John & Lin's Continuing Adventure in Their Caravan: May 15th - 20th 2024

May 15th - Today was moving day - 202 miles from Dunbar CCC to Speyside by Craigellachie Camping and Caravan Club Site. And we had a mostly brilliant and quick journey but we were upset by the behavior of an articulated lorry driver who almost ran a caravan off the road! It was while we were on the A9 - the lorry was just in front of us and the caravan was in front of him and for about 9 miles the lorry was tailgating and driving really close behind. However when we came to a duel carriage way things got worse as he pulled up beside the caravan and then proceeded to edge back into the left hand lane forcing the caravan into the verge with the result of a very scary fishtale action. We were so disgusted that we rang the owners number which was on the back of the lorry and informed them of the drivers actions but with hindsight maybe that should have been the police!

Our journey took us over the Forth Road Bridge and through the very scenic Cairngorm National Park before chucking us out onto the quieter roads that led to the site, and once there we quickly learnt, that in an earlier life (1940), it had been a POW camp for German and Italian prisoners. The site had then consisted of 39 single story Nissan type huts for inmates and 27 for admin and staff quarters but today only one is left and that has been re purposed as the facilities block. The site is very quite and full of pretty trees 🌳 that abound with bird song so I think we'll be quite happy here for the next 6 night.

May 16th - Hot Hot Hot 🌞 ☀️ Well after a 200+ mile drive yesterday we decided to give the 🚗 a day off so for today we relied on Shanks's Pony and that took us down to the local village of Aberlour which sits right on the banks of The River Spey. However to get there we first needed to traverse along an almost non existent foot path that exited from the camp site and then onto a much better and prettier track that assisted John to catch a fish!

After about 2 miles we came across the pedestrian suspension bridge that crosses the Spey and then we picked up a path that led us to today's main feature - Linn Falls- but thankfully she didn't! After a few photos and watching some kids tombestoning into the water we retraced our steps and wandered through Aberlour itself and then down onto the bank of the fast running Spey for our picnic. It seems The 98 mile Spey is widely considered to be the finest river in Scotland and is one of the most important and productive for salmon and although we were hopeful of spotting some we weren't lucky on this outing.

Spey Suspension bridge

Linn Falls

What a whopper

May 17th - Today we had 3 targets on our list but in the end we only managed 2 of them! Our first was Findhorn which is a sleepy village in Moray. Findhorn Bay has a huge expanses of sand, a pretty harbour and for those with Motorhomes it has a 2 night stopover for a small fee. The info boards told us that seals can often be seen basking in the sunshine 🌞, and sure enough, while we sat and watched one popped its head above the lapping waves.

Next on our list was Spey Bay but to get there we had to pass through the almost grid locked town of Elgin which we'd planned to go back to once we'd done at Spey Bay. We wanted to see the old Abbey and to do some shopping, however once was enough! Once we'd escaped we quickly decided we weren't going back! So with that in mind we headed for target number 3 but as we went we could see a sea fret rolling in thus obscuring our views out to sea and even of some of the surrounding countryside.

Spey Bay is situated on the eastern side of the mouth of the Spey River and one of its claims to fame is that it has the largest shingle beach in Scotland. It's other one is the Dolphin Center where the Moray Firth's bottlenosed dolphins can sometimes be spotted but with the mist there was no chance of that today! Additionally ospreys can often be seen feeding on the plentiful supply of fish there but the only one we spotted was this magnificent sculpture.

Despite the continually rising mist the sun kept putting in an appearance so we picnicked on the beach and walked on the high mounds of large stoned shingle before turning our wheels towards our 'home from home' with a quick stop of at Keith to do our shopping and it was there that we succumbed to the indulgence of buying a wee dram. However, even though there are over 50 working distilleries on Speyside we didn't choose one from there and that was mainly Tesco's fault! We perused the shelves for something that took our fancy but when we spotted a bottle of Talisker (which is one of our old favorites and from the oldest distillery on Skye) and because it was reduced from £48 to £27 we couldn't resist.

