Menootnaboot; Tayport Time

The drive down to Dundee was blustery and blattery, and there was snow on the hills. The A90 is a trunk road, therefore lots of traffic, but on the whole, everyone respected the conditions, and things moved along at an appropriate pace and without incident. Dundee was a bit fractious, as so many of the once small towns turned into cities now tend to be. Similar infrastructure challenges as mentioned in the Inverness post. However, it must be conceded that the flow was still pretty efficient, and I was into Tayport almost before I knew it. This is one of those Fife towns once a thriving port, now more dependent on tourism and the yachting crowd. It is situated on the upper right 'corner' of the county, in a similar fashion to Fraserburgh is in Aberdeenshire, and could be classed in the same quartz-not-diamond category. If you know how useful quartz (silicon) has been to life, then you know that these towns serve a strong purpose, too, albeit less glamorous. 

I found my way to the harbour car park in the early evening, where I plugged in for a charge and wandered up to the local chippy for a treat. Proper hand-carved, twice-cooked chips they were too. Yummy with my coleslaw and cheese salad. I should mention that it was blowing icy rain at right angles as I traversed the 100 yards or so, and the chips were almost cold by the time I got back in the van! 

(This is going to be a picture-heavy post again because the views posts just can't keep up—and anyway, there's nature on show, so it's good for NF with the LLBs!!!) I would have liked to have photographed the yachts directly, but, well...

After the charge was completed, and it was already dark, we moved around to Tayport Links Park. This proved to be a fantastic spot.

I met so many dogs and their peeps here, all willing to stop and say hi. A couple of the ladies were excited by the van and my trip, and one had the full tour as her sister was dying to have a go at it (similar age to me), and they had been watching lots of the van tubers. "Sarah's going to be so jealous when I tell her!"

My full day there was, at least, dry, if not warm or lacking in wind. The whole park area is reclaimed land and prone to flooding. This I learned from Colin, who walked old Cassie twice a day, so we had more than one lengthy chat. He had lots of local knowledge and was good company - I hope we shall meet again whenever I return. For I will. Like Fraserburgh, I felt settled here, and there is lots to explore that I just didn't have time for this trip - or, indeed, the weather. Lots of walking routes to do.

As it was, I hauled out the Rolls-later and wandered the immediate area. I went all around the pond, then down to the Larick Centre, a community hub with toilets, events rooms, and a cafe; unfortunately, the "cauliflower soup" turned out to be garlic soup with some cauli in there somewhere. It was the first time in a long time I had left a meal. Oh well. Then, back to the van via the caravan park on the shoreline. 

By the time I was settling in for my tea, the rain was back, and the wind was fierce. Storm Kathleen was arriving—and in no hurry to leave. I had started to hear something that was slightly concerning. It took a minute or two to locate the source...

Grey sprung a leak. It's coming in from the roof. A patch I noticed from the Hutch when looking down did have me questioning this possibility, but it took mega gallons of a downpour for it to finally break through. Something to add to the list of minor fixes at the annual checkup!

Anyhoo, as I departed Tayport on the morning of the fifth, the storm continued to build, and I opted not to go to St Andrews as previously planned, for it would be far too exposed. Instead, I discovered another wee gem, which I shall share in the next travel post on Monday!