Day 68. Findhorn. No wifi so I shall be brief, I am camping at the Findhorn Community Foundation, interesting place but more commercialised than I expected. Had a long walk through the dunes and a picnic supper on the beach. Today cycled via Duffus castle (a lesson in building on unsuitable ground), Lossiemouth (very noisy on account of powerful military aircraft taking off and landing) and Burghead (site of a pictish fort).Tomorrow pottering around Forres and back to Burghead in hopes of a cup of tea! Good night. Can't upload pics for some reason .. sorry.

Day 67. Excited. Today my blog has gone 'global'(every continent has had a look) with a hit from Zambia (thanks Michael) and new hits from India and Jordan. Also have now passed 4000 hits, hardly gone viral but I am pleased with that.

Day 67. Elgin. Fortunately it was a hot pepperoni pizza I managed to drop on the bed and carpet. I appear to have travelled back in time and found myself in a b+b from the 1970's. The journey from Turriff was made under grey any very misty conditions with a brief appearance by the sun at Portknockie where I took a pic of the remarkable Bow Fiddle Rock which is close to the aptly named Shitten Rock which is white from guano. I followed cycle route 1 exclusively today and found the signing very good, especially the fiddly bits through towns. Portsoy is a delightful fishing village with a lovely park and is the home of very fine ice cream (I had chocolate orange today) unfortunately they do not have any outlets to the west but I think they may be destined for greatness so watch out for it in an ice cream parlour near you. Elgin has been a very important city in the past and has a ruined cathedral to prove it, Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed here on his way to Culloden, in hindsight perhaps he should have stayed longer. Tomorrow I shall revisit places I last saw in 1970 (I think) like Duffus castle and Findhorn. Good night. Bow Fiddle Rock and Elgin city football ground.

Day 66. Turriff. £8.50 (€9.50) for a 16 mile return bus trip to Fyvie! Yesterday the same bus company let me travel about 130 miles for £15.50. Huh. Fyvie Castle is very grand with lots of impressive art including a superb Millais landscape and fine plaster ceilings. The place is very popular for weddings and it is easy to see why. The weather today was, as forecast, wet and misty so the castle didn't look it's best but I enjoyed a leisurely look round, a very nice slice of coffee and walnut cake before a soggy walk round the loch back to the village. The very nice people at the b+b provided an excellent soup and sandwich supper which saved me from a damp trek to the takeaway. I have discovered Portsoy ice cream, I am not usually that enthusiastic about ice cream but their chocolate and ginger is divine. Tonight is the annual Eurovision humiliate the British song competition, oo look some paint drying.... Good night.

Day 66. Turriff. On this misty, moisty morning I am considering my options for the day and I think it will be Fyvie castle today. Those of you who have been following this blog will have noticed that in England I posted many pics of churches but not since I got to Scotland. There are lots of churches here but as with much of Scottish architecture utility seems to be the dominating principle so while buildings are pleasing to the eye and well proportioned they are not necessarily photogenic, Fraserburgh in particular struck me as a place built to serve the needs of the people with no fancy nonsense. I forgot to mention the delightful couple I met at Pennan. Having reached the age of 50 and having pledged as teenagers to do a tour of Scotland they were enjoying fulfilling their pledge in their matching hoodies sporting the old gaelic (I think) phrase 'phuck phifty'. I hope their car made it back up the hill out of the village as I assured them it would. Tomorrow I shall head west hoping to make it to Findhorn on Tuesday. Good day.

Day 65. Turriff. I know weather forecasting is never exact but when they particularly mention eastern Scotland as being ' fine with noticeably less wind' it raised my expectations as I set off to visit Pennan yesterday. The ride from Huntly to Banff was great I did 14 miles in one hour but as I reached Macduff a big black cloud had stationed itself above me and stayed put and gently rained on me as I struggled up the hills. Pennan was lovely and I had a nice bowl of soup in the hotel, the phone box is not where it was in Local Hero and needs painting but at last the sun came out (see pic). The hill out of Pennan was steep and very long I did the first 2 miles in half an hour and even after I got to the top the 'noticeably less wind' was noticeable by its robust and very real presence. I struggled on and eventually made it to Turriff and a nice campsite by the town park. Today I let the bus do the work and explored the area of Fraserburgh (really good lighthouse museum (thanks Letty for the recommendation)), Peterhead (big ships) and Aberdeen (big, grey and choked with traffic, the bus took an hour to do 7 miles). Back to a b+b in Turriff anticipating heavy rain tomorrow. Good night. Me at Pennan, Pennan Hotel and Fraserburgh lighthouse.

Craigievar castle. Day 64. Huntly. Prologue. Change of plan, due to the loveliness of this fine sunny morning and the forecast of a deluge of rain Friday p.m. and Saturday, I have decided to make dash for Pennan today so I can see it at it's best. Many of you will know that Pennan was used in the making of perhaps the best film ever made, Local Hero, and simple soul that I am need to satisfy my desire to visit the place where the famous phone box stands. I shall then seek the shelter of Fyvie while it rains. Hope to post more tonight but might be camping in a forest. Good day.