Myself and that Borders man left Edinburgh in the morning and headed straight to the Kingdom of Fife. We spent most of our day driving up, down, round and over some of Fife's finest villages. We worked as we went, and it was only when we got to Anstruther that I realised I'd neglected my camera. The following scene caught my eye, mostly because it summed up Fife in just one photo. History, beach, golf:
Eventually we weaved our way round the coast all the way to St Andrews, the home of golf and Scotland's oldest university. Both myself and Dave have spent a lot of time in St Andrews over the years of touring, but this time I was seeing it with new eyes. No matter how you look at it, it is simply a great town.
After some sleep and a tasty breakfast, I was so ready to get the show on the road - or should I say, my feet on the road. Today we were walking from Leuchars to Newport-on-Tay, a distance of around 12 miles, and the final stage of the Fife Coastal Path. We'd had such a great walk from Crail to St Andrews last September, and I was just feeling so good to be out and about again.
All kitted up, I was definitely more than ready to go:
(ok OKAY so I definitely did not need my new poles on this walk, and I carried them with me 12 miles for no reason, but to be totally honest, I felt like a pro-walker and that was all that mattered to me!)
There was a bit of tramping to be doing at first, once we'd passed RAF Leuchars. Thankfully, at the boggiest parts, there were wooden boards to walk along, ensuring our feet were kept dry:
Onwards through the delicious-smelling gorse, until eventually we came out onto a road - the road that leads to Tentsmuir forest and beach. We walked along the road for about a mile and a half, encountering many friendly people along the way. For me, I loved the tree-lined photo opportunities to be had:
A sunny Sunday morning made for many happy people; we saw families out for bike rides, so many dogs, walkers, runners, cyclists...it was lovely to see, and even better, people were really friendly and jovial. Restores your faith in people, and made me think that if I was a tourist, I'd be impressed at the friendliness. I'm sure the sunshine had a part to play, especially as the forecast was for rain but there was no sign of that here.
We walked many miles through Tentsmuir, and rewarded ourselves at the end with a sandwich stop:
From there, we left the beach behind, and skirted around the Firth of Tay. The path took us through the streets and caravan parks of Tayport, and the clouds got darker and more ominous as we strolled on...
Then we got some of that rain that was predicted...I was secretly thrilled to test out my new hood on my new jacket...I may be a loser, but I'm a happy loser!
On we went, weaving our way round houses, cats, puddles, harbours, with the Tay getting closer. The rain was never too heavy, and we even saw a steam train across the water. The last part wasn't overly exciting, walking alongside the main road. It was quite dreich. But it made for a misty atmospheric view of the Tay Bridge:
And then - there we were. In the carpark of the Tay Bridge, feeling like we'd walked the whole Fife Coastal Path. I always feel a great sense of achievement after completing a walk (even if it's just a walk to work), and this was no different.
From there we strolled along to Newport-on-Tay and waited for the bus. We had to get the bus over to Dundee first, and then connect with another heading to Leuchars, so we got double the fun on the Tay Bridge. By this point the rain was bouncing off the pavement, but we were safe and dry on the bumpy bus. And perfectly, by the time we reached Leuchars, we were back in the sunshine. We walked a mile or so back to the car, and high-fived our success.
Despite the sore legs and hungry stomachs, it wasn't time for home just yet. We drove back from Leuchars and I finished my research on the last part of the Fife Coastal Path. A fantastic walk, thoroughly enjoyable, good company, many different things to be seen. As always, a great day out. And to finish, some fun:
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