Orkney - Day 1 - Monday 31 Aug 26

Jeb and Vicki had taken the overnight ferry from Aberdeen so were having a leisurely breakfast at the Orkney Hotel in Kirkwall as the other 5 of us set off in two cars - Dave and Ken (plus Ruby) in one and Nigel, Steve and me in the other - all of us on the long drive to Scrabster.

Both cars made it in good time and the ferry to Stromness was very punctual and surprisingly smooth as we crossed the notoriously bumpy Pentland Firth. The sailing took us past the famous Old Man of Hoy:


Jeb and Vicky were waiting to meet us at Stromness and all 7 of us set off on a stroll round the village and surrounds. Our walk took us past the Ness Battery and also 3 small containers, not much larger than a telephone booth, one of them labelled the "Sauna Wanna":


Would you use this? I wouldn't.

The walk was circular - I took a quick selfie/team photo on the return half:


There was the usual information board:

Here's the stats for our short stroll:


We all then headed over to Kirkwall to check in, shower and get ready for the evening meal, organised by Steve, who had booked us in to Helgi's, a gastropub that had just been awarded CAMRA's Northern Isles Pub of the Year - but first, I proposed a pit stop at the Auld Motor Hoose which turned out to be a proper atmospheric "pubby" pub, well frequented by locals - and one, which we, as a group, and Jeb and Vicki subsequently, returned to later in the week.

Our hotel was close to St Magnus Cathedral which was lit up at night:


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