Avalon House Kirkwall

Countries: 1
Miles travelled by Car: 1121
Miles Travelled by bike: Do trips to the supermarket count?
Fond Farewells: Numerous
Declarations of Jealousy: More numerous (because it includes a lot of people I don't even know)
Accusations of insanity: Even more numerous (because many people made more than one)
Bricks Shat: 53
Tasks left incomplete at time of departure: 2
Tasks able to be completed via internet: 2

... and it was all excitement again.

I said my farewells and looked back to wave as I passed through passport control, and then I was on my own.

Another short wait outside the 'King' and then it was on with the packs. Locked up the bike and found my way to my cabin with only one false start (went down to deck 6 - but on the starboard rather than the port side and there was no connecting corridor). I then donned my wind proof and ...

... amp; one off my brothers there to meet me, it brought a tear to my eyes. Like Dorothy in the wizard of Oz said, "there really is no place like home"...thank you all for making my visit so special.

Well my belly is full now after pigging out on a Toby carvery & it's time for bed as we have a long day tomorrow.... and guess what?..... it's just started raining again!

... sheets. Let's hope my 3 other room mates don't mind my snoring! At least I got there early and bagged the bottom bunk!

Up early to get some breakfast and to try to work out where to head to tomorrow. Nothing booked yet...let's see what happens. Left the LR tonight with a strange rattle, not sure what it is, sounds serious, lets hope I can work it out tomorrow and it doesn't cost too much :-(

... I somewhat resemble a tortoise, carrying my home, rucksack-shaped on my back I thought that it was a somewhat apropriate title, lets just hope I have a little more luck than he in certain departments.

So my bags are packed, and that damn Greenday Jetplane song won't stop whirling around in my mind. Although no doubt the easiest song to learn on the guitar my retarded fingers haven't quite been whipped into shape. The idea is that after three months, on a ...

... and the North Sea? Because, oh best beloveds, it is very beautiful. This stark beauty calms and enriches the heart and the eye. The sky and the sea compliment each other and what land there is is a velvet belt of browns, greens and golds that separate them. Kirkwall is a very old town, having started as an early beachhead of the Vikings. Everybody in town works at least 3 jobs. The schools are terrific with lots of music and they blame it all on Sir Peter Maxwell Davies ...

... cresta de las olas, y también el primer cormorán del viaje. Desembarcamos en Burwick, para a continuación coger un nuevo bus que nos dejaría en nuestro destino final por hoy: Kirkwall. Una breve parada para reponer víveres, y a continuación la experiencia del día: montar nuestra tienda de campaña, en The Pickaquoy Center. Mañana averiguaremos si la tienda sigue en pie y si hemos sobrevivido al frío en las Orcadas.

... stocks. We decided to leave St Magnus' Cathedral until the next day and spent an hour or so in the little museum instead. Over several floors, it houses exhibits covering the history of the islands from Neolithic times ( they got everywhere these Neoliths!) to the present. Quite nicely done, we thought, but there is only so much data that you can take in and an hour was enough. We then ...

... Rick quickly caught up. For your information we walked anti-clockwise, once. From the bus we also passed the remaining Standing Stones of Stenness and the tomb mound, Maeshowe. To finish off the trip we stopped at the Italian Chapel, built by Italian prisoners of war during the Second World War. Getting onto the return ferry Megan was attacked by our fellow day-trippers, the "Grey Haired Brigade", as they pushed and shoved their way on board, scrambling to get the best seats.

... a place in which one only spends a couple of nights a year. Thank you, Janet and Freddy, for making us feel that we always have a place in Scotland to call home.

We headed into Edinburgh. After some shopping on Princes' St., we went to the last Fringe event for which we had tickets. It was a play called Day of the Dead. The play was a murder mystery set in a plastic surgery clinic. I thought it was the best performance that we saw at the Fringe on this visit. After ...