Wednesday 21 July 2010
We had a great breakfast but the weather was much greyer than it had been yesterday. We had seen an iron age fort – the Broch of Braebister - on the map, so headed back to north Hoy to check it out. Although it was signposted, the end of the road was a farm and we had to walk through very wet grass in the rain to find the remains of the fort – not much more than a mound with stones obviously arranged by humans, mostly covered in grass. The fort is about 2000 years old and overlooked the sea with a stunning view.
We didn't stay long and spent the rest of the morning checking out some of the other roads we hadn't explored and keeping our eyes open for seals (unsuccessfully). We saw some attractive old buildings but the weather was just miserable. We ended up having tea in a little cafe to warm up and while away the time until we had to go catch the ferry.
With the weather so miserable, we didn't even bother getting out of the car for the trip. We'd booked the next two nights accommodation in a hotel close to the standing stones of Stenness and we headed there for lunch and to check into our room. The hotel had changed hands just 4 days earlier and you could see that there were a few teething problems. However, the people were super friendly and helpful and it was hard to blame them for the 1970's décor.
We drove into Stromness to check it out and despite our guide-book's lack of enthusiasm for it, we found it quite delightful – few cars through the main centre and the streets are still cobbled. There were lots of old interesting buildings as well and it had a stunning location right on the water. Our main goal was to find a warm hat for Bill (an indication of how bad the weather has been on our trip) and managed to find a great one in a scuba shop of all places. A quick perusal of the restaurants didn't inspire us, so we decided to eat back at the hotel when we got back.
We drove out to Marwick Head to see if we could find any puffins. Along the way we drove through the town of Twatt to see if we could spot a signpost. Bill was keen to get a photo for his facebook profile. Despite driving through it twice, we only saw one sin with lots of other towns on it as well, and no Twatt Post Office or Twatt Town Hall – we decided they were extraordinarily shy about their town's name. Marwick Head is a RSPB site and because of the weather and the fact that it was late afternoon meant that we were the only ones there. I really wanted to see some puffins and the information signs told us to look lower down on the cliffs. The walk was quite windy and Bill was very happy to have his new hat, but as soon as we arrived at the cliffs, we saw some puffins. They were a long way away (not good for photography), but once we knew they were there we saw them fly in and out, low down close to the sea. There were also gannets and lots of skuas. We could also see Hoy from the cliffs (we think), and although the angle was strange, we are sure we finally saw the Old Man of Hoy. It was a great walk (and not very long) and made for a nice end to the afternoon after such a wet morning.
After dinner we went to check out the standing stones of Stenness (just 5 minutes drive away) and the Ring of Brodgar in the late evening light and sunset. It was very atmospheric and there weren't many other people around to spoil the effect. We had a wonderful end to our day.
No comments:
Post a Comment