Pop. 22) , a great little retreat which would be a good spot whatever the weather. It took me five minutes to walk the length of the village, I took a few photos and watched the waves crashing into the breakwater. I skipped Crovie and drove through Gardenstown. Dropped into Macduff and Banff which are separated by the river Deveron and are linked by the seven arch bridge. I stopped at the river mouth and had a dabble at some of the local cuisine, fish and chips! It was 5ish and time was marching so I cut the roadie short and headed back via Turiff and Aberdeen to Dundee. It took me an 1:45 to get home. A good little weekend mission.
No comments:
Post a Comment