I slept better last night, possibly because there was no rain during the night and possibly because I didn't get much sleep the night before so I felt refreshed and I was up and away about 9am, bought something for lunch at the shop in Fochabers and walked along the main road until I rejoined the Speyside Way for my last day/ Today would only be 10 miles, 5 of them heading towards the estuary where the River Spey meets the Moray Firth and the last 5 miles would be walking along the coastline to Buckie through a couple of little villages, Spey Bay and Port Gordon.
The Speyside Way left Fochabers on a path through woodland with only the occasional view of the Spey in the morning sunshine. It would end up being a rather disapointing 5 miles as you could hear the river but hardly see it as you walked along narrow grassy lanes. In the distance you could see Spey Bay getting closer with the Moray Firth behind it and then a gap in the bushes allowed you to see the Spey estuary, with plenty of birds in evidence including Herons.
At Spey Bay, you then turn right and walk along a short bit of road through the village and past the entrance to the golf course, then you walk through some dark woodland at the side of the golf course before a long grassy lane takes you to Port Gordon and the unmistakable smell of the Sea. The path goes round the back of houses and over loose stones, would have been been better staying on the main road for this section.
You can see Buckie ahead of you as it was only about 2 miles away and the section from Port Gordon starts off along the pavement beside the road linking the two places but then you leave the pavement to go along paths, I don't see why as there's a perfectly good pavement and you're not missing any views. I entered Buckie and the path took me round the back of more houses and away from the main road before eventually bringing you to a junction where the signs point you uphill towards the Main Street, the finishing point is located in a small area of grass just before the main road.
Buckie seemed quite rundown, probably due to the demise of the fishing industry that once thrived there and brought workers to the Town. I took the usual finishing photos then headed off to get some food for my journey home. The good news is that there is a bus about every half hour to Aberdeen from where you can get a train back to a station near you, the bad news is that the bus journey takes 3 hours to do the 60 miles as it passes through all these little seaside villages with narrow streets. It was a long journey to Aberdeen and it cost me nearly 13 Pounds, so not exactly cheap. Eventually, Aberdeen was reached and then I got the train to see my family for a couple of days.
My Final Thoughts about the Speyside Way walk
The Speyside Way isn't the most scenic National Trail or Long Distance walk that I've done nor was it the hardest but it would be an ideal first long distance walk for a beginner as it's quite easy on the legs and feet, the paths are wide so you can walk alongside a walking partner rather than in single file and it's well signposted and there are places to stay the nights and shops at regular intervals along the Speyside Way. It's also a trail that you could probably do in the Winter as it's quite low lying and nearly all the path is on level ground apart from a small section through farmland during my Day 3. This is a walk that I would do again, this time doing it in the other direction and Starting at Buckie and heading towards the finish at Aviemore, Kincraig or wherever the finish might be after the extentions are completed. I'd also try and do it without camping even though this would cost a lot more. If you do this walk, enjoy it.
