A Double Decker Bus Trip Through Rural Aberdeenshire

We are up in Aberdeenshire for a few days visiting Gaye's friend Collett so this morning while the girls went to Ellon for a shopping trip I took the Double Decker service bus to Macduff and Banff. It was a spectacular journey and the countryside is looking so well despite the very hot summer we have had to date. They appear to have had enough rain and the fields of corn and barley are looking great.

The A947 from Aberdeen and from the front seat of the Double Decker you get a wonderful view of the countryside.

My Double Decker service no 35

A grand field of Barley

 

This is my first stop of the morning Macduff. It has the air of a Fishing Port that has seen better days.

Not as many boats sail from here compared to a few years ago.

There were very few boats in the harbour and I met a Fisherman who said the boats are at see longer and then back in the port longer as they have problems with the quotas they have been set. 

Just as I was about to get on the bus to head further along the coast to Banff this fishing boat came back into the harbour.

This was taken about 15 minutes before the Fishing Boat appeared.

I took a 10 minute local bus journey from Macduff to Banff and this town looks a bit more prosperous and the harbour is now a Marina.

In a fairly dull area of the town on my way back to the town centre from the harbour I came upon this front garden looking very colourful.

Walking in Aberdeenshire & The Banff Coast

Prior to our holiday in Orkney we spent a few days in Newmachar, Aberdeenshire with Gaye's friend Collett and enjoyed excellent hospitality and Tom and I had some excellent walks. 

Our first walk was near Newburgh north of Aberdeen on an area of sand dunes that is now a nature reserve. 

There was plenty of wild life to see and these Eider Ducks were very noisy

This Seal was very nosy and followed us along the coast for quite a while 

A large colony of Eider Ducks

The sand dunes that had to be climbed before we reached the sea

Tom believes in being dressed for the occasion complete with his two hats 

The mile walk along the shoreline

On our way back to Newmacher we stopped at President Trumps new golf course. Nobody was playing.

The next day we headed to the Banff coast for a walk along the coast from Portsoy to Sandend.

The weather inland was not good but at the coast it was perfect

There was gorse everywhere and it was spectacularly colourful in the sunshine

The return journey to Portsoy took us away from the coast and through farmland where we saw this lovely Yellowhammer

The walk took us to the village of Sandend and its lovely harbour

The last mile of the walk along the shore from Sandend to the point where we turned inland has these great concrete blocks placed there during the war to stop a German landing.