Coastal Fever...Part 2..

Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen,

today's agenda includes: Cruden Bay, Peterhead, Fraserburgh and a few stops along the way. So saddle up and off we go.

Finally back to a castle... on the cliffs... New Slains Castle. After a short hike to the coast, it stands there...big, imposing and right on the edge. It was supposedly built around 1597 by the Earl of Erroll, and the last alteration was made in 1836. Legend has it that Slains Castle served as inspiration for Bram Stoker’s novel ‘Dracula’. In 1916, the Erroll family sold the castle due to financial difficulties, and the new owner let it fall into disrepair, even removing the entire roof in 1925 to evade tax payments, and many of the well-preserved old stones were taken away for other uses. The view from the cliffs is spectacular, and one can only imagine how impressive Slains Castle must have been in its heyday.

From here we continue to Bullers o'Buchan, one of the most impressive natural phenomena on the east coast of Scotland. It is a collapsed sea cave, and the power of the North Sea has shaped a nearly circular rock pool over the centuries. Water flows through a natural, curved opening into the ‘kettle’. The hike along the cliffs was definitely worth it, and Bullers o'Buchan is truly worth a stop!

Peterhead is our next destination, the largest town in the Aberdeenshire council area and the easternmost point of the Scottish mainland. I'm not quite sure how to describe this town. It is gray, it doesn’t smell good, and many old buildings have a somewhat decrepit appearance.... but it is honest. It doesn’t try to impress. In my eyes, Peterhead is not a beautiful town. To be honest, it is one of the ugliest we have seen in Scotland, yet it still has its own charm. 

After Peterhead, we make a very short detour to Cairnbulg Boathaven, to the wreck of the 'Sovereign', which ran aground here in December 2005. The insurance declared the Sovereign a total loss and refused to pay for a salvage operation. So there it lies... year after year... decaying away. It is quite a peculiar sight. The Sovereign unexpectedly gained fame in 2012 when it appeared on a promotional film poster for the movie ‘Life of Pi’.

On our way 'home', we make a brief stop in Fraserburgh. Unfortunately, it started to rain heavily shortly after our arrival, so we decided to pay Fraserburgh another visit another day.

Now we enjoy our evening and hope you are all doing well.

Wishing you a relaxing evening and see you soon...