Author: Karen Griffiths

The last day of our walk was another nice 25km walk from North Berwick to Dunbar.  This completed our 215km walk from the East to the West Coast of Scotland. 

We left the town and cut across farmland until then followed the coast into Dunbar, another busy holiday place. The pictures below tell the story well. The day was fine and  the walk easy.

We had quite a grand finish this time as we were congratulated at John Muir’s birthplace by the local ladies who knew all about John.

We wandered through the 3 floors of the cottage reading all about him. Born in Dunbar in 1838, his family moved to USA when he was 11 years old and lived there until he died in 1914.

He learned to love the outdoors and nature as a young boy, probably to escape from his abusive father. AJohn Muir is known as the Father of National Parks and Conservation. He spent his life  advocating for the preservation of wilderness in the United States and the whole world. I didn’t know about him until I did the walk, but I feel I should have. Google him up, and you will see that he did a lot to preserve our world.

We had our last night of luxury at The Royal Mackintosh Hotel. The outside looked rather like a homeless shelter with its faded plastic flowers surrounding the doorway. 

The website suggests that people who want a modern hotel should not book here as the hitel has its quirks.

She was  grand old Victorian  building and we were quite comfortable there. We celebrated finishing  with a meal in the restaurant. Kay had pie and vegetables, and I really enjoyed the Yorkshire pudding and vege. They were  a welcome change from our discounted salads.

So my final thoughts on the John Muir Way

We saw more working castles, palaces, and great halls  rather than just piles of rocks, as we saw on our previous walks through Wales and England.

Every day, I felt like I was walking through history and I read about it on the many information boards along the route. I haven’t shared much with you as I very quickly forget what I have read. I can’t keep any more of  the Royal Family lineage in my mind prior to the latest Queen Elizabeth, let alone recall all the stuff back in 1000s of years.

It is a flat walk that would be good for a first damn long walk or your last one before heading off to the nursing home. Be aware that you would still need to be able to walk 25-30km a day and the easiest way is to use a your comoany like we did.We used Macs Adventures to transport our bags each day and organise all our accommodation.

This really made it easy for us. It cost me $2,800 NZD for  12 days 11 nights, bed and breakfast, and all the planning and organizing. They provided maps and information for each day, which we downloaded and could access without the internet.  Overall, it was a very good experience.

Day 8 was a long, flat day walking out of Edinburgh city center in fog  and along the coast to Aberlady. 27km in total and our feet had had enough of walking by the end of the day.

It is easier on our feet if there is a variety of surfaces to walk on, rather than the constant flat paths of this walk. For example, a typical day on Te Araroa might include knee-deep mud,  paths with lots of tree roots, stoney areas, going  up and going down, grass, marsh, and everything on between which  is much easier on your feet.

The coast is renown for its visiting birds, and we saw people with big cameras sitting waiting for the perfect shot of a  Redshank or Iderduck. I guess the latter was used for making the eiderdowns that were on the ends of grand mothers’  beds when I was a child. 

Birds don’t do much for me or Kay, so we left the bird watching to the experts and plodded on passing groups of artists painting the scenes.

I slept on my air mattress on the floor as we had been given a double bed. Kay and I didn’t mind sharing a room, but snoring and wriggling in a shared bed was going too far. The Nether Abby Hotel  was full, so no upgrade was available. Still better than a night in my tent ⛺️.

DAY 9 to North Berwick

We only had about 15 km to walk the next day, the sun was out, and we were now on the west coast of Scotland.

This area was where golf originated, so we walked by at least  15 golf courses over the next  3 days.  Some are very famous ones which I personally know nothing about. I have played golf twice, and both times, it was under the influence of alcohol. I spent most of my time in the bushes looking for that silly little ball.

The history of the game is a bit more interesting as to begin with they attempted to hit stones with curved sticks over sand dunes and around tracks.

The game became so successful that James II banned it in 1457 because military training was being neglected, and an invasion was imminent.

50 years later James IV quite enjoyed the game so reversed the law in 1502. It has been the bain of many wives since their husbands spend all weekend playing the damn game.

We walked alongside golf courses all day, some very exclusive that did not allow us smelly common walkers onto their grass, while the last one for the day had us walk through the course which was full of kids playing.

As for me, I agree with Oscar Wilde who said that golf was a good walk spoiled.

We arrived in the seaside village of North Berwick about 1pm and there were a lot of people trying to share the narrow footpaths with us along the Hight Street. All these villages have a High Street with a wide variety of small shops and many op shops. Big shopping centers are few and far between.

Golf must make money or attract money as all the houses were obviously built by wealthy people as they had large gates and gardens

Our hotel was grand looking . It boasted tartan carpet, a music room, and the largest room on our trip. It seemed as though all the other guests were here to play golf.

Day 6 saw us getting closer to Edinburgh and we basically walked from one park to another  finishing our 29km day in Queensferry, where there are 3 bridges across the Harbour, 1 for trains and 2 for  cars.

Day 7 saw the coast and walked into Edinburgh central . It was a long day as lots to see on the way through suburban Edinburgh.

The walking gets slower as we have more roads and turns to navigate. We walked around the Edinburgh Zoo, catching a glimpse of a zebra.

We donned our ponchos as it began to rain as we headed across  for last half hour as we headed across The Meadows Park, past Greyfriars Bobby statue and along the Royal Mile.  I had stayed in this area nearly 20 years ago so it was very familiar and brought back some good memories.

