Glenmore and Findhorn - Day 7

We left the site and drove home this morning. The only stop was in Nairn for some fuel.

Glenmore and Findhorn - Day 6

We'd discovered that there's a water taxi that can take you across to Culbin Forest, so we decided to spend the day there.

We walked up to the village by a different route and passed the old ice house where they used to store ice to preserve the fish that the local fleet had caught.

The we caught the boat across, it was £10 each return. We arranged for them to come back and pick us up at 3.

We had a lovely day walking on the various forest and coastal paths there. Oscar loved it as he could be off-lead all day.

We stopped for lunch at a bay or lagoon called The Gut. Apparently the poles were put there during WW2 to prevent German gliders from being able to land there.

Back in the forest we went to a high point called Hill 99, which has a viewing tower. Oscar ran straight up it himself.

We carried on through the woods and gradually made our way back to the start. At one point it rained a little and we hadn't brought waterproofs with us. It didn't last too long though.

Back at the beach we could see a seal colony far out on a sand bar.

Thankfully the boat arrived right on time to pick us up.

We walked back to the site, going through Cullerne Garden on the way. This is where the Foundation grows a lot of its fruit and veg.

Later for dinner we had salmon steaks cooked in the George Foreman grill, with peas, sweetcorn and new potatoes.

Glenmore and Findhorn - Day 5

We walked from the site, first through the grounds of the Findhorn Foundation.

At the pier in the village we stopped for a coffee at the Captain's Table.

We carried on up the coast and round Findhorn Point, with views across the mouth of the bay to Culbin Forest.

On the north side of the point there is a beach with beach huts, but it was a bit windy today to sit around much.

There's an extensive sand dune system there that's a nature reserve. We walked through it for a while. It was nice to sit in the sunshine because it was sheltered from the wind.

Eventually we'd walked as far along the beach as we wanted to, and reached the fence surrounding the former RAF base at Kinloss.

We went back by an inland route, and back at the Foundation we stopped for a sandwich at the Field of Dreams.

We'd decided to have a barbecue because the weather was so good, so we stopped at the shop and bought some vegetables.

We walked out onto the sand in Findhorn Bay to see if we could see any wildlife, but there wasn't much.

We had showers at the site in the nicest shower block we've had for a long time.

We had to put up the windbreak because it was quite breezy, but we had a nice barbecue of burgers, courgettes, peppers and mushrooms.

Glenmore and Findhorn - Day 4

We left the site this morning and drove to Nethy Bridge, parking in a layby just outside the village.

We walked through Dell Woods towards Loch Garten.

At Loch Garten we followed a path to the water's edge and stopped for a sandwich.

No sign of any ospreys today.

We completed the circle back to Nethy Bridge, and headed to the Moray coast in the van. We'd booked into the Findhorn campsite, which is just next to the Findhorn Foundation, a community that's been there for decades.

It was a lovely evening so we walked the one mile into the village itself and had a pint at the Kimberley Inn.

After walking back to the van we had prawn red Thai curry for dinner.

Glenmore and Findhorn - Day 3

We did a walk straight from the site today. First down the logging trail at the side of Loch Morlich, then across the bridge at the bottom of the loch and up the path through the woods on the other side.

Back near the top of the loch we watched all the boaters and kayakers.

We then followed the path beside the river until it met the road, then we crossed over and headed up towards the Green Lochan, An Lochan Uaine.

We reached the beautiful lochan and sat for a bit. Some people were in swimming.

We carried on up the path to the Ryvoan bothy, where we lay in the sun for a bit.

We went back by a different path, which was much rougher and steeper than the ones we'd been on so far.

We got back to the van and had showers. Later we went to the local Pine Marten pub for a pint, then across the road to the Youth Hostel to order fish and chips. There was a 30 minute wait so we went back to the van and Scott went back to pick up the order later.

It was very good though.