I started the morning with a nice steep climb up the hill to get back onto the quiet country lanes and entrenched footpaths which were still full with snowdrifts which went up to my waist! I went through Rosehearty and Fraserburgh and down to 'St Combs' where I stayed at the 'Tufted Duck' who were very generous to me and my charitable cause.
I left the Knowes Hotel and walked along a 'B' road. It was very cold with some snow showers passing over. A couple of cars pulled over to put money in my tin. Around 4.00 pm I reached 'Pennan' which is one of the locations where they filmed 'Local Hero' and the 'Pennan Inn' had a spare room. It is a very secluded place and has a unique feel all of its own, located in a small harbour with a long line of houses facing the sea. The Inn is run by a couple who renovated the pub a few years ago. This was supposed to be my rest day but I decided to get a few more miles done to help give me a chance of staying on schedule! I stayed the night in the 'Station Hotel' in Portsoy and they gave me a packed lunch for today and helped with my accommodation costs so I am grateful to them. I took the coast path which clung to the edge. Great to have some proper coastal walking along with some steep ups and downs. Then I joined a quiet lane and cycle route to 'Whitehills' where I sat and ate my lunch in a snowstorm! Then onto Banff where I crossed the River Deveron and walked the last couple of miles into Macduff, an active fishing port and I found a room at the 'Knowes Hotel'. Having arrived late afternoon I also managed to grab a couple of hours of sleep before supper! It snowed overnight. After breakfast I set off in falling snow towards Portsoy via Findochty, Portknockie and Cullen where the Moray Coast Trail ended and then onto Sandend Bay and finally Portsoy. I was walking on a proper coast path today with some steep sections. It has been a while! I came across a Coastguard rescue exercise in a secluded cove and watched as two men were winched up into a yellow Sea King helicopter. Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day but I think that I will be hard-pushed to stay on schedule if I do take the day off, so I have decided to keep going! I slept well in my lovely room at 'Links Lodge' B&B in Lossiemouth. From there I walked for miles along the beach in sunshine from Lossiemouth to the mouth of the River Spey (famous for its salmon fishing) at Spey Bay. Dotted along the coast were lines of former observation posts and gun emplacements harking back to the last war accompanied by large concrete blocks placed to make an enemy landing slightly harder. Wandering around these old concrete buildings, I tried to get a sense of what life must have been like manning these coastal defences, on alert for an enemy invasion, and keeping out the wild weather that batters this stretch of the coast. By the end of the day it had been snowing lightly but not settling, and I was grateful for the warmth of the 'Highlander Hotel' in Buckie. I had a lovely room at the Yellow Sands B&B in Findhorn run by Eric. From there, I was able to walk along the beach to Burghead before joining the "Moray Coast Trail" to Lossiemouth. The weather was sunny and even warm in the sheltered bits so I was able to convert my trousers into shorts. Scary for all concerned! I reached Lossiemouth and stayed at the delightful 'Links Lodge' B&B. After breakfast at the Braeval Hotel in Nairn I went to visit the Alzheimer Scotland resource centre which is located in Nairn Town & County Hospital. I met Wendy Burges who is a project worker there along with supporter and photographer, Ian. We had a chat about the activities they get up to and they told me about a fantastic fundraising calendar they had produced last year featuring supporters in themed costume. It looked brilliant and what a great idea. Ian applied his photography skills and took pictures of me looking genuinely relaxed ( I was) with my feet up in a comfortable chair being fed tea and cake by Wendy! After which I set off to Findhorn where I spent the night at 'Yellow Sands B&B'. Yaaaay! My rucksack was delivered first thing this morning. Never has a rucksack been hugged so much! Very relieved. Kitted and fitted, I visited the local support centre and en route walked past a news item in the city centre where a large hostel had burnt down but with no injuries. At the support centre I met two wonderful gentlemen who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, who run photography classes. Then I headed off towards Nairn by quiet country lanes, about 20 miles away. Today I travelled back up to Inverness where I left off at the end of September last year. So its been around 6 months since I last did any charity walking and I have spent the winter working and taking absolutely no exercise apart from the odd excursion onto Exmoor or Dartmoor! I flew up to Inverness on Easyjet and when the flight's luggage appeared on the carousel at Inverness airport, mine wasn't amongst it!
Deep breath, smiley face, discuss the situation with the luggage handling agent. Bearing in mind that everything I needed for the walk was in that rucksack, I wasn't just concerned about getting the rucksack a little later than planned. I was mostly concerned about receiving it at all. As it stood, I was told that I would receive my rucksack on the next Easyjet flight the following afternoon. I was supposed to be visiting the local Alzheimer Scotland regional support office first thing in the morning and to have my picture taken in my walking attire complete with rucksack for the local paper. For the first time on this whole walk I was also walking to a schedule which had by now been shared with Four Seasons Health Care nursing homes along the coast who were expecting me to visit on certain days. So I was keen to get my rucksack quickly. I explained all this to the luggage handling agent but wasnt sure whether this would make any difference. I Tweeted my updates about the luggage and made sure Easyjet were kept in the loop via their social media accounts. Anyhow, I left the airport and stayed at a local hotel for the night. I later received a call from the handling agent saying that Easyjet had located my rucksack and were flying it up on a Fly-B flight early the next morning and that it would be delivered to my hotel first thing tomorrow. Fingers crossed. |
Archives 2013
September 2013
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