Wednesday May 8th

Breakfast was part of the deal at Park Hotel, so it was ordered last night to be ready for us this morning. An excellent breakfast it was too! Black pudding, mushrooms, tomato, potato, and scrambled egg. All good.

Away by 8:30 heading for Scrabster Harbour and our ferry the MV Hamnavoe. Not as big as our Inter-Islanders; but still surprisingly large.
There was fog, a misty drizzle, and light winds as we left, the wind grew in strength as we progressed, (as did the swell, although it was still a calm enough crossing,) the fog lifted a fair bit, and as we approached Mainland Island we were able to see the Old Man of Hoy, a sandstone column at the base of the cliff on island of Hoy about 80ft high and a width of about 30ft.
Arrived Stromness 10:10, a bit over an hour and a half sailing time.

First mission was to find our hotel; the Merkister. Charlie and his navigator managed that in jig time, dropped our bags off; so next mission was the Orkney Brewery in the old Sandwick school-house at Quoyloo.
James found that, first on the agenda there was lunch; then a brewery tour.
Their beer, especially Dark Island, is a bloody gorgeous drop, but the business is tourist oriented; get 'em in and gut 'em.
Not good.
Their beer is recommended, a visit to their brewery...nah.
One thing that was noted here...the immediate vicinity is devoid of trees...no trees for miles.
Except...opposite the brewery is a lone NZ native cabbage tree...
God knows where it came from or how it got there.

Next on the agenda was the Ring of Brogden.
This consists of the remaining (extremely large) stones that had been arranged in a circle about 100 yards across around 2500 BC. (All the same like Stonehenge) The antiquity of these things messes with your mind...to touch these things and think that someone 4500 years ago had their hands on this very same stone.
Didn't stay too long here, unfortunately the rain was horizontal, and the temperature was 5 degrees.
Cold as a bank manager's heart it was.

Back to Kirkwall and a visit to St Magnus Cathedral.
Building of it started in 1137 (nearly 900 years ago) and it's an awe inspiring building even by today's standards. Both the stone and wood carvings are truly magnificent.
These old-timers were nothing if not ambitious!
I doubt anything I built will be extant in 900 years...

And so back to the Merkister Hotel.
A lot to see, do, think about, and try to assimilate.

All good.