Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven

Salam w.b.t and hello folks.

 

"How is your weekend?" is a typical question to be asked when we come to work on Monday.

My answers normally are, "Not much", "It was alright", and "A bit busy doing readings". Since then I realised, what a dull weekend I had so far.

So last Sunday, I decided to make a little trip to Stonehaven which is famous with Dunnotar Castle. I made a bit of research on the night before on how to reach there and other places can be visited in Stonehaven.

Below are the details.

Stonehaven Guide - http://www.dunnottarcastle.co.uk/

Address: Dunottar Mains Cottages, Dunottar Mains Cottages, Stonehaven AB39 2TL, UK

Bus X7 (1 hour)

• Day ticket - £10.00 (approx.)
• At 9.15 am
• From F6 Stop, Union Street
• Stop at Dunnottar Junction
• Postcode: AB39 2TL

Opening Hours & Prices

• The current opening hours are Daily between 10am and 3:30pm
• Prices - Adult £6
• Guide Books £3.50
• Postcard Set £2.00

Other interesting places

• Dunnotar Castle - Main
• Stonehaven War Memorial (22 minutes from the castle)
• Aunty Bettys (25 minutes from War Memorial)
• My Beautiful Caravan, at Barclay Street (11 minutes from Aunty Bettys)
• Tolbooth Museum - the museum is only open on a Saturday and Sunday from 12.30 to 3.30 pm

 

Back to Aberdeen

• 4.15 pm from Barclay Street, South bound
• Bus 7
• Arrive at Stop F1

I arrived at Dunnottar Junction Stop around 10.10 am. I did not go straight to the castle, I went to the bus stand to see the bus schedule to return to Aberdeen, just a precaution measure since this is not a busy area. 

Then I walked to the castle about 1 miles, which took me 10 minutes to see the ruined castle from distance.

The view along my walk to the castle

Welcome to the Dunnottar Castle

Behind this field is the North Sea, if you can see it

Pathway that leads to the castle

I was nearly dancing around when I saw the castle



The waterfall



The view is so magnificent

The entrance

In the parking lot got sign said the castle is close due to wind. I was a bit disappointed but I want to have a look, probably the sign was an old sign.

The view, I will never get boring see this





Halfway to the castle



Actually, this is the cliff but eroded due to seawater. The castle is at the top of it



Beach, it was windy, chilly, and started to rain



The gate at the side of the cliff, part of the castle





The stairway to the main gate of the castle. It was closed, affirmative.


I did not want to simply leave the place, so I decided to take a walk down to the beach. The route was treacherous, and dangerous. I saw several visitors just stand at the stairway and enjoyed the view, but none came down to the beach. I took the risk to go down, and if I slipped down the cliff, they will see me from where they stood.

While walking down the cliff, I stopped from time to time and enjoy the fantastic view. Throughout this little hiking, it was raining just so you know and I was carrying my backpack. It was not easy and risky. I was a bit scared, but keep praying all will go well.

 

In the meantime, I saw several people followed me. Huhuhu...but one man slipped, luckily nothing happened. I shouted to him to take the path with fresh grass, much safer.



Nearly there



Finally down at the beach. I did not touch the water as I knew it is so cold



Stopped for a while to read the sign here




Finally, made it to the beach safely

I spent around 10 minutes there, took pictures, enjoying the view. In the meantime, studying the route to get back up the cliff, either take the same route where I used to go down or climb another opposite cliff.

It started to raining heavily and strong wind, poor vision and the ground could be very, very slippery. Besides, the tide was starting to rise. With that, I decided to use the same route.

I walked back to the main road with myself drenching in rain water. I brought an umbrella but I knew it will be useless. As the wind blew so hard and it was so cold. I thought there was a coffee shop, so I could warm up my body while waiting for rain to stop, but nothing, it was a private property. No shelter or whatsoever, just a parking lot. I saw a Blue Bus there but it was a charter bus for tourist.

As a last resort, I decided, lets go to the bus stand. But first, I need to walked back about 1 mile to the bus stop. I walked slowly, and suddenly the Blue Bus I saw earlier stopped next to me. The driver was a man that slipped when he walked down the cliff previously.

He said, "Hop on to the bus".

He gave me a lift to the bus stand towards Aberdeen. He was actually a tourist guide from Edinburgh, brought a group of tourist visited Aberdeen. Now, he was on his way back to Edinburgh after dropping the tourists in Aberdeen. He wanted to visit the castle before going home, but a bit disappointed as it was close.

I said to him, "We should come visit again in summer. The chance will be higher".

He dropped me at the bus stand and off he went. It was around 11 am at that time, the next bus was around 12 pm. It was freezing cold and I hardly feel my fingers, and honestly I was a bit terrified thinking what if the bus does not turn up.

The view from the bus stop. The property there, I thought it was a coffee shop

Finally, the bus turned up and I went straight back to Aberdeen. I did not visit other places as the weather did not permitted. Next time...

Once I arrived at Union Square Bus Station, I went to have my lunch at Thaikun, a Thailand restaurant. A hot meal, after a freezing morning.

On Monday, my colleagues asked me, "How was your weekend?".

"It was great. I went to Stonehaven, see the castle".

Their reply, "You went there in this kind of season, you are out of your mind".

I giggled, "I don't regret it. The view was stunning".

##Extra - Preparation

1. Decent shoes
2. 4 layers of clothes + thermal shirt and pant
3. Waterproof winter jacket
4. Thick socks
5. Gloves
6. Food and water
7. Check the weather forecast

P/S - I was not stupid, I checked the weather forecast already, Allah knows. Anyway, this is Aberdeen.