Day 7 – The Orkneys
Day 7 – The Orkneys
Wednesday, 18.07.2018
The Orkneys or Orkads have been my long time travel wish. Try getting a bit further north every time is one reason, another is the hope of less tourists compared to the rest of northern Scotland. And of course Skara Brea. Never heard of it? Look to WIkipedia. From my B&B south of Wick it was just a small hop to Gills Bay where Pentland Ferries operate a summer route to St Margaret’s Hope on one of the southern islands of the Archipelago, South Ronaldsay. Everyone does Scrabster to Stromness, so I didn’t, besides the timetable was more to my schedule. On the roughly one hour trip there where already lots of sights. Stroma, the abandoned Island with its lighthouse, lots of bluffs but most of all wide green fields.
On the islands itself there are rather few long distances to take, but I could have reached my goal for the night even on foot. Wheems Organic farm or campsite or cottages, easy to find and on first sight very cute and lovely. I had booked so called “Pods” for two nights, small wooden huts with a Futon and a lock on the door. Not much more. Well and power and where there’s power there is a water kettle and tea. The Futon was very uncomfortable but overall it was better than tent. Especially during the second night when the Highland rain arrived once more I was very happy about the wooden roof. But when I got into contact with the rest of the site I realized that my expectations are nowadays a wee bit higher than when I was a student. Back then I might have overlooked that half the water taps were loose, the toilet doors self-made with questionable locking mechanisms, or that one of the washing machines was standing ouside in the rain, including the multi-socket power extension cord. Nope, extension was not IP65, it rather looked like IP “please don’t ever use me again”. The kitchen and seating area was a great idea, likely 20 years agobut looked like it hadn’t received much love since then. Neither did it help that it was half open to the elements.
At the same evening I still had an appointment in Skara Brea. Even before I started my trip from Finland I had booked an evening tour. A total of seven people, very personal feeling, outside the normal opening times so no tourist rush hour. But the best was that the Guide took us inside the excavation. That added to the detailed descriptions this gave a completely new picture of the site. If you ever make it to the Orkneys, this is a must see.
Did I mention that distances where pretty short? Well, true, but if you are an hour from your bed and get off from Skara Brea only at half past nine, then it does stretch after all. A bit overly tired I fell on my Futon and dreamt of neolithic excavations.