St Andrews to Dundee
Margaret served a first class breakfast in her circular dining room while a cock pheasant strutted to the door for his morning feed. I took my leave and walked through the centre of the small town to the golf course. Casual water stood in small puddles where committed golfers clubbed their way around the home of their sport.
Casual water at St Andrews
I set off along a footpath/cycleway with a busy main road to my left. A tall hedge to the right blocked my view of the golf course while mercifully protecting me from a blast of wind that came straight off the North Sea. It was an unsatisfying walk. After a mile the hedge ended, and the golf course was replaced by fields. As I approached the village of Guardhouse I saw two B&Bs that the Visitor Centre failed to tell me about. Across the road was a fast food outlet where I had coffee and an unhealthy biscuit comprising layers of chocolate, shortbread and toffee.
This had been a dull and noisy trudge, and the map showed that the next few miles entailed a walk through RAF Leuchars and a tramp through Tentsmuir Forest. I couldn’t envisage much pleasure in either, so I headed for the railway and bus interchange at Leuchars and was soon in Dundee, well ahead of schedule and thankful to be spared more tedious miles. Instead I visited Discovery Point, where the ship used by Captain Scott on his first (successful) Antarctic voyage is moored. The exhibition and the ship itself are excellent, and I was happily engrossed for a couple of hours.
My hotel stood north of the city centre, on the far side of a steep hill called Dundee Law. Once installed, I had no longing for a ride into town to check out the night life. Instead I did my washing and reviewed my options for the route ahead. Although the weather forecast had suddenly come good for the following week, the Cairngorms had too much snow. My only feasible route was along Glen Tilt and Glen Feshie, but first I’d have to make my way to Blair Atholl.
The thing that was nagging at me was my desire to be north of Inverness, taking advantage of the good weather that was forecast for the week ahead. My decision was to ride by train to Inverness and continue walking there. Maybe the snow would have gone by the time I returned from Cape Wrath. Clear about my immediate plans, I slept soundly, earplugs inserted in case late-returning revellers should disturb my slumber.