Orkney - Island hopping

After the winds of Storm Floris abated it was time to take some of the inter island ferries to see what some of the other islands offered. Our first trip was three days on Hoy. What a beautiful island for walking! We did the coastal walk up to the staggering ‘Old Man of Hoy’ sea stack and the following day a walk to Moaness through the heather covered glens, with a coffee at the wonderful Beneth’ill Cafe run by the loveliest people before we headed back. It was one of those walks you just don’t want to end.

The incredible sweeping bay at Rackwick with its huge sandstone cliffs and bothy right on the beach offers free park ups for camper vans for up to a week. Bins and toilets provided. Fantastic! On our way there we stopped off at the Dwarfie Stane and crawled inside this 5000 year old rock cut tomb on the hill side.

A short ferry ride back to Mainland and over to the other side to take a ferry to the northern isle of Westray. What can I tell you? Wild beaches, an amazing heritage centre to visit and lots of cows! I came to Westray as I wanted to visit its neighbouring island, Papa Westray. We did this by taking the foot passenger ferry over and walked the entire day, which I only realised when we boarded the ferry back and Poppy laid flat out and went straight to sleep! The big draw on this island (if you like your history) is the Knap of Howar. Like Skara Brae, but for me better as you have it all to yourself and you can actually crawl through and stand in what would have been people’s homes in the Neolithic period. They are also perched on a rugged, rock strewn part of coastline rather than at Skara amongst the dunes.

Westray to Papa boasts the shortest commercial flight taking under 2 minutes, so we watched the tiny plane come into land before continuing to walk the east coast of the island. The local school on Papa have put boxes around the island for visitors to write in books inside about their visits. The children then go on walks throughout the year to collect the books and to find out why people came to their island.

Our last island hop on the most stunning of days was from Mainland to Rousay, sometimes called ‘The Egypt of the North.’ It did not disappoint. The cairns here are the best I’ve visited, especially the staggering Midhowe which is over 32m in length! After a morning of historical sights we spent the afternoon at the beach and walking the moorland carpeted in heather at Faraclett Head.

One last morning on Mainland to explore the Stones of Stenness and Blackbarn Village completed our Orkney adventure. 

Shetland is next!