Dunnottar at dawn

It was touch and go as to whether there would be sunlight around but I decided to do the walk anyway and find out.  The start was not inspiring with heavy grey cloud, drizzle spitting at us and not a break to be seen in the clouds. We persisted. 

And jolly glad we were too! 

After a few minutes of taking shelter from the wind and now, rain at the war memorial, I turned round and spotted that a horizontal slither had opened up in the sky. There was a tinge of pink possibility! The sun must be just over the the horizon by now but it was firmly hidden.

And then the first beam.  Projecting a dazzle of orange across the sky, it was time to crack on!

We returned down to the coastal path as more sunlight was creeping through. It persisted and soon a brilliant full rainbow stretched high across the recently baled and glowing fields, right beside the war memorial on the hill behind us. Spectacular!

Dunnottar castle wasn't looking like it was going anywhere and there was an increasing amount of blue sky so we hung around to watch a double bow appear before skipping off to the ruin.

The light seeping though the gaps in the folds of the cliffs was exceptionally pretty and we found this spot to take some final photos before heading on our return journey.  

We'd been out a couple of hours and, at 9.15am, back at the van, it felt like a whole day had gone by. So, I had lunch, made the most of a campsite with excellent shower facilities and poured boiling water in my half an overly strong coffee left over from yesterday... perfect. (Oh, have I really confessed to that!) 

After swapping texts with Rich, who said Majorca was hoofing it down but had two upcoming sun days, I replied saying I'm having my karma upfront for the two days of hoofing it down that are forecast here.

Heading off in more sunshine and strikingly moody clouds, we drove along the river, around the docks and through the centre of Aberdeen. I must question my satnav's choice of route through the centre of a city with a perfect bypass but, it was unexpectedly magnificent. Perhaps the grey stone doesn't look at its best in poor weather but with the sun on it, what a place!  Turrets, cathedrals and huge, high stone terraced buildings. It was majestic!

We attempted to stop at the Forvie Nature Reserve. It looked beautiful from the road but the width or height restrictions in the car parks put pay to a dunes walk and by the time we got round to the visitor centre car park, the weather had started closing in and neither of us were in the frame of mind to get wet. 

Time for a cup of tea and then Cruden Bay harbour where we did have a potter. I was a bit irked to feel the back of my knee playing up so we avoided the beach.  

Just up the road is our campsite which feels sheltered despite the wind getting ever stronger. Fingers crossed for the same depth of sleep that I had last night which was extraordinary.