Today should be called “Golf Course Day” because it seemed like half the time we were walking beside one! We headed out of Cellardyke, bound for Crail, passing by a seaside play area, of which we have seen many. This one also had a tidal pool and some brave souls were out taking a dip in the ‘fresh’ waters! Continuing on, we came to the Caiplie Coves, sea caves carved out of the rocks, multi-hued and very unique shapes.Far off in the distance we could see the Isle of May which has on it the remains of an old monastery. On a beach we found one stack of stones, which pleased me because we’d missed them on an earlier day! We passed by the remains of an old cottage, a leftover from the saltpan days.
We reached Crail, supposedly one of the most picturesque harbours and often painted or photographed. We wanted to suss out the village because we would have to return here by bus to buy groceries, as the next accommodations were an Air B&B in a town with only one place to eat. Before we did that, we headed over to check out the Creal Fossils, which are fossils of trees on a very rocky beach. Took a bit of a scramble to get to them, but we did.After all that hard work, we needed sustenance to get us on to Kingsbarns, so stopped at a little harbourside cafe for lunch. After that over to check out the grocery store for when we returned later for supplies. We continued on out of Crail, past a beehive doocot (dovecote) nicknamed “The Pepper Pot”, dating back to the 16th century. This one was rather unique in that it has been restored and you can go right inside. A little bit of a fright because when you push open the door, a recording of birds flapping and squawking plays! Glad I wasn’t first in! There are models of pigeons in some of the openings to add to the reality of what it might have been like back then.
Next part was a walk through a very nice holiday caravan park, then past a WW II pillbox built by a platoon of Polish soldiers. We walked by the first of a string of golf courses along this coast, being wary of getting in the way of golfers and at one point having to wait several minutes for a foursome to tee off. At some points there are signs asking you to walk for the next bit on the beach, which entails some bouldering and scrambling over rocks, which was hard on the old feet! At one point we actually had to take our shoes and socks off to get around a rocky outcrop. Felt good to give the feet a soak! Below one of the courses we came upon Constantine’s Cave, where it is reputed that King Constantine was killed in a battle with the Danes in 874. We also passed by a herd of cows, who basically paid us no heed and went on with their grass munching without batting an eye. It was here that we encountered our first actual stile over a rock wall. This was definitely the most challenging walking today, with lots of different terrain, from dirt paths, to tarmac, to pebbled paths, to sandy beach, to rocky beach and lots of ups and downs.
We finally reached Kingsbarns and our home-away-from-home, The View, for the next three nights. It will be a treat not to have to pack up and arrange luggage transfer! Because we had a late arrival we dumped our gear, had a quick cleanup, then hopped on the bus back to Crail, where we had a great dinner at the Golf Inn. After that a quick trip to the grocery store to stock up on some breakfast and lunch items, then back on the bus to Kingsbarns. Unfortunately, we weren’t paying close enough attention and got off a stop too soon, which meant a twenty minute back to our house. A few loads of laundry and we were done for the day.