This is why we are here; today Mum turned 80. Realistically, this is why Linda is here, I'm playing more of the "+1" role. And that showed in our respective days.

So far on this trip we've seen the inside of supermarkets, gift shops and even the tiny general store at Cruden Bay. This morning we jumped the shark and ventured out to a real live shopping centre, Union Square.

Yes, we saw dolphins at the harbour entrance on the way, no, we didn't get photos.

The first port of call was Marks & Spencer. Linda bought some stuff, I bought a tub of butter.

Then we looked at the other stores in the shopping centre. Linda bought some stuff, I bought a USB cord.

We finished off with morning tea in the M&S cafe. I splashed out and bought a T-shirt.

Yes, we saw dolphins at the harbour entrance on the way back, yes, I managed to get one solitary, somewhat distant and blurry photo, after standing out in the cold with camera at the ready for 10 minutes.

This is where the USB cord appears again. Linda and her Mum were off to have a celebratory birthday afternoon tea with Margaret and Catherine and, to navigate there, Linda needed her phone connected to the car so she could use Android Auto - and our current cord was being a bit temperamental. It turns out it wasn't the cord that was at fault, possibly the USB port in the car is getting a little loose. I got the phone connected but for some reason, every time we plug it in it auto-dials Alex Burden. So Alex, apologies if you keep getting woke up in the middle of the night with short missed calls from Linda. We're not sure why it is picking on Alex, he isn't even the first contact alphabetically.

With all that finally out of the way, Linda and Mum departed for their afternoon tea.

I settled down for an enjoyable afternoon watching the Giro d'Italia. In my defence, it was pouring with rain outside and my raincoat was in the boot of the car so the alternative of walking back to the harbour entrance for some more dolphin watching was extremely unattractive.

I managed a half hour afternoon snooze somewhere between the penultimate and last climbs of the day and so felt quite refreshed by the time the stage ended and Linda and Mum got back.

I had been planning to drive down to Auchenblae, about a 45 minute drive, for a low key orienteering event once they got home but given the atrocious weather conditions it didn't take much for Linda to persuade me not to go.

An hour later, it was looking a little brighter so I decided to go for a run anyway. I mostly repeated the run I did when we stayed here eight years ago. I say mostly because whereas eight years ago I had started with a run around Niggs Bay, now there was a newly constructed harbour where Niggs Bay had once been, with all the access restrictions you would expect with a commercial operation.

Eventually I made my way around the harbour to where the coastal path resumed near the railway.

I followed this track for another kilometre or so until, at a photo stop for some coastal scenery, I decided to turn back.

It was at this point that the heavens truly opened and the wind - the cold wind off the North Sea - picked up. All in all, the only difference between this run and my run here eight years ago was that this time it didn't actually snow.

I spent much of the return journey trying to avoid stepping on any of the hundreds of snails that had taken the rain as a sign that they should attempt to cross the track.

And to finish this account, here are a couple of photos from near the end of my run, looking back across the new harbour to the lighthouse.