Thu, 24 Oct 2002

author Tim	location St. Margaret's Hope, South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland
posted 11:42 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Ferry Delayed ( )
We're sitting here in a pub, awaiting our ferry to Scotland which has been delayed. The weather was horrible this morning - very low visibility, with lots of hail covering everything, including Percy.
However, it's much better now and the ferry should sail around 2pm, two hours late.
A quick "have a good trip" to Meaghan, who is on her way back to Oz tonight. Give her a call in the next few days to see how she's doing - she wasn't feeling well here, and will enjoy having someone to talk to back "home", I'm sure!
We did some washing in the main street this morning, as well as grabbing a few bargain CDs from the back of the jazz section (itself at the back of the store). Amazing what you can find. We also bought American Pie cheap on DVD the other day, and got a few laughs last night watching it.
Rough plan for the next few days is to drive this afternoon until we find some where to stay, then drive to the Isle of Skye for a look around. Head back to Peter's, hopefully collecting a camera and finalising insurance problems.
Yeah right! It's never that easy...
[The ferry eventually took us back to mainland Scotland.]

author Tim	location Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland
posted 15:53 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Still Alive... ( )
We're back in Kirkwall, on the Orkney mainland. No major problems on the ferry back here - a little rough but no real complaints.
We're staying in the same hostel we had before, albeit in a different room this time. We went straight for a supplier of decent lunch when we arrived, ending up in a pub where Liz had the first steak since we left Oz - meat is so expensive over here!
This afternoon's ferry to the mainland was cancelled, so there was not much chance of us getting back down there. Instead we are booked on the midday ferry tomorrow, but the weather outlook isn't looking much better. Should be calm after that, at least.
Even when we do get back down, the roads South from the top of the mainland are very flooded, so we will have to plan our route carefully. Glad we have left lots of time to do it in.

author Tim	location Lyness, Hoy, Orkney, Scotland
posted 18:51 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Flooding ( )
Well, we knew we were having lots of rain around the place, but have just heard that there has been huge flooding across Southern Scotland, and we're in for severe gale force winds up here tomorrow.
There's no ATM on this island, and we only have enough cash for tonight's accommodation, so here's hoping that we can get across!
Once we get back to the Orkney mainland, next task will be to get to Scotland proper - we heard that the ferry that does that had to be dirverted for the first time ever! What fun this journey could be!
Today we took in everything that Hoy could offer us, in the horrible weather it insisted on showing us. This included several memorials, a war museum, some defence towers and the town Rackwick. This is the start of the walk to the Old Man of Hoy. However, between the extreme winds, us not knowing where we were going, and the sign "There is no mountain rescue available here", we thought better of it.
We did wander in to The Dwarfie Stone, a 5000 year old tomb carved into a piece of solid rock. We climbed inside it, took some photos, and dribbled back into the car.
Just for the record, we are wearing on average a shirt, then windstopper vest, then a fleece (or two jumpers in Liz's case), followed by a huge waterproof warm coat (me) or a rain jacket (Liz). It is not warm, calm or dry here.
An interesting little island, this Hoy. Everything seems like decay has set in - lots of people have gone away for indeterminate periods of time, plenty of ruins all over the place, and there's almost nobody visible anywhere. It's certainly very different than what either of us thought it would be. It's supposed to be seal season, but even they seem to have deserted the place - we haven't seen any.
So we're aiming to get the ferry to the mainland proper tomorrow, weather permitting. As nice as this B&B is, spending half the day here has been long enough!

author Tim	location Lyness, Hoy, Orkney, Scotland
posted 08:58 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Hoy Ahoy! ( )
Well, that's a pretty sad joke, but we're now on the island of Hoy. This is the second largest in Orkney, and lies to the south of the Orkney mainland.
We had our first taste of island life last night, when looking for dinner at 6pm, we drove all the way to the other end of the island, only to find that pub was "closed until further notice". Heading back towards the shop we had seen earlier, we found another Inn. No food there. Then to the shop across the road (the only one on the island). It was closed!
So dinner last night was improvised from rice crackers, cheese and chips (which are called crisps here). At least we had enough to improvise with. Lesson two - find food early.
Lesson one was find accommodation early. Out of the first four places we tried, two no longer offered accommodation, and two could not be found. We ended up at the St. John's Manse B&B, where the owner was shocked that we'd come to an island with no accommodation organised! That's how we've done our whole trip so far!!
On our way back from a failed attempt at one of the places, a lighthouse, we ran into some traffic on the road in the form of two cows. They had wandered out of their gate and up the road. Obviously, traffic here is very light. We managed to herd one of them into the gate, after they had waddled up the road as fast as they could away from Percy. The second missed its exit, and we had to drive along behind it until we got to a passing place, where the turbo pulled us past the poor thing as fast as it could!
Working further backwards in time, we got the ferry down here from Houton to Lyness, Hoy yesterday afternoon after being queue-jumped for the lunchtime ferry. A reasonably smooth ride, everyone stayed in the cars, which was a new experience. We were going to have a round-trip via the tiny island of Flotta, but the ferry terminal guy told us not to bother - it's just an oil refinery. Even the much bigger Hoy only has one road on it.
Before the ferry trip, we followed the advice of the Lonely Planet and went into a garage supposedly selling some funky hats, but it seemed that information was out of date :( We grabbed some non-perishable food supplies instead.
First off on Monday, we visited the Highland Park distillery, where the tour was the best so-far. The trip around the malting floor was great fun, we saw the barley actually sprouting. Our guide was great, and like so many people up here, really seemed to enjoy life.

