Thursday 29 October 2009

The fifth beach and a bonus castle

Doing a week's worth of posts on a different beach every day has been a bigger project than I realised, hence my fifth beach is a day behind. Taking so many photos has a lot to do with it and also having to fit in going to work!

Yesterday turned out to be warm and sunny, most unlike a typical October day. I met up with Jenny and her three GSDs at Cullen, which is about half an hour's drive away and is another one-time fishing town along the Moray coast. A major landmark in Cullen is the old railway viaduct, it no longer carries trains but is well used by walkers and cyclists.

Looking from the harbour towards the viaduct and beach.


A view of the beach through part of the viaduct.

I've shown you this beach but we were actually heading for another - Sunnyside Bay, a couple of miles along a path that follows the rocky shoreline.


Brint discovered a tyre. It was too heavy to carry so he had to leave it there.


He found it again on the way back!


Those shepherds couldn't wait to get in the water.


There are lots of interesting rock formations, especially these sideways layered ones. My geology knowledge is not good enough to know what they are called or how they got there.


The three shepherds....Keira


Smiling Sadie


Brint


The footpath is narrow, muddy in places and involves a few climbs.


This is a memorial to a man who single-handedly built the stone steps on this stretch of the path. We were quite impressed with his handiwork but wondered why he chose to do it here, a couple of miles along the route, in the middle of nowhere.


Gypsy reaches the beach


Sunnyside Bay is small and secluded, we had it to ourselves.


Looking back along the coast. It was almost like a summer day.


This is the looking down on the beach from the cliffs above. We climbed up to get a view of the castle a bit further along.


It's now a ruin and looks like it has become a part of the rock that it was built upon.


The information board gives you an idea of how it would have looked all those years ago.


There has been a fort here since the thirteenth century but these buildings are dated from the late fourteenth century.
You can walk down to the ruins but they are not very safe and we didn't want to risk losing a dog over the edge!



The path was very muddy in places. The paps wore quite a bit of it home!


Cullen has a pet cemetary, the only one I know of in the area. It is right beside the sea and we passed it on our route.



For the last couple of months Jana, the accident-prone vizsla, has managed to remain unscathed but it obviously couldn't last. Towards the end of this walk, I noticed she had a hole in her chest. It looked like another stitch-up was on the cards.


Looking through the photos I spotted the fresh looking wound on this one. She is running back after clambering on the rocks and I suspect she may have slipped and caught herself on a sharp bit. Body armour is definitely required!

I took her in to work with me and I'm pleased to say that it looks like she'll get away without being stitched. The wound was quite fresh, clean and not too big so it was stapled instead.


Jana's body piercings.
She's thinking of getting her ears and nose done next. In gold. It goes with her coat.



Our walk was a round trip of almost six miles and lasted roughly three hours. There's only one way to end such an outing........ soup and sweet in a tea room!

Seeing as we were in Cullen, Jenny chose the Cullen Skink. (A type of fish soup, in case you haven't heard of it).

It was a great walk and we couldn't have asked for nicer weather.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was Spey Bay and pebbles for the sixth beach today. It will appear tomorrow.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Really enjoyed going on that walk with you - and of course, all the pictures of the gorgeous dogs! Although I have to say I really winced at that picture of the staples on Jana! :-)

Hsin-Yi

Thomgib said...

I think I would have enjoyed that walk . Four 12 hour night shifts "Suck"

Martha said...

I loved your walk - what great pictures you take!
I don't know the east coast so well but must explore - the beaches look amazing.
You are also having better weather!!
The dogs were all looking happy - I used to have a German Shepherd so it was lovely to see those three beauties.
I have never met a papillon - and still dont know who is who but they look great. Jana is beautiful - easier getting to know her.
I am glad her cut was nothing serious.
A three hour walk puts us to shame - I reckon we have done well if we manage an hour and a half.
xxx

Andrea said...

Some simply excellent photos!! Glad that the cut was not serious...Sophie and I are no strangers to 3 hour walks. The only problem is that afterwards, I am the only one who is tired! :)

Jenny said...

Enjoyed the walk! Sue! Hope its not long before we do it again! (Didn't win the lottery on Sat night though,I thought it was lucky.....!)

Amber and Nala said...

Looks like a beautiful day and soup sounds good! :)

jabblog said...

What a beautiful day you had - fantastic light.
The pet cemetery brings tears to the eyes.
Liked your comment about Jana's body piercings - LOL!!