A Springtime Walk

We went for a lovely walk today with Heather and Ewan; we took them on one of our favourite parts of the Ayr Coastal Path, from Maidens to Dunure. We parked the car at Dunure and took a taxi to Maidens to start the walk, which is what we did several years ago when we first walked this section. This time however we had to contend with an irascible man; we didn't mind being asked to move our car but he was very rude to James about it! I didn't like him having a go at James, who was already good-naturedly moving the car, so I spoke back to him, telling him that he had said enough, which he really didn't like! Our taxi arrived and we soon arrived at Maidens and started our walk. We were so lucky with the weather, it was a beautiful day with great views of Arran, Ailsa Craig and even Ireland in the distance. We walked along the beach from Maidens then walked up through a wood full of bluebells into the Culzean Castle Estate. The grounds of the castle were very pretty; there was a long-bow archery competition on the Fountain Court and we had coffee on a bench looking over the ramparts to the sea. Onwards we went across Culzean Bay then up to the clifftop path and around the fields to Dunure, chatting all the while. Just before we arrived at the Dunure Inn we paused at the picturesque ruin of Dunure Castle. Our walk was about seven miles and by the time we got to the Inn I was ready for my lunch. The last time we were there we just sat in the beer garden so I didn't know how nice the restaurant was. Fish is the speciality and we all had various seafood dishes which were good. After a last look at the gorgeous wee harbour we set off home. It was great walking with Heather and Ewan and after they went home James was already talking about where the four of us could walk next! James and I weren't very hungry after our late lunch but we ordered in a Chinese meal later and then we were invited to an impromptu and fun party at Brian and Christine's! A very good Saturday.