Sunday 5th October 2025

Gayle had a big birthday and we had a really enjoyable meal with family on the Saturday, so we got away for our October break on a Sunday.

We weren’t sure how navigable some of the more northerly roads would be after “Storm Amy” the first storm of the season had smashed through and so we set off around 9:30am and the roads were very quiet and we got to Aviemore and picked up some food then off on the last part of the trip, the A98 was closed so it took a bit longer than expected and we arrived at Strathlene Holiday Park around 2pm.

We opted for pitch 26, the front-row pitches were a bit close to the road and it was very windy.

After levelling off, and hooking up we headed into Buckie along the coastal road, the east end of the town is pretty industrial with seafood processing, small shipyards and the port.

It was very windy and also very quiet, we didn’t see many folks braving the weather (it was also Sunday), so we wandered into the town centre and Gayle got very excited about a couple of really old books in a charity shop, it was closed so we will need to pop back in.

It was pretty sunny by this point and the wind had dropped a bit so it was warm, not much was open in the town.

Back to the van and we had chicken tempura and potato croquettes done in the air-fryer with a wee glass or two of sangria, very nice and relaxing.

We watched “The 6th Day” a late-90s Arnie Schwarzenegger movie, and honestly it was pretty poor, I wasn’t sure if the 25+ years since I first saw it would have made it better…but no. We rounded out the evening with the first episode of Nurse Jackie which is darkly comic.

Monday 6th October 2025

We woke around 7:15am, and had tea and pastries for breakfast after a nice shower. The facilities are a bit dated, but very clean and there was nobody else around on the site.

We pulled on our walking gear and set off in the direction of Cullen along the Moray Coast path.

It’s a really nice walk, not too hilly and some great views - the Bow Fiddle rock in Portknockie is pretty cool, and there are other impressive rocks along the coast.

We passed through Findochty (“Finechty”) and then on to Portknockie where we grabbed a snack (and some photos of the Bow Fiddle Rock) then onto the spectactular Cullen beach.

As we rounded the bay it was hitting 19C - it was a little colder due to wind-chill, but the sun was lovely.

We had lunch on the beachfront - tasty burgers and loaded fries and then headed back to the van and had a very light dinner and started rewatching Fringe and an episode of Nurse Jackie before heading off to bed, we both really enjoyed the walk to Cullen.

Tuesday 7th October 2025

Up to dark rainy morning and we had a light breakfast of granola and yoghurt.

We waited for the rain to stop and headed out for a walk towards Portgordon, it was cool and a little windy, it’s an interesting walk along the coast and we spotted seals just outside the town.

When we got to Portgordon we discovered that the harbour is closed, as was the cafe and so we had a sandwich from the only open place - Spar.

We wandered back via a stop in Buckie to pick up the books we’d spotted on Sunday and make Gayle very happy.

After that it was over to Kenny Thomsen Butcher for a stir fry and Co-Op for breakfast and back to the site after a very brief spot of rain the sun came out and it was pretty warm out of the wind.

We had intended to go to the restaurant across from the site for dinner, but it shuts at 5pm and was closed when we passed at 4pm so we had the black garlic beef with noodles for dinner, very nice and then on with rewatching Fringe and Nurse Jackie.

Wednesday 8th October 2025

We weren’t up particularly early, but it was dry, grey and breezy and after packing up the van we headed into Elgin.

A bit of shopping in the Asda because they had a big car park.

We popped round to Sueno’s stone which is a huge carved Pictish stone dating back to the 9th century - worth a visit.

After that we drove onto Findhorn and had a tasty burger in the Kimberley Inn - great meaty burgers with fries - really good.

We wandered around the beach area and spotted the two motorhome aires.

Back in the van and round to Hopeman and West Beach caravan park, we pitched on S8 which is a sea-front pitch just behind the water.

It was cold and windy and the tide was going out, the van was rocking in the wind - not quite as wild as some places we’ve been to but still disconcerting.

We had a nice meal of risotto and chicken and a wee glass of prosecco and watched some tv in a very cosy van out of the wind.

Thursday 9th October 2025

We were up late and went for a wander into the small town of Hopeman.

It’s a nice wee place, beautiful beaches but it was cold and windy.

Lunch was rolls and breakfast sandwich filler - nice and simple in the van.

We hunkered down out of the bitterly cold wind playing the Pathfinder adventure game again.

We finished the first part and took a break and headed to the on-site bar for a pint or two, the menu wasn’t doing it for us so we wandered round to the chip shop I had a sausage supper and Gayle got a steak pie, both were very good.

Continuing our late 1990s Schwarzenegger run we watched End of Days from 1999…it was just as terrible as I remembered.

Friday 10th October 2025

We got up quite late on, and it was still very windy, the van was being rocked every now and again.

It was grey as we wandered to Burghead along the coastal path, it’s a really nice walk except there’s the big ugly Burghead Maltings looming large right on the coast.

From what we could see Burghead closed for the season, we wandered around the Pictish fort, but the visitor centre was closed for winter.

Other restaurants were closed, and the pub wasn’t opening ’til later, so we opted to take the bus back to Hopeman as we were hungry.

Lunch was very nice paninis in the Hopeman Sands Cafe, Gayle had tuna and cheese while I had the pulled pork, both were nice and hot and tasty.

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading.

Dinner was pie and mash and beans cooked in the air-fryer really easily.

The wind was dying away and there was a beautiful moon in the sky - we continued our rewatch of Fringe.

Saturday 11th October

Up to light rain, but no wind for the first time on the Moray coast but it was a grey murky morning.

We popped into Elgin to refuel before the long drive home, we had intended to pop into House of Bruar, but there didn’t look like anywhere big enough to park the van so we ended up having a sandwich in Blair Atholl in the sun.

We really enjoyed the Moray Coast - it was very windy tho’, and we might avoid coastal sites over winter…