Bush Trip – Scottish Circumnavigation Part 3
(Royal Deeside and Inverness)
This takes us from where we left off in Part 2, Fife and heads to the town of St Andrews, then Scone before heading up through the Grampians to Glenshee ski area and along Royal Deeside, passing Balmoral. We will head to the coast at Stonehaven and see the (very) old fortress of Dunnottar Castle. Head north to Aberdeen and then Inverness.
We start where Part 2 left off at Kinross in Fife. We will head across to the university town of St Andrews, also the home of the Royal & Ancient (Golfers will know what I mean). We head up to Scone in Perthshire, passing Dundee on the way. From There we head up into the Grampians and pass the Ski Centre at Glenshee before heading down to Braemar, across to Royal Deeside and the Queen’s private summer residence at Balmoral. We continue east to Ballater to land at Aboyne, mainly used for gliders.
From here we head to the coast near the town of Stonehaven and the old fortress of Dunnottar Castle. Turning north we follow the coast to Aberdeen and then up the coast and the beaches up to the Sands of Forvie on the Ythan estuary. We then land at a small airfield at Hatton, near Cruden Bay.
We head westwards again over a lot of farming country, pass over my old house, visit Fyvie and its old, haunted castle before doing a bit of Film Location spotting at Penna, where elements of the film Local Hero were filmed. We then follow the Moray Firth westwards, landing at Whitehills before our last dash along the Moray Firth, passing two RAF bases from the Cold War before landing at Inverness.
244 nautical miles, 5 airports visited, a wave to the Queen, some history. I hope you enjoy it.
As ever, feedback is welcome.
