Dunbar

View towards Dunbar from the pitch

We drove from Slaley Hall to Dunbar on Friday, 2nd August after three days of golf and settled onto a pitch on a raised terrace overlooking the town and the Bass Rock. Fortunately there was a fish and chip van on site which took care of dinner. 

Saturday, 3rd August

Dunbar harbour

A bright, breezy day. In the morning we drove into Dunbar for a bit of an explore. The harbour area is  very picturesque with ancient ruins of a castle and fortifications. Above the harbour is the town. A one street town with a high street of independent shops, no chain names except the Co-op and Lloyds. All the coffee shops on the high street were either full or had no water. On the main high street was Saddlers, a very good little coffee shop with a garden centre out the back.  Bought a few bits and pieces and then found Asda to do a good food shop to last us a few days. Went back to the site for lunch and the spent the afternoon nest building. I fitted the newly acquired rubbers to the porch awning that came with the caravan. It was very windy so it took a bit of effort from both of us to put it up, but once there it is very effective. In the absence of proper restraining straps (there are sockets for them) I rigged up some guys to keep the awning attached to the caravan.  Next task was to try to put up the windbreak. As with the awning it was a bit of a battle against the wind but I prevailed. The site pennants also went up round the awning so our nest is complete. Pasta bolognese for tea.

Sunday, 4th August 

A lovely day. A long walk. Packed lunch into rucksacks, sun cream on off we went. The road outside the campsite leads down the sea and picks up the John Muir Way. We turned left off towards Dunbar. Most of the way into Dunbar skirts Dunbar Golf Club. There were plenty of golfers out enjoying the sunshine and battling the wind. Vicky found a couple of discarded golf balls by the path and I found another later on. The course looks very good and inviting to play. It is a qualifying venue for The Open. We followed the John Muir Way  through little back streets into the town. It was a sunny Sunday in the height of the holiday season but the beaches were almost deserted. We stopped for a drink at The Volunteer Arms before carrying on past the harbour and leisure pool. On the other side of Dunbar is another golf course. This one is not as high quality but has some interesting holes. Four of them on an exposed promontory look quite dangerous. We ate our lunch on the end of the windy promontory. A short walk took us round to an ice cream van and very messy ice creams. The chocolate sauce was a mistake in that wind. An even shorter walk to a public loo with hot water to get rid of the sticky substance. Back into the town along a straight round found us once again at Saddlers for a welcome pot of tea. We stayed there quite a long time before retracing our steps past the golf course and along the road, which seemed longer than in the morning, to the campsite. A sit down and a drink then I got the barbeque out to cook a couple of steaks for dinner. Later on there was spectacular activity in the sky. In the West there was a colourful sunset and in the East was an even more colourful, bright rainbow. An excellent day. 

Monday, 5th August

Poster Box

Edinburgh day. A very wet morning. It started raining during the night and continued at various strengths up until lunchtime. As it was going to be late night we sat out the rain by relaxing in the van and completed a few domestic tasks. After a light lunch of corned beef salad we drove into Edinburg and found an NCP car park near Cowgate and decided to swallow the potential £15 charge. We walked along Cowgate to the Underbelly to get tickets for Ed's show. It was 2for1 night. Ed came into town at about 5 so in the mean time we had a little wander about and spent some time in Jennings department store - a bit like Libertys with a central area surrounded by mezzanines. A drink in The Last Drop and an expensive, but very nice, meal in Steak and Mussels with Ed before he went to leaflet drop. 

We had a further wander and went to see An Audience with Jeff Goldblum - a sort of standup comedy act. It was quite good, well sutured and witty. A coffee in Cafe Nero and a sit in the Grassmarket followed, where saw the fireworks at the end of the tattoo then we went into the Underbelly to watch Novemberunderground. 

It is a short play set in the restaurant and one of the rooms in a London hotel. Serious, witty, a bit macabre at times it needed concentration to follow but it all fitted together well. Ed was good. We had to wait 'til half way through for him to appear as a sort of terrorist cleaner who chats up the hotel owner. There was an audience of about 50 which looked full in the small venue.

 After a quick farewell when it was finished we raided a bank to pay for the car park and he went of to a party of some sort. Got back to the site about 1.30. 

 Tuesday, 6th August

Dunbar Gardens

On a wall down an alley

Another very sunny day. Got up a little later due to the late night. Retrieved the car from the car park and bitter and bobbed. Drove to North Berwick, stopping on the way at the gardens in Dunbar for me to take some pictures of flowers as my camera school assignment. The first time, other than Edinburgh, that we have encountered congestion. It took us over an hour to find a parking space. This area of Scotland is called the "Golf Coast". In Dunbar there are two courses, North Berwick two more, we passed one on the way and beyond North Berwick there are four more, including Muirfield, before the next conurbation. We had coffee on the High Street, which was a great relief for me, and then wandered around the town. More shops than Dunbar but still no high street chains, and a lot more people. North Berwick is the birthplace of Robert Louis Stevenson. Lunch was taken in the Buttercup Cafe. A very cheesy macaroni cheese for me. A small, traditional cafe, very homely. A family came in with four small children who were very good. Drove back to the camp site via Asda and attempted to chill. Made more difficult by the neighbour's over loud music.  We bought 24 hours of wifi so that I could upload my Camera School homework. Vicky took advantage of it to check her new phone account. It was a frustrating hour as she tried to upgrade the web page for full access. I had to go for a little walk! Lamb kofta and masala chicken on the barbeque for dinner.

Wednesday, 7th August

 Another beautiful day. The sun shone and no wind. It being our last day we wanted to do a coast walk, but not on a golf course. St. Abbs head was the destination. Lunch packed, sun cream on we drove 15 miles or so down the coast. St. Abbs is a charming little fishing village, not unlike those in Cornwall, down a steep, narrow winding lane. A pay and display car park on the harbour side (only £1 an hour) next to a little cafe attracted our attention.

View through the cafe window

We spent an hour firstly with coffee,very cheap and very efficiently served in cramped surrounding, and then wandering the harbour. A fisherman had just landed and was gutting his catch provoking much excitement and warfare amongst the gulls.

Fisherman's friends

After that we headed back up the lane to a Scottish National Trust car park to commence a circular walk out to the Head and back. Guided by the map in a very informative leaflet we headed out through the countryside passing a farmyard full of sheep and a man repairing a dry stone wall to a lovely, secluded bay were we sat and had our lunch. Pettico Wick had obviously be used at some time perhaps as a supply point for the lighthouse as there was a stone jetty. Erosion has accounted for the last section of the path down so we perched on a grass ledge a little way above the beach. 

Pettico Wick

Thereafter there was a steady climb over the Head, past the end of a fresh water loch to the lighthouse. The lighthouse is automatic now but the keepers cottages are still  occupied as private dwellings. A spectacular place. The walk then alternated between cliff top and countryside as it took a more or less straight route back to the road just a few yards from the Visitor Centre. Lots of spectacular views especially as we neared the village.

St Abbs from the north

A welcome cup of tea in the Old Smiddy cafe and a look through an arts gallery. Does anyone ever buy anything at these places? Back to camp via the Asda petrol station. Finished of the Lamb Koftas as starters to a dinner of salmon pasta. The windbreak and awning came down in preparation for going home tomorrow.