Since I'm planning to walk the coastal path in its entirety * I thought I'd go scope out Tentsmuir having never done that part of the walk. I also thought I would casually do some shopping when I got to Dundee. I started early after dropping Jakers at his nursery. I didn't buy any food, instead opting for a litre of ersatz red bull. I wasn't hungry at all thanks to all the sugar but I had a mahoosive headache by the time I reached Tayport. I've decided I need a proper hydration pack as I never have enough water on these trips. First of all I totally forgot that the walk starts out by the Old Course Hotel but to be fair they were setting up for the Open so I doubt anything but the cycle path was an option. After Guardbridge I found the CP was well sign-posted out to Leuchars and to the start of the Tentsmuir section. Once you leave all the Air Base weirdness the walk takes on a remote kind of beauty. Actually if you're not fond of foresty then this is the best bit of the walk! I didnae take many photos as this was a practice run & besides my camera battery was pretty dead. I did see a sign( by the path out of Leuchars) saying "Warning private land - danger of falling trees".I love those idiotic signs. I saw a red squirrel, deer, swans & baby swans (goslings?) and some sort of large bird of prey which startled me by flying out of a tree, and a submarine. More of that later.
Tentsmuir is lovely (er, I suppose) but it might be nicer to walk round by the beach and have a view and see all the pill boxes and anti-tank stuff. I just found it a bit dull walking along the road (through Tentsmuir) to the picnic bit, dodging cars and bikes. I noticed later that there's a cycle path that cuts right through to Lundin Bridge which would have saved an hour or so but I wanted to do the CP properly or at least see how long it would take. There are honestly bits that you would want to hitch a ride. They are that dull. Is that cheating? I have to admit that when I saw how far off Tayport looked from Tentsmuir Point, I could have wept. I nearly threw in the towel but the massive amounts of sugar and caffeine gave me some ill-judged determination.
into Dundee.It didn't take that long to get to Tayport and I found the path well sign-posted to the harbour and then out towards the road bridge. I found myself on another cycle path. Not sure if that's right or not. I saw a couple of nice lighthouses (or light-hice?) and wondered if I was maybe on the less scenic track. (You can take a lower path & rejoin the cycle path) I bought some expensive juice at the carpark, sat down for a bit and then psyched myself up for the walk over the road bridge. This was fine until half way over when I started to feel decidedly sore & a bit lame. I slowed right down for the last quarter and I had to limp out the door and down the stairs & into Dundee. I was 2 to 3 hours behind any imagined schedule and limping like a lame old lame-ass thing.
I took some photos by the bridge with my phone & having just looked at them I noticed a submarine-type-apparition in one of the pics. Weird man! The soviets were following me(?)
Anyway, I could only face walking as far as the junk shop up from the bus station. They had a lovely Burns bass in the window but the shop was shut sadly - they often are after 4pm. Some shopping trip!
I went to the pub next door & they had 'Golden Brown' playing and a bloke was talking about "wreck-the-hoose-juice" which cheered me up. I went to HMV and bought the REd Riding
Trilogy which I had been hankering after for a while. Oh, and I noticed that if you limp really badly - try it across busy roads - you get some quite curious and sympathetic sort of looks/comments...mostly from the opposite sex, which is good. Then I got the bus home.
Ok - so none of this bodes well for my planned charity walk which is 82 miles long but I could always get pushed round in a wheelbarrow by Vicster. She's built like an ox!
Vicster Quote - "You walked 18 miles, from St Andrews to Dundee, through a forest....in fashion shoes?"
* In memory of my friend Tommy - he had the "No Surrender" mentality
