Ireland day 0947. Thursday 02 May 2024- Cairngorms 4 *

Ireland day 0947. Thursday 02 May 2024- Cairngorms 4

Today’s summary	A relaxing morning up in the Cairngorms then drove back to Aberdeen airport just after noon. A very straightforward drive and onward flight to Dublin, and only a short wait for a 102 back to Malahide. Time now to relax, open a beer and reflect on memories of an excellent trip away.
Today’s weather	A bit of mist up in the mountains first thing but soon cleared to leave a brilliantly sunny day in Scotland. Overcast in Dublin. Moderate north easterly wind. Appx 15c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

All good things have to come to an end and as things go the last few days have been pretty good. Eagles, ospreys, hares, deer, grouse and excellent company. What more could you ask for.

Anyway to round things off perfectly, this morning in the Cairngorms we enjoyed some brilliant blue skies with warm sun and almost no wind for a few hours before we left. Eventually, though, we had to pack our things and and head out of the hills to the coast where the airport at Aberdeen awaited us.

As has become our habit lately, we arrived miles too early and even after we had dropped off the hire car we still had enough time to get a cup of tea and sit in the sun in the airport pub garden before we went through security and headed airside.

Our flight was comfortable, efficient and quick. We landed in Dublin a couple of minutes before our scheduled arrival of 17:50. My new passport spend me through the eGates without difficulty and 20 minutes later we were on the 102 to Malahide.

So now we’re back in the flat, unpacked, and looking back on a brilliant few days. Supper of beans on toast and beer beckons, then perhaps a bit of Netflix and an early night.

More adventures tomorrow!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The rain tunnel (very important) taking passengers from the car hire drop off depot to the departure terminal	Enjoying a pre-flight cup of tea while basking in the sunshine in the garden of the pub at Aberdeen airport

Our trusty ATR 72 ready to whisk us back over the Irish Sea from sunny Aberdeen to cloudy Dublin	Dockyards on the Clyde from 5km up

A fine view of Dublin Airport from the top deck of the 102	We’re back! Dinner consisted of beans on toast and beer

There was great excitement when this flashy digger arrived this morning at the cottage to start putting in some new fence-posts