Findhorn Bay

A misty Spey Bay

May 18th - it wasn't so sunny today but still very pleasantly warm so we decided on a walk along part of The Speyside Way which in its entirely is 137 kilometres long and runs from Buckie to Newtonmore. We joined the river as Aberlour and proceeded along the pretty Way for about 2 and a half miles until we reached the old Telford bridge which dates back to 1819. The bridge spans the Spey and is also known by the title of The Craigellachie Bridge and the info boards informed us that it is probably the oldest surviving cast iron arch bridge in Scotland. The ironworks for it were cast in Wales then transported by canal, sea and wagons to thier present position thus making a safe crossing for when the Spey was in spate. We crossed the river here and then meandered back down the opposite bank of the Spey but stopped along the way for hot choc and cake while we watched the bird life and rushing water's passing by.

Once back in Aberlour we had a little mosey around the town and when we spied The Whisky Auction Shop we couldn't resist having a little look. There were bottles from all around Speyside, some of which were mega bucks (£2000 was the most expensive one we could spy) 😳. The choice was overwhelming and almost impossible to choose what to buy but when the chap offered us the choice of having 25ml samples from another large range we took him up on his offer. He nipped into the back of the shop and sorted our choices - a 10 year old drop of 40% Aberlour (which is out of production and retails for about £100) and also a drop of 46% GlenAllachie. He handed over the bottles for the princely sum of a tenner but when we looked at them they looked more like proper 'samples' than a 'wee' dram. Anyway, I'm sure they taste much better than they look and we're very shortly going to find out as we have our own little Whisky tasting party😉 .

The Telford Bridge

May 19th - Today started with low cloud and with a very light mizzle in the air so we really weren't in any hurry to go anywhere! And added to that I had the boring chore of washing to do! However all that was done by 11'ish and by then I'd even managed to peg out. So to occupy a few more hours we decided to visit the Scottish National Trusts Leith Hall which can trace its history back to 1650 and has been in the care of the National Trust since the end of World War 2. Once there we had the pleasure of wandering through woods that were carpeted with blue bells 🔔 and through the more formal colourful gardens which sit 186 metres above sea level.

However, our visit didn't take quite as long as expected so on the spur of the moment we decided to stop of at Coynachie Forest Walks but by the time we got there light rain had started again so we both quickly agreed to abandon that idea and to go home for a cuppa and cake 🥮 instead 😀!

Leith Hall

May 20th - A lovely warm and 🌞 day so our plan was to visit the RSPBs Loch Garten in the hope of seeing the Ospreys who nest there each year. When we arrived in the car park it was quite busy so we decided to leave visiting the Nature Center (with it's Web cam views of the ospreys nest) until later and instead we set of to explore some of the peaceful trails that took us through the Caledonian woodland. There are 2 planned trails that we could have followed - The Big Pine tail which was only half a mile or the Two Lochs trail which is 1.7 miles but as usual John made his own route up which included both of the above but with as extra chunk added on - in total probably about 5 miles!

As we walked we soaked in the tranquil atmosphere of the forest and had the pleasure of listening to the birdsong of numerous birds 🐦 which included the call of a cuckoo. We'd also been told that red squirrels abound in the woodland but we weren't lucky enough to spot one of them. As we meandered along we had the trail almost completely to ourselves and the winding path led us through some of the tallest and oldest 🌳 pine trees on the reserve (some more than 300 years old).

Our lunch stop was beside Loch Mallachie and we didn't have much further to go before we reached the banks of Loch Garten but on both lochs all we managed to spot were common ducks and a few squawking geese, but having said that, it was a lovely place to rest.

After lunch we made our way back to the car park and then onto the Nature center and it was there that the info boards informed us that the Loch Garten area was the first place that ospreys returned to after a long period of extinction in the UK in the 1950s. For the last few years there has been a resident pair that have laid eggs in a nest that can be viewed from the center or more closely via a Web cam but this year tragedy had struck 😢 a couple of weeks before! The female had laid 3 eggs following mating with her old partner but a new young male arrived and fought the older one and won and then he destroyed the eggs. While we were there neither of the adults put in an appearance so we had to make do with watching last year's footage of the fluffy chick's and hope that we have better luck if we visit again in the future.