Orkney Day 3 - Wednesday 2 Sep 26

Today we headed south east on the mainland to the Deerness peninsula for a walk round Mull Head Nature Reserve:


The first feature we came across was The Gloup, a deep collapsed sea cave:



It was a lovely cliffs walk with several inlets:


Ken checks the options



Ruby tries hard to keep up with Nigel


One building we came across was revealed as a former chapel:



An appropriate place for a (Vicky-less) team photo

At one of the inlets there was an option to descend using some wooden and stone steps. When we got down to sea level, there was a further option to climb up the other side on a chain walk. There was only one way back after that - we had to retrace our steps:

Jeb leads the way with Steve and Vicky following on, using the chain to ensure no slippages on the rocky path.

After all this interesting and exciting way out to Mull Head, the return was a little disappointing - across grassy fields then up a narrow boggy heather path. Here's the stats:


Lunch was at the nearby Deerness Distillery and Dashing Deer Kitchen & Bar (https://www.deernessdistillery.com/). No tour - and alcohol did not pass our lips - well, most of us anyway.

For our afternoon's entertainment, Ken had a friendly beach and cliffs walk at Dingieshowe planned. The weather was improving all the time and the otherwise unoccupied beach was lovely, but to get to the cliff path, there was a bit of a boulder field which was a bit off-putting - as was the subsequent attempted cliff walk where the path was virtually non-existent in places and a little dangerous. Here's 5 of the team just before we turned back to the beach:


The afternoon temperature was still rising and we were able to fully relax on the beach:


The stats, such as they were, for the (very) short afternoon walk:



One more pit stop was to, of all places, Sheila Fleet, a jewellery shop based in an old church:


Fortunately they had a lovely coffee shop - we even sat outside for this.

We paid return visits to the Ayre Hotel and The Auld Motor Hoose for pre-dinner ales. It was curry night for us and although there was a little mix-up with the booking, all went well in the end. 


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