Orkney

 We had a leisurely breakfast and boarded our coach to make the short trip to Scrabster, a few miles along the coast to catch the ferry to Orkney.We could see that the water in the harbour area looked a little bit choppy but when the captain announced that the crossing would be rough we were all prepared. Suffice it to say that we weren't sick but did feel rather queasy. As soon as the Old Man of Hoy came into sight we knew that we were nearly there. Even locals on the ferry observed that it was an unusually rough trip. Our Orkney guide was waiting for us when we docked and the driver got the coach off the ferry, so we could hop on. It was a busy day when we saw most of the island, including the Neolithic setllement and UNESCO World Heritage site of Scara Brae, Scaill House, the Rings of Brodgar, Kirbuster Rural Museum (smoke hoos) and the Italian Chapel which was built by Italian POWs during WW2. In the evening we had a three course meal in an Orkney hotel which would be followed by an overnight 7.5+hours ferry trip to Shetland.

































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