Walk 212

Peterhead to Newburgh 22miles

I made a futile attempt at the start of today's walk to walk around the bay at Sandford, but try as I might I could not find a way through so I opted for a short trek along the busy A90 which took me along the coast to Boddam.  Just before you turn left towards Boddam I spotted a car park and my curiosity got the better of me, I decided to climb the small mound next to where most people had parked and when I got to the top I foolishly decided to head across land towards the town.  I say foolishly now because in all of my treks its always a case of "being wise after the event"  I made my way across the field and it soon became apparent that my route to town was going to be difficult as in front of me was a 12ft fence and to the side was a 6ft wall, I luckily found a broken part of the wall which reduced my climb to 5ft! I clambered over the wall and ended up in a small housing estate where I was finally able to make my way towards the coast and the fantastic lighthouse at Boddam.

Boddam Lighthouse

Once I had made my way out of town I walked along the very busy A90 for 2 miles before taking a left turn along the much quieter A975, after a mile or so I was able to take a well signposted track towards the Bullers of Buchan which are natural arches formed by the sea and well worth a look.

There is a well signposted track that takes you all the way along the coast to Slains Castle,here is a superb wreck of a castle that's in not too bad a condition when you consider its age.

Slains Castle

I carried on along the coast finally stopping off at Cruden Bay for a spot of lunch.  After eating I walked along the beach (GC No14) towards what looked like a track (on my map) up to the cliff tops, thankfully when I arrived at the end of the beach the track was signposted and what a view from the top looking across Cruden Bay!

Cuden Bay

Soon after walking along the cliffs I had to cut inland to Whinnyfold and then along a very quiet road all the way to Collieston.  Collieston is beautiful and reminded me of Devon/Cornwall its one of Scotland's best kept secrets!

Collieston

After Collieston I looked at my map and made an assumption, and that was all sand dunes are the same size! How wrong could I be?  Very wrong as it turns out, the dunes after Colleiston are the size of cliffs and covered in grass so look in every way the same as any other coastal cliff!

Hackley Bay

The walk along the cliffs was fantastic, really well trodden paths and superb views, eventually it all came to an end as I had to walk inland towards my end point which was Newburgh.  Today was yet another great walk and one I would happily do again.

Accommodation: Air BnB Aberdeen.  This my second visit to an Air BnB and much better the last time I used this service.  Jon the owner was great company and gave me free rein to relax and put my feet up in front of the telly