When we awoke it was still raining and we could hardly make out the tops of the mountains that had been clearly visible last night from our pitch though there we signs that it might get brighter! By the time we were ready to leave the sky had become a little lighter, we had a couple more showers on our way to Aviemore but after parking and buying our tickets for the Strathspey Steam Railway, we had no more rain for the rest of the day!
The engine pulling our train was quite young having being built in 1952 and renovated 40 years later. The carriages were mostly from the 1960's and included some rather nice 1st Class compartments being used for dining. As always on heritage railways, the staff were enthusiastic and friendly and very much in evidence was the 'Fat Controller' who was accompanying a photographer through the train taking short video clips and photographs to promote the railway.
The journey each way took about 45 minutes stopping at Boat of Garten and Broomhill, which apparently was the station used in the tv series Monarch of the Glen. The line followed the River Spey for most of its journey, a lovely river valley surrounded on one side by the Cairngorms.
On the return journey we feasted on their home made millionaires shortbread and fruit loaf, both of which were very tasty. Once back at Aviemore we took more photos and leaving the van in the station car park we explored the town which was full of outdoor clothing and equipment stores and cafés. We also found, much to our amazement, a butcher's shop open on a Sunday so we purchased some fresh local meat for meals tonight and tomorrow.
Then we made our way to what has transpired to be the most expensive camp site of our trip so far at £26.50! Still the woodland setting was very pretty and as we pitched a red squirrel ran across in front of the van and up a nearby tree. The facilities were also rather well appointed with a collection of individual, unisex mini bathrooms complete with washbasin, toilet and shower and lots of room and hooks.
After a cup of tea we decided it was time to take the cycles off the rack on the back of the van where they have been since we left London, primarily because we have rarely stopped anywhere for very long or got to a site early enough to spend time cycling in the vicinity, or it has been very wet or the terrain did not lend itself to cycle riding! I know that sounds like a lot of excuses but as we had arrived early at the campsite and there were several cycle tracks around us we set off on a circular route of about 7 miles.
We travelled through mixed woodland and heathland with great views of the Cairngorms then through a forest to the beautiful Loch an Eilein and returned to the campsite via an old logging road. We both got slightly damp as we had not expected to ford two streams and one was a bit deeper than the other and Lesley's cycle stopped in the middle of the second, deeper one and got a rather wet left foot!
We arrived back at the campsite having enjoyed this relatively short ride as it was our first of the year and in such lovely surroundings. We celebrated with mugs of hot chocolate and had hot showers to refresh ourselves and hopefully help alleviate any aches and pains from our unusual exertions!
We ate dinner, edited photos, blogged and read till bed, there being absolutely no tv signal nor any inclination to watch a dvd.
We had a very leisurely breakfast then headed off to make a brief stop at John O' Groats. We had our photograph taken at the last road sign in mainland Britain and I was reminded of the one I had taken with my parents at Lands End when I was an older teenager. We browsed the eight sided first and last shop then got back in the van and set off in a generally southerly direction travelling across headlands and heathland close to the coast for much of the time with great sea views.
We stopped for fuel and provisions and carried on hoping to get to a caravan sales and spares company in order to purchase a replacement spindle for the hot tap in the bathroom but we arrived as the owner was leaving, they close such businesses quite early in Scotland, it was Saturday and only just 4 pm! Our repair will have to wait!
We continued South passing through very pretty countryside and arrived at the Caravan Club site in Grantown on Spey and noticed on our arrival that there was a steam railway nearby. We picked up a leaflet and determined that on Sunday we would spend some time pursuing our passion of riding on all of the heritage steam railways in Britain, and elsewhere when we come across them!
We ate the crab meat we had purchased in Kirkwall and prepared a stir fry for dinner, watched a dvd, as there was no tv signal available and went to bed, noting that it had been raining for most of the time following our arrival and during the night when one of us awoke we were aware of the sound of rain on the van roof.
