Kirkwell and Orkney Islands

A fun day in the Orkney Isles today!  It took a while for disembarkation as the UK Border control came aboard and we had to do the passport bit which took longer than expected.  As a result all tours ran quite late but still plenty of time to do everything.  Our tour was ‘North Orkney Exploration’. 

We departed Kirkwall for the drive along the West Coast of Mainland, Orkney's largest island. Our first stop, after half an hour, was at a pub where they served us delicious carrot cake and Scottish shortbread along with tea and coffee.  This was intended to be morning tea but after our late start it became lunch!  Along the way, we passed through the rolling countryside of the island and viewed the Northern Isles of Orkney in the distance.

Then on to Eynnhallow Sound, a dramatic stretch of water where the Atlantic Ocean meets the North Sea, before pausing at the small tidal island at the Brough of Birsay. This was interesting as at low tide a concrete walkway has been constructed for people to walk to the next island.  Bad luck it the tide changes quickly though!!! Then on to the Neolothic Heartland of Orkney, a World Heritage Site. This was at the Standing Stones of Stenness, a 5,000- year-old circle of stones, not unlike Stonehenge only smaller. We stopped for half an hour at a beautiful little village called Stromness, the second largest town on Orkney, population 2,200.  It is a seaport for the area and has ferries to neighboring islands.  I was able to leave a few pounds there as no shops yesterday LOL!!!! 

On the drive back to Kirkwall, travelling  along the north shore of Scapa Flow, the guide shared some of the wartime stories that make this one of the most well-known stretches of water in the world. So much history in this area, at one point, during World War 1, 74 German ships were in the harbour.  Then in 1916 Lord Kitchener’s ship, HMS Hampshire, sank off the coast of Scapa Flow - he was on a mission to Archangel in Russia.  Wish I could remember everything about today.  This place is an archeologists dream - we passed several dig sites and they’re continually finding evidence from centuries ago.  

Back at the ship by 3 pm so we took the shuttle into the town of Kirkwell.  Went our different ways as G wanted to see a museum and I went to see St Magnus Cathedral and to look in the shops and to have a cappuccino! 

Orkney has 22,000 inhabitants, and consists of 79 islands, 17 of which are inhabited.  There are 100,000 cattle, black Aberdeen and Fresian seem to be predominant, and 100,000 sheep and the crops grown are barley, oats, turnips and potatoes. All the services are here, with three large supermarkets including Tesco’s so they can apparently buy pretty much everything.  150 cruise ships are now calling to Orkney per season so the place is thriving!