Kanga And Wombats Adventures

Knowing we were going to spend a lot of time outdoors today, we were pretty chuffed waking up to brilliant blue skies and sunshine. Totally not expecting that!

Kirkwall harbour looked beautiful in the morning light. While Stromness and St Margaret’s Hope hosts the ferries from the mainland, Kirkwall services 12 of the outer Orkney islands. It’s pretty busy!

We had 3 objectives today:

1. See the interior of St Magnus’ Cathedral

2. Find the signpost to a certain village, and

3. Visit a few Neolithic sites

The Cathedral looked a lot bigger in daylight, the birds giving the steeple a bit of curry! We lingered outside a wee bit too long, as by the time we had circumnavigated the exterior and reached the front door, the Cathedral was closing for a funeral.

So it was unlucky for us, but I guess even more unlucky for the bloke in the box. St Magnus will have to wait.

Across the road from the Cathedral, the Earl’s and Bishop’s Palaces lay in partial ruin. Extravagant structures for men with dubious motives!

We started our road trip for the day, intent on finding the signposted name for an Orkney village that took our fancy. Our friends Christine and Doug were on the same mission only a few months ago and had no luck…competitive Jude was determined to succeed!

With a bit of Googling and some atlas sleuthing, we found what we were looking for!

We only found one sign, and believe you me, we came into Twatt from multiple directions! Twatt is, in fact, no more than a couple of houses and a church. We suspect all evidence of its name had been obliterated by the locals who were sick and tired of silly tourists invading their ‘village’ for silly photographs. But someone must have realised the commercial potential, as later in the day we found some cool beanies. At £24 each, we figured we’d be Twatts to buy them!

We felt victorious!

Cathedral 0   Twatt 1

Swinging up to the north coast, the view was awesome. We stopped to take some pics of Eynhallow Sound between Mainland and Rousay where the rip on the water was creating surf, and before I knew it, these gorgeous black cows ran, yes ran, over to say hello. A bit like Smokey when she knows treats are on offer!

We hightailed it out of there before the farmer noticed his herd had stampeded!

Around the next corner, we reached a significant moment on our holiday….the northernmost point of our trip!

We stumbled upon the village of Birsay on the west coast which has the impressive ruins of the Earl’s Palace. Built in the 1600’s by Robert Stewart Earl of Orkney and an illegitimate son of James V, he was a nasty, cruel man. His palace, although crumbling, dominates the tiny hamlet. It felt very peaceful there.

But it was time to tackle the big ticket items!

The heart of Neolithic Orkney is UNESC0 listed and consists of 4 impressive archological sites. Skara Brae, Maeshowe, the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar. A 5th site, the Ness of Brodgar is currently being excavated and is revealing it’s equal significance.

Booking is essential to visit the first two of these sites, so we were under a strict timetable.

Skara Brae is northern Europe’s best preserved neolithic village, predating Stonehenge. Hidden for 5000 years, it was only revealed in 1850 after a massive storm eroded the sand and grass above the beach, exposing the structures underneath.

As you can only see the village from a viewing platform, they’ve recreated one of the ‘huts’ that has now been re-covered with grass. Stone furniture, even stone beds!

Adjacent to the neolithic sight is Skaill House, built in 1620 and home of the Laird who discovered Scara Brae in 1850. It is a weird mix of decor, with 1950’s furniture and fixtures intermingling with 4 poster beds.

The Ring of Brodgar is a wide circle of standing stones, with only 21 of the original 60 stones still standing among the heather.

Literally within spitting distance is the Standing Stones of Stenness, the solitude of the site enjoyed only by us and a few snowy white sheep.

Our final stop for the day was Maeshowe, a stoneage tomb built of enormous sandstone blocks. So delicate is this site, that it can only be accessed by taking a guided tour. We left the visitors centre on a shuttle bus and travelled a few kms down the road. Maeshowe stands forlorn in a paddock full of grazing cows, virtually a grass covered dome.

By this time, it was 4pm and getting very cold and windy. I marvelled at the gentleman in the kilt and his fortitude!

To access the inside of the tomb, you have to crawl through a passageway about 5m long. Once inside (sorry, no pics allowed), it is actually quite a small space and potentially claustrophobic.

Our guide showed us some Viking graffiti, visibly only by torchlight. For a few weeks around the winter solstice, the setting sun shafts up the entrance passageway and strikes the back wall of the tomb in creepy alignment. Incredible to think they had that kind of mathematical knowledge over 5000 years ago.

Cathedral 0 Twatt 1 Neolithic Sites 4

Facing our 6th day of eating out, tonight we opted for cheese, pate and some fresh veg. Not a chip in sight!