Sunday we went around trying to find a few more places of interest - first stop was Mine Howe. This strange discovery is twenty-nine steps descending into the ground, with a few chambers scattered around for good measure. Theories on what it was range from a drowning place to a ceremonial ground-god contact point and lots of ideas in between. Unfortunately closed for the winter, we looked around the grounds instead, where various excavations had taken place.
We then stopped at Dingieshowe, a sandy isthmus built to join the mainland to Deerness. It has a great beach on one side, where we skimmed some rocks (Liz is getting better!) and walked amongst the weed.
Next we drove around the North-East part of the mainland. This area is all single-track road, and has a few interesting war memorials, burial sites, sheep and cows scattered around. We took a walk down to "The Gloup" - a blow-hole style thing created by the ocean eroding away a cave under the land, and some of the land eventually collapsing. We were quite high up as we walked around it, the constant wind reminding us to stay alert and away from the edge.
A drive around the point of Tankerness failed to find anything particularly interesting, so we headed back to Kirkwall. The relaxing afternoon was spent watching our black-and-white TV with dial-tuning (very retro), and making the decision that we aren't going to Shetland after all. Deciding factors included:

• Quite high cost of the ferry, which is an eight hour overnight ride
• We can get there from Norway enroute to Iceland, so we could conceivably get there next year
• It would be a rush to get down to London in time to meet Margaret
• Lots of people said that there wasn't a lot to do there. Then again, the Orcadians would say that...

author Tim	location Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland
posted 10:21 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Around the Tourist Trail ( )
Setting out yesterday morning, we had the intention of taking in as many of the famous Orcadian tourist sites as we could stand.
First stop was the amazing Skara Brae, a 5000 year old well-preserved village, complete with dressers, boxes and beds. It is quite mind-numbing trying to take in the age of it, especially with the freezing wind, rain and hail assaulting us - it's right on the western coast. We actually thought the visitor centre there was almost as good as the real thing - some great interactive displays, and a re-construction of one of the houses.
Next we stumbled across was the Ring of Brogar - thirty-six of the original sixty stones from a huge stone circle. Fairly close to Skara Brae, it is quite possible that these things were all used by the same people.
Aiming for Maes Howe, we actually first found the Standing Stones of Stenness - sheep standing around four of the original twelve 4500 year-old standing stones was quite an interesting sight!
Eventually making it to Maes Howe, which is "the finest chambered tomb in Western Europe". Think of a small chamber with storage areas on three sides, and a ten metre long, one metre high access path on the other, and you'd be pretty close. Also about 5000 years old, this one was plundered in 1200 A.D by the Vikings, who left some very interesting runic graffiti.
Heading up to the North coast, we came to Birsay which has the ruins of a 16th century palace, just there in the middle of the town. A bit further along the road is the Brough of Gurness, a Iron-Age (100 A.D.) settlement. We had a quick look at this before deciding not to pay and enter - so much history in so little space.
Returing to the town (Kirkwall), we went for a walk, grabbing some dinner supplies and a few odds and ends around the town. This included brochures on the ferries both around Orkney and Shetland.
Next on our agenda is to decide what we are going to do for the next few days. Being a Sunday today, nothing much happens, as most here respect the Sabbath quite seriously. So we'll stay here another night, but tomorrow we will probably get a ferry down to Hoy, the second-biggest Orkney island, and it's smaller sister Flotta. We're still not sure whether the expensive overnight ferry up to the Shetland Islands is the way to go. They are also accessable from Norway, then on to Iceland, so that is another option we could take up next year some time.

