My next stretch of unwalked coast was from Buckie to Spey Bay, which I walked today.
I parked in Buckie, where I had finished my previous walk, and then set off along East Church Street.
East Church Street, Buckie:
I then made my way down to the coast following the way-marked trail for both the Moray Coastal Trail (from Cullen to Forres) and the Speyside Way (from Buckie to Aviemore).
Buckie Information Sign:
The first village I come to was Buckpool, formerly known as Nether Buckie. It is now effectively just part of the town of Buckie.
Approaching Buckpool Harbour:
Buckpool:
From Buckpool, we continued to follow the coast towards Portgordon.
Looking towards Portgordon:
On approaching Portgordon, I spotted a couple of seals and some Eider in the water.
Seal:
Seal:
Eider:
A short distance further on, at the outskirts of Portgordon, I saw at least twenty more seals.
Seals of Portgordon Sign:
Seals:
Seal:
Approaching Portgordon:
Portgordon Harbour:
High Street, Portgordon:
Beyond Portgordon, we started to walk along the pebble beach.
Beinn on the beach, just beyond Portgordon:
After several hundred metres of walking along the pebbles, I was glad to head up onto the track running alongside the pebble beach.
Long pebble beach leading to Spey Bay:
Track alongside Spey Bay Golf course:
While walking alongside the Golf course, I saw numerous Yellowhammer flying in and out of the gorse.
Back on the beach:
Circa 1km from Spey Bay, the track improved considerably.
Track leading to Spey Bay:
On reaching the Golf Club, I continued on through Spey Bay to just beyond the Dolphin Centre.
Spey Bay Golf Club:
Scottish Dolphin Centre, Spey Bay:
No real dolphins today, just some wooden ones.
Wooden Dolphins:
Sculpture at the Dolphin Centre:
Looking across the Spey to Kingston on Spey:
Spey Bay:
River Spey sign:
From Spey Bay, we returned back to Buckie via the same route.
Heading back to Buckie (Bin of Cullen in distance):
Approaching Portgordon:
Beinn:
On our way back, the tide had started to go out, so we had a bit more beach to walk along. There were even more seals lying basking at the outskirts of Portgordon.
More seals:
More seals:
Looking back towards a now distant Spey Bay:
Back to Buckie:
An enjoyable easy walk. I'll definitely be going back to spend more time watching the seals at Portgordon
- definitely the highlight of the walk.