Day 7 - Aberdeen

We checked out of the hotel at 10am and got the bus to Old Aberdeen.  This was so much nicer than the City Centre, or New Aberdeen.  We walked through Seaton Park and alongside the River Don and then went to the Catholic Cathedral of St Machar.  

Seaton Park

River Don in Seaton Park

Swan with cygnets


Seaton Park

St Machar's Cathedral

St Machar's Cathedral 

St Machar's Cathedral


Next to the cathedral is the Botanical Gardens.  It was nice there but the gardens are not well maintained.  The azaleas and rhododendrons were very pretty.

Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens 

Botanical Gardens

Pond in Botanical Gardens

As we were making our way to the bus stop we saw a road called 'High Street' so walked down it.  It is quite narrow in places with cobbles and old terraced houses and shops.  It led to the University buildings and grounds which were lovely.  For some unknown reason this is part of the hop on hop off bus route but is totally unsuitable for buses.

The Town House, High Street, Old Aberdeen

High Street, Old Aberdeen

Church in High Street, Old Aberdeen

Kings College, Aberdeen University

Entrance to King's College


The bus system in Aberdeen is confusing and there are many different bus stops and bus companies.  We went to a bus stop on the main road into Aberdeen but the bus we wanted didnt stop there and sailed straight past so we had to walk to the next one.  We didn't bother to see any more of the city and eventually found our bus stop and went back to the hotel to pick our car up.

We had over an hour to kill before driving to the ferry terminal so we went to a small peninsula called Torry, just south of the city.  As we drove around we saw the cruise ship terminal with 1 small cruise ship.  There was plenty of free parking and not many people about.  Paul had a sleep in the car and I went for a walk along the coast path.  

Wind Turbine rig - used in the erection of wind turbines at sea.

South harbour wall and lighthouse


Girdleness lighthouse

View of Aberdeen from Torry

Skylark? - according to Google lens

Oystercatcher 

Linnet


Pair of Eider Ducks

We checked in for the ferry at 3pm, 2 hours before we were due to sail.  We were the 2nd car in lane 4 and we expected quite a long wait.  I went off to find the toilet but when I returned Paul and car had gone! The guy directing the cars told me he had already told Paul to board and told me to wait a few minutes. He then escorted me onto the ship and down to the car deck where I found Paul.

We gathered our overnight things and made our way to our cabin, then to the lounge for a hot drink.  We managed to get window seats but the windows are a bit dirty.  The ferry left 15 minutes early and we went on deck to watch as we left Aberdeen.


We had dinner on the ferry and a couple of complimentary drinks.  There was a fantastic sunset over South Ronaldsay as we were approaching the Orkney Islands.

Sunset with South Ronaldsay to the left.

The ferry is due at Kirkwall, in the Orkneys at 23.00 tonight and then Lerwick at 7.30 tomorrow morning.   So far it has been a very smooth sailing.  We went to bed at 22.00 and it was still reasonably light.  We still have over 100 miles north to go.  









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