We had a very good night's sleep, wild camping on Rousay overlooking the Eynhallow Sound with the Midhowe Brock and Cairn below us on the shoreline. We breakfasted then made our way to the pier to await our return ferry to Main Island. The crossing was very quick, we were one of just 3 vehicles on the boat and on arrival at Tingwall, we made our way along the North East coast to see the Broch of Gurness and compare it with the one we had viewed on Rousay.
We had not expected such a development as confronted us! This was more than a Broch; it was the remains of one of the largest fortified villages on Orkney with imposing outer walls and a ditch and numerous dwellings. Each house was similar in design to those we had seen at Skara Brae albeit there were a couple of thousand years between them.
Also found on the site when it was excavated was a house from Pictish times and on the causeway leading to the main entrance of the Broch, the stone lined grave of a Viking woman had been uncovered complete with grave goods. This was a massive and complex site and the interpretive drawings gave one a real sense of how it may have looked in around 1AD. It was interesting to note, however, the differences in cultures and especially the technology in use when comparing these Orcadians with Romans of the same era who very shortly found there way to the Southern shores of Britain!
We made a lunch stop in Kirkwall and had just enough time to visit the Earl's and Bishop's Palaces dating from between 12th to 17th centuries. It was a very quick tour but interesting to see the different building styles and especially the opulence of the Earl's Palace whose owner sadly fell out with the reigning monarch so did not get much chance to enjoy its luxuries!
We made our way to St Margaret's Hope on South Ronaldsay, connected to the Main Island by the Churchill Barriers, in order to catch our return ferry to mainland Scotland. We had spent just 7 days on the Orkney Islands, they are so full of history and each one is very different. We only had the opportunity to visit 3 of the islands but think we may be back to spend more time here. The weather was generally good to us but cold most of the time and often cloudy and damp but the Islands also have no nasty biting insects, so that was a bonus, and the islanders are friendly and there is a lot of good produce at reasonable prices.
The crossing was smooth, we saw many more seabirds and basking great seals on the Island of Stroma and once landed we made our way to a Camping & Caravanning Listed Site which was reasonably priced but not so well situated, being near to a fairly busy main road. The facilities were clean but a bit 'Heath Robinsonish' and the owners, a friendly couple from East London who had spent time in both Hawaii and New Zealand before settling here.
We ate, watched a bit of tv and went to bed.
We had stayed at the Kirwall campsite because it was convenient for the ferries to the northern islands. After we had breakfasted we made the van ready intending to wild camp tonight on Rousay Island. We drove to Tingwall on the North Eastern coast of Main Island and awaited our ferry. It was small; only one other vehicle crossed with us along with a few foot passengers. The crossing was smooth and we landed just after midday at a tiny pier. We were bemused to see that no ropes were used to hold the ferry against the concrete ramp and pier, just the engine and boat ramp were used whilst we drove off the ferry and up onto the only main road that circumnavigates Rousay.
The Visitor Centre was closed! We later discovered the island ranger had met a couple from the ferry and was conducting a tour of the island. So we made our way towards the West and stopped at, Taversoe Tuick, the first of many cairns on the island but this one is rare because it is has two stories! The cairn was fully accessible to the public with a metal ladder in place to enable one to go from the upper to lower levels. It was amazing, so well built and different to others we had seen but no one seems to really know why this was built in this way with entrances on either side of the cairn to allow access to the two stories independently.
We drove onto a parking place for some lunch then motored on to the main event of the day. This involved a walk across fields full of sheep, down a fairly steep path to the sea.
Covered by a barn like structure is Midhowe Stalled Cairn, the largest known example in the UK. It is a remarkable place with useful, albeit brief information boards. A high level walkway has been constructed to allow visitors to view the cairn from above. When in use, it would have been covered in either cap stones or possibly a coloured clay like Maes Howe on the mainland. The size and complexity of the structure must have involved a large number of people who presumably all shared customs and beliefs.