author Tim	location Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland
posted 19:29 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Across the High Seas... ( )
A strange feeling this morning as we were the first to be awake and down to breakfast. Typically, we have scraped in by about ten minutes before they stop serving! Driving straight to the ferry, Liz didn't want to get out and see the ferry dock, to give you an indication of the wind strength.
Was quite a bit of fun driving the car onto a ship, and the journey itself was rough at times, but generally bearable. Memories of my trip on the Fairstar ten years or so ago came flooding back, while the Maxalon kept breakfast from doing the same.
This ferry actually saw us arrive at St. Margaret's Hope, on the southern-most island of Orkney, South Ronaldsay. Driving Percy off, we headed around a little to get our bearings. The first thing that struck me was that it is all quite a lot bigger than the maps would have you think.
Consulting the stack of tourist paraphenalia, we noticed that on this island there is also the Tomb of the Eagles. Discovered in 1958 when a farmer ploughing his field struck something not meant to be there, it actually consists of two sites. The main one is the Tomb itself, which is a hut around 10 metres square, stoneage (3000 B.C. or so), which you have to get on a skateboard-type-thing and slide into. Inside there were initially lots of skulls, bones, etc. Quite interesting, and a little scary.
The other is the Bronze-age (500 B.C.) hut. This could be a sauna, cooking-house or basic dwelling, depending on who you ask. It boasts a fire, cooking area, and enclosures for bedding or seating, along with a nearby used-stone disposal area. This was great to look at!
By this time very hungry, we gravitated north to the capital (of sorts) Kirkwall, on the main island. This saw us crossing over three other islands to get there, between which they have built roads, the main purpose of which were to keep the German U-boats from sinking their fleet anchored nearby.
Here we eventually found somewhere to eat (a cafe not all that good), somewhere better to eat (a bakery serving yummy things), and the i. We call it the i, because that's what their sign says. Same as anywhere else, it is the source of all knowledge, the Tourist Information Centre. We added to our brochure collection, and gained directions to the independent Peedie Hostel in Ayre Road, where we are now staying. Quite small and quaint, it is still a nice little place, with a great view across the bay to the Northern Orkney Islands.
We took a walk around the lakes across the road (big circular thing on a Kirkwall map) down to Safeway to grab some dinner ingredients. Cooking in the tiny kitchen, we made a nice meal of chicken fajitias.
No firm plans for tomorrow, but we intend to explore "The Mainland" (here, that doesn't mean the bit of Scotland with Loch Ness, etc., it means the main island of Orkney) for a few days before considering our options for ferries north to other Orkney islands, or the eight (!) hour journey up to Shetland.

author Tim	location Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland
posted 19:29 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Orkney Islands ( all photos )

Across the High Seas... ( )
(Continued from Scotland 2)
Driving Percy off the ferry at St. Margaret's Hope, on the southern-most island of Orkney, South Ronaldsay, we headed around a little to get our bearings. The first thing that struck me was that it is all quite a lot bigger than the maps would have you think.
Consulting the stack of tourist paraphenalia, we noticed that on this island there is also the Tomb of the Eagles. Discovered in 1958 when a farmer ploughing his field struck something not meant to be there, it actually consists of two sites. The main one is the Tomb itself, which is a hut around 10 metres square, stoneage (3000 B.C. or so), which you have to get on a skateboard-type-thing and slide into. Inside there were initially lots of skulls, bones, etc. Quite interesting, and a little scary.
The other is the Bronze-age (500 B.C.) hut. This could be a sauna, cooking-house or basic dwelling, depending on who you ask. It boasts a fire, cooking area, and enclosures for bedding or seating, along with a nearby used-stone disposal area. This was great to look at!
By this time very hungry, we gravitated north to the capital (of sorts) Kirkwall, on the main island. This saw us crossing over three other islands to get there, between which they have built roads, the main purpose of which were to keep the German U-boats from sinking their fleet anchored nearby.
Here we eventually found somewhere to eat (a cafe not all that good), somewhere better to eat (a bakery serving yummy things), and the i. We call it the i, because that's what their sign says. Same as anywhere else, it is the source of all knowledge, the Tourist Information Centre. We added to our brochure collection, and gained directions to the independent Peedie Hostel in Ayre Road, where we are now staying. Quite small and quaint, it is still a nice little place, with a great view across the bay to the Northern Orkney Islands.
We took a walk around the lakes across the road (big circular thing on a Kirkwall map) down to Safeway to grab some dinner ingredients. Cooking in the tiny kitchen, we made a nice meal of chicken fajitias.
No firm plans for tomorrow, but we intend to explore "The Mainland" (here, that doesn't mean the bit of Scotland with Loch Ness, etc., it means the main island of Orkney) for a few days before considering our options for ferries north to other Orkney islands, or the eight (!) hour journey up to Shetland.

(customised)