The bus system in Ayrshire is a little tricky. One either catches a bus before 8am or near 10:30am. There is no in between.
Today we caught the 10:30(ish) bus to Ballantrae. We had a leisurely morning , and that was lovely.
We have been paying 10£ for two of us 2x/day, and I learned today, we can pay 10£ for the whole day travel. There’s an app for that.
Today, was meant to be 10.8km, but my phone says 12.6km, and it’s usually quite accurate.Some of the rocks and sea glass that followed me home today.We got off the bus at the church in Ballantrae. The signage is quite clear for this stage of the trail. The Kennedy Mausoleum. Gravestones for deaths in 17 and 1800s. Wow!The first part of today’s walk was low tide beach. Absolutely phenomenal. I would come to Scotland just to be on these beaches and look for stones. I was in Heaven. There’s a cave in them hills!There are several legends about this cave. The most recent, a bank clerk turned hermit, lived here until he died in 1983. We met a man on the beach today who told us that the man wouldn’t accept food if you handed it to him, but he’d take it if you left it for him. We stopped here. It felt spooky. The next part, after the long stretch of beach, was an uphill trek in grass that is cut by the highways (this part of the trail runs parallel to the road) and maybe by the ACT volunteers, but it was still quite long. Dad said his thighs are sore from lifting his legs more than he typically does. There was a grass snake in here…probably a few.These were along the side of the road. Beautiful colour!The trail flattens out eventually. You can see the ocean behind and below us.I don’t know how he wore jeans, but he said he was good. It was windy with a strong heat from the sun. I found a heart rock and put it up on the post. I hope it doesn’t hurt a curious cow. The trail crosses the highway a few times. The way down again was through a jungle! What views! So many pretty flowers!This stretch was a bit surreal. It was hot and sunny and we saw palm trees. The tide came in, so we stayed on the asphalted walkway by the road for the last stretch. A memorial for the Russian sailors and ship, Varyag (look it up if you’re curious).We waited at an unmarked bus stop for over an hour. I don’t know how Google Maps knows the unmarked bus stops, but it does. The couple across the street from the bus stop was concerned for us waiting so long, and she came over to off us drinks and a toilet if we needed. Scots are seriously generous and kind. Waiting waiting waiting for the bus.Finally, the bus came! We took the bus into Girvan and to the Asda grocery store, which had a much better selection that the store we went to a couple of nights ago.
A very noisy, bumpy ride.
The grocery store staff called us a cab driver, and he took us back to the hotel. I chatted with the driver about his business, and he said it’s been slow since Covid. People learned to party at home. He spoke a bit about a lack of services out in rural Scotland and that they don’t often get to see a doctor any more. It’s a nurse or a pharmacist. I suppose it’s an international phenomena?
Stories from the Walk Home 