Forvie, Cruden Bay, Slains Castle, Bullers of Buchan & Kinnard Lighthouse Museum

THURSDAY: DAY 7: Up again at 8:30 and went to the Store and Post Office in Newburgh to mail our postcards. We walked another trail (the GREEN PATH) in FORVIE NATURE RESERVE & went to the center there. We drove to COLLIESTON and saw the NORTH SEA and then headed north to CRUDEN BAY and stopped at a Beach. North of Cruden Bay we found the parking lot to SLAINS CASTLE then  walked about one mile down an unpaved road to find it. It also sat next to a cliff in a dramatic setting and was ruined! There was something eerie about it though besides a sign that read "These cliffs are dangerous" and about a 7year old boy who fell to his death and the fact that we were the only people here.

This was the ancestral home of the EARLS of ERROLL and where BRAM STROKER got the idea for DRACULA. this was also another one of my favorite ruins.

We got back on the 975 road to the BULLERS OF BUCHAN which is a collapsed sea cave where the ocean comes in through a natural archway. It was very picturesque and the sea chasm is almost 200 feet deep and very popular with different types of seabirds! All you could hear was the echos of them chirping loudly! There was a carpark & a rough footpath that lead to it. No fence or rails! Thats the beauty of it. The weather was cool and No rain.

Our next stop was the MUSEUM OF SCOTTISH LIGHTHOUSES which was a big thrill for me because I love lighthouses! It had a large collection of lighthouse lenses and equipment, audio visual about Scotland's lighthouses and a Stevenson Gallery.

The Stevensons were lighthouse engineers. (Robert, his son Alan, and David; Alan's nephew). We then got a guided tour of  KINNAIRD HEAD LIGHTHOUSE which was built in 1787 & was the only lighthouse to be built on top of a castle. The original lighthouse and engine room were preserved as they were when the last keeper left. The view at top was great; you could see part of the town and the coast. We went down the road and walked along a beach.

Then we drove to BANFF to our hotel for 2 nights at BANFF SPRINGS HOTEL. We stopped at a Petrol station & Suzi was excited because they had pop cans with David Beckham's face! lol We each purchased a can but I threw mine away & Suzi kept hers for a while. We had a long day & we were starving so we just ate at the hotel. I finally got seafood with the FISHERMAN's PLATTER that included PRAWN, HADDOCK, SALMON and a side of chips (fries).

We then got ready to go out but we stayed at the hotel bar talking to the bartender & guys from a wedding party that was taking place the next day in Turiff. They were trying to persuade us to ride with them to another bar, but they were drunk & we didn't want to get in a vehicle with them. lol It was a fun night.