I will explore it more when I am back here next week.

The number of people and traffic was all a bit of a culture shock to us as  commuters and tourists with umbrellas all rushed to get out of the rain. There are no verandas above the shops, unlike New Zealand, so everyone gets wet when it rains. Very silly, I think.

We stayed at the Premier Inn where I had a nice curry and a beer in the restaurant, just for a change from eating in a salad in our room.

I have had a wonderful birthday today in Scotland. I started the day with a Full Scottish breakfast complete with Haggis and black pudding.

Today we had a  25km day ending at the Champany Inn at  Linlithgow.  We walked through a  park where there was a Park Run in progress, so we were amongst runners and dogs of all ages and shapes and sizes.

We came across Callendar House, a mansion that dates back to the 14th century.  Through wars, rebellions and the industrial revolution, Callendar House has played host to many great historical figures over the centuries, including Mary, Queen of Scots, Cromwell and Bonnie Prince Charlie.

The mansion was used in the second series of  Outlander.

It was free entry, so  I finally was able to see an impressive historic building that wasn’t just a pile of rocks up on top of a  steep hill.

We spent an hour wandering around the rooms. The long history of the site was well documented.  There was  information about the Antonine Wall and the Roman period in Scotland. We had been following a long stretch of the Antonine Wall, which dates back to the Roman times. There were forts strategically placed along the wall, just visable now as mounds of grass or plaques about them.  Definitely not as interesting as that real live Callendar House.

The path today was quite varied and pretty.

The day got better as we arrived in Linlithgow. There was an Aldi store, which we both enjoy a wander around, finding bargains.  I bought myself a birthday treat of tube of moisturizer as my legs were getting scales on them.
So for a grand total of  £6.50 I had a present, a salad and cheese for my dinner, and a bottle of South African wine to celebrate my birthday.

Then, to top off the day, we came across the Linithow Palace whuch was  under reconstruction.  Kay shouted me entry to the “pleasure palace” that was used as a stopover for royals traveling between Edinburgh and Stirling castles. It was the birth place of Mary Queen of Scots in 1542 and James 1, born 1542, and Priness Elizabeth born 1596. (Not the latest Elizabeth) Obviously, there were some good midwives in the area.

It had 122 fireplaces and, even though the roof and any wooden floors and doors etc. were long gone  it was easy to imagine what the castle looked like in all her glory.

Our accommodation at the Champagny Inn was very nice, an inn that had been privately owned by the same family for over 50 years. 

I commented on the pretty flower garden out the window.  Kay came back very quickly, saying, “They are just weeds and f##n ragwort.” The move to let everything grow naturally is alive and well in Scotland too.

This was the first place we stayed at that had a top sheet and a fitted bottom sheet.

Our next three days were all about 25km.  Strathblane,  then Kilsyth, followed by Falkirk saw us moving across Scotland. There wasn’t anything exciting to report: hardly a hill to moan about or any rain at all.

We had paid for a posh trip, with accommodation all paid and planned because of the prediction of bad weather. But it didn’t come! So we arrived at our hotels, feeling a little bit fraudulent. We stopped at a shop to buy our dinners as the budget did not include dinners out.

We walked along canals which are always flat and long and straight; read a bit boring. There weren’t many boats, but we did watch one called Madeline go through a few locks. We kept coming across them over 2 days, so reckon we walked about the same pace as a canal boat.

On that boat was a couple, and their sister in law and 4 dogs. Looking at the women, we noted that they would be better off walking rather than sitting on the canal boat. I think the dogs would rather be running alongside as well.

I keep feeling that I can’t be pleased. I started out unfit and carrying 10kg of extra  fat and not ysed to having another 10kg of pack on my back. so small hills were hard going for me.

Each day we arrived by late afternoon.  Yhe supermarkets mark down their sandwiches and salads and other fresh foods at this time.  So we pick up bargains to eat in our rooms.  Everything is very expensive here and neither Kay nor I feel the need to go out to restaurants for dinner, especially after the full breakfasts.

The walk is not a challenge, so our challenge is to do it as cheaply as possible. I think we are doing well in that department.

I noticed that the houses were more likely to be painted white here compared to the Englush and Welsh, which were basic stone.

This wheel was interesting because it allows the canal boarts to basically get up a big hill. We sat I the sun and watched the machine move the canal boats up to the next level.

Day 4 even saw me wearing my sunbathing and sunglasses all day. I had carried them for over 500km so wasn’t going to waste an opportunity to use them.

Our trip includes full Scottish Breakfasts which is probably enough food for a whole day. We squirell  away some pastries and fruit to have for our lunch along the way. I have enjoyed vegetarian sausages, haggis and black pudding along with yoghurt (very sweet), cereals, fruit and toast with spreads.

I could get used to this. It is way better than the porridge that we soak (not cook)  sitting beside our tents. However, I do think the latter is more the real Karen.

It was only 15 kms and not much of a climb, so  a perfect walking  day except it was a bit  wind, or blowy, as the English say.   We walked mainly through forestry areas with a diversion  to the cycle path because a tree was over the path.

In New Zealand we would just climb over or under or go around a fallen tree. I remember a day on Te Araroa, near Nelson, where a tornado had gone through our path. We spent about 5 hours clamoring over, crawling under, and bush bashing around dozens of fallen trees. In Scotland, one fallen tree creates a full reroute of the track. We were feeling very spoiled.

Afternoon zzzz