Just beyond the cairn was the ramains of Midhowe Broch, a 1st century defensive tower, one of several built on the shores of Eynhallow Sound. The tower was constructed of two walls about 10 metres high and sub divided inside to provide a number of smaller rooms. The entrance was quite low but capable of being blocked with a stout door that would have barred entry to anyone. A defensive ditch and moat surrounded the Broch which was situated on something of a natural promontory.
Then we explored the remains of buildings along the shoreline, known as the Xxxx mile. For thousands of years people have inhabited this region and including the above there was evidence of dwellings from a Viking Hall through the medieval period up to the middle of the 19th century. A ruined church and cemetary were testament to the men and women who last worked the land with many head stones indicating folk had died in their 70's.
Returning to the van up that very steep track we refreshed ourselves with a cup of tea then continued on our journey around the island. We stopped at a bay on the north western side and spotted a large number of grey seals hanging out on the exposed rocks whilst Arctic Terns and other sea birds flew overhead. We climbed up from the coast over a headland and down to the lowlands on the northern side of the island exploring the minor roads and finally came back to our starting point, the pier.
We were now actively looking for a place to camp overnight. There was a place near the old chapel and cemetery by the pier which looked possible. We retraced our steps around the island, this time in an anti clockwise direction. We spotted another potential site off the main road overlooking the sea backed by cliffs. Considered the bay where we had spotted the seals, but the ground looked a little soft for the weight of the van and finally headed off back to the car park overlooking Eynhallow Sound. It was a beautiful spot overlooking all that history with the Atlantic Sea beyond and low hills across the water. There was very little traffic. We had dinner, read and edited photos then went to bed after having had a lovely day on Rousay.
The day dawned fairly bright and improved to the point where during the afternoon and evening we saw the sun, the sky was blue and clear with a delightful golden glow to end the day. After breakfast we readied the van to leave the Point of Ness Campsite and headed for Skara Brae, discovered after a violent storm on the edge of a cliff in the mid 19th century.
The Visitor Centre provided a very informative exhibition including many of the artefacts discovered during excavations and relayed both facts about the area and community as well as some conjecture. The biggest question being why was Skara Brae abandoned after so many years of continuous improvement?
It is a truly amazing place of small individual stone houses built into a midden with a central common passageway linking the houses together. Each house appears to be the same with a central hearth, a stone dresser opposite the entrance door which can be barred from inside, shelves in the walls and stone beds around the room.
The absence of a larger sized or more lavishly furnished dwelling, no evidence of weapons and no defensive wall or ditch suggests to archeologists that these people lived in harmony with one another and settled disagreements amicably. The proximity of this village to other settlements and the number of stone circles and cairns also suggests a large number of people living together in close proximity and sharing customs and beliefs. Indeed the building of the circles such as Stones of Stenness and Ring of Brodgar would have needed a very large number of people devoted to the activity whilst the rest of the community farmed and fished. Together, these factors suggest that 5000 years ago the Orcadians lived in peace and harmony until, for whatever reason, the village was abandoned and folk started to be buried in individual graves and stone kists rather than communal cairns.
We spent ages just viewing the structures which have been uncovered and excavated back to their original ground level. After a refreshment break in the cafe we also then visited Skaill House which is open to the public during the summer. It's history goes back to the early 17th century when the bishop of Kirkwell moved here after leaving a much earlier brock situated elsewhere. The house was full of artefacts including clothes, pictures, furniture and souvenirs from foreign travels. It did not hold the same fascination for me as Skara Brae but it was interesting as it occupied its own place in the history of the island and as it is summertime, entrance is included in the ticket price for Skara Brae.
We travelled onto Kirkwall and the campsite via the Stones of Stenness as the sun was out and we wanted to retake a few photos that would reveal more than the greyness that had surrounded the site on Sunday when we visited.
After purchasing a few more items of food in readiness for our trip to Roundsay on Thursday, we arrived at the campsite, pitched the van and sat outside to enjoy the sunshine. We cooked some dinner, watched a bit of tv and went to bed even though it was still light outside!
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