The Orkney Hotel Kirkwall

Started off at the castle this morning and went to see the leaping salmon at Shin Fall. There were not many salmon around but after hanging around for nearly two hours I managed to get a couple of
pictures of them leaping, boy are they quick! I popped into the coffee shop for a look around the gift shop selling Harrods goods???

Back into the car and off to John O'Groats via Wick. I drove up following the A9 and ...

... a friendly B&B. I think I'm going to need this as some days I won't be smiling much!

It's early evening by the time I arrive in J O'G and there is a beautiful pink sunset. Camera in hand, I get a couple of shots of the harbour, the Last House and the view over to Stroma and the Orkneys. Having exhausted the delights of J O'G in about five minutes, I turn in for an early night as my departure looms...

... contact info for them at the end of this blog. None of the recommendations in this blog have been sponsored.
Besides the view the main attraction of Kirkwall is St. Magnus Cathedral. It is primarily a Norman design but because it took 300+ years to finish, there are Gothic influences throughout. Some are very weathered because it took them 200 years to put on the roof. Once again, Philip the Atheist fell madly in love with a church. There is something about ...

... suburbs of Edinburgh the rest of Scotland is surprisingly sparsely populated, with lots of little towns along the way. The towns here tend to have one high street, or main street, along the "highway" here and that's about it. Some of them are downright adorable like Creif with it's little flags and hanging baskets of flowers. The natural scenery is also amazing, with awe inspiring bens and glens. We hit what we think is the edge of the ...

Rousay is a small island just a few miles north of Mainland, Orkney. It has been called the "Egypt of the North" because of the large number of prehistoric sites found on the island. Only about 200 people call the Island their home, but it is a popular tourist site because of its archaeological importance. We visited just a few of the hundreds of sites on the island where even today most of the sites have yet to be excavated and researched by archaeologists.

We didn't travel to the Orkney Islands to see a farm, but to see the prehistoric ruins near the Skail Home Farm—Skara Brae. The Orkney Islands are like an amusement park of Neolithic sites and this is just one of hundreds found across the islands.

Skara Brae is the most complete Neolithic village in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site ...

... first evening that guests arrive aboard, and tonight was no exception. We are joined by the Captain, the Pilot and all the Department Heads, all of our guests, and anyone else from the area that we have met or do business with. The tour guides that will be showing us the islands also joined us. For cocktail parties I’m encouraged to invite guests whom I have met and that morning I met a couple in their late 30’s that were visiting from London. I invited them to join ...

... pump to inflate the tyres. In fact, by the time I found it, the weather was so grotty that we decided to batten the hatches and stay put. Then we were descended upon by a Dutch sail training boat with no less than 8 Dutchmen on board, all the regulation 6' 6'' that they are nowadays. God they were sooo noisy and clumsy as they clambered over our poor boat, at all hours, the sods. Mind you, they were nice guys so I don't begrudge them, just wished they'd come on a different day!!

Al mattino visita rapida al villaggetto hippy, dove troviamo quasi tutto chiuso, tranne un negozietto di ceramiche e di saponette. Riprendiamo la strada con destinazione finale Gill's bay per prendere il traghetto verso le orcadi. Durante il tragitto ci fermiamo a Bettyhill e poi a Thurso, tra pioggia, nuvole e qualche sprazzo di sole. Thurso è una cittadina abbastanza piacevole dove passare qualche oretta ...

... the grab bag with emergency supplies was to hand, the fog horn and 3 million foot candle torch were out ( both to warn approaching vessels of our presence) and so on. We were going to do 2 hour shifts but I decided, as Julie resents losing sleep more than I do, to try to go for longer and if possible, stay up as long as dawn (not too onerous in northern latitudes) so that she wouldn't have the worry of helming at night. (continued in Friday's instalment)