Annbank to Ayr 3 January

Alan, Allan, Davie C, Davie Mc, Ian, Jim, Jimmy, Johnny, Kenny T, Malcolm, Peter

The weather was dry, overcast and a bit raw, as we set off towards Auchincruive, having wished each other ‘A Happy New Year’. There were some muddy bits on the path, but progress was good, and we reached the road after thirty-five minutes. Rather than do what we usually do i.e. go up to the Wallace and Burns monument for coffee, we decided to press on, as we had a bus to catch at twelve forty-five.

At about eleven o’clock, as we made our way past the cottages towards the river, Jim and Kenny turned back, as they had said they would do, as they were needed at home. Jim had been in a buoyant mood as his team had recently won a game against a team that didn’t turn up. It’s maybe just as well that Robert was an absentee today. That’s two lots of £7 that you owe the kitty, Robert! As you won’t have enough fingers to count, (mind you, don’t you come from Crosshouse or thereabouts?), that makes £14.
Decision time arrived when we had to decide whether to chance the stepping stones, the result being that half took the chance whilst the other half accompanied our chancellor along the road. On seeing the stones being lapped over with water, the road crew assumed that the chancers would have turned back and, for once, sense had prevailed, as they arrived at our lunch spot adjacent to the stones a couple of minutes later.

Piece and quiet!

The walk down into Ayr was straightforward, the highlight for Jimmy being that he saw two kingfishers and an otter as we passed Craigie. The last time so many Kingfishers were seen was in the Jewel in the Crown!
The bus stop was reached just after half-past twelve, probably the quickest we have done this walk, and we waited patiently for the bus. The electronic sign gave us the time it was due, then the number of minutes to wait, then the fact it was due, and then, to our despair, all information about it disappeared.
As we thought the worst and started thinking about a Plan B, the 43A eventually arrived about eight minutes late, a fact not lost on the driver as he tried to make up the time ‘racing’ to Annbank.
FRT was taken in the Tap o’ the Brae where, other than the fact that they had run out of fresh orange and couldn’t make coffees, a pleasant hour was spent. Davie the Purse was resplendent in his pullover with its own built-in deodorant. A nice Christmas present Davie, but we don’t think it will catch on.