Dunure.

The last set of photos from The Sunny Day last week (notable becuase there have been very few recently!)

It has become a tradition for us to end a visit to Culzean with a stop off at Dunure. It is a tiny little place but with lots to merit a visit - a harbour, a beach, a castle, a playpark and, best of all (I think), a labyrinth. There is also a pub which does nice meals (though we didn't stop there this time) and a cafe for ice cream and cakes etc.

 The view to Arran and the Holy Isle as you approach Dunure along the coast road.

A view of the harbour. Not its best angle but it's the only one I took.

 Wind vane.

Across the beach to the castle. My memory had tricked me - I remembered the sand being soft and white (it'actually grey and rather gritty).

 A view of the castle from the other side. This is the view you get from the labyrinth.

Here you can see A & N making their way round.

The centre of the labyrinth.

The labyrinth from above. Apparently it's a seven circuit Cretan design. It's a fairly recent creation, not an ancient monument at all! We all walked round the paths to the centre and then round the paths back out again. It felt wrong to jump over the stones somehow. You can trace the route with your finger on the photo, it's a surprisingly long distance. Sometimes you feel you've reached your destination when you've actually still got quite far to go. A bit like life perhaps. What's the difference between a labyrinth and a maze? A maze has lots of branching paths which you need to choose between, it's like a puzzle. A labyrinth only has a single path to the centre.
  
 Another view to the west, bars of sunshine highlighting  the sea,

We also quickly visited the castle. There is limited access in that parts are closed off for safety reasons, but you can get in the open areas at any time. There's a mention on one of the information boards about the roasting of the Crossraguel commendant referred to in a previous post. He survived by the way!

Lastly, a thistle spotted on the way back to the car.

It was a magical day out with beautiful loations and beautiful weather. It felt like a holiday and has provided lots of happy visual memories to look back on.