Category: Orkneys

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Orkneys out and about

When you travel to Scotland try to make time to visit the Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands. When you’re out and about in the Orkneys you will find some really beautiful landscapes and you will also I think be surprised by how many ancient people travel to this windy and cold series of Islands. The weather is very difficult but it is a very fertile, geologically ancient with bountiful seas. But when you visit you should have a car since local transport is not really adequate for short intensive visits.

Orkney rabbits
potential dangers everywhere
Beautiful vegetation
The wonderful clean waters and vegetation
Rainy weather
The reason it’s so beautifully green and lush is because there is so much rain
The castle ruined
There are many old ruins and castles here
And or a buddy
Your potential next buddy
The Orkney ferry
The way to get to the Orkneys in comfort
Ferry main desk
The ferry’s main desk
The dog lounge
In case you bring your dog
The bar
The bar and one of the lounge areas
Restaurant area
The restaurant area
Out and about with the geology
The amazing geology
Cold and windy weather
It was cold and windy on the boat
Offloading
Offloading the cars
Craggy Beachside
Just a beautiful craggy beach side
A treasure trove inlet
A small inlet. Maybe there was buried treasure here
A nice Citroen on the Orkneys
Some lady and her dog had a very nice Citroen
A nice beach
One of the very nice beaches
Viking marker
An ancient Viking marker
Old marking stone from the Vikings
This was the actual old stone
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Orkneys – Skara Brae and Pict remains

the Orkneys have so many of these Pict structural remains going back as far as 6,000 years ago. It’s a great place to go around by car. Bus travel is a little bit difficult since there aren’t many buses and they are not running frequently. So plan your trip well in advance.

This is the home of the earl or Duke or Lord or marquee or whatever who discovered these Pict ruins.
Elizabeth, the queen mother, visited this home at least one time and even signed the guest book as you can see here
This is one of the ancient bird houses where the shit is used for fertilizer, the eggs and the birds themselves are food. And these birds help keep the insects away from the crops.
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Orkney islands the second time

the first visit to the Orkneys I didn’t have a car which made it extremely difficult to go and see what I wanted to see so I went back to the mainland, rented a car and went by ferry to the Shetlands and then back down to the Orkney before returning to the mainland.

Some old archaeological fines go back 6000 years. People lived up here at that time and this is one of the large settlements uncovered
The purpose of this was to provide a nesting place for birds. The bird poop would be used for fertilizer, the eggs and the birds themselves for food and of course the birds would eat the insects around the farm . Below you see the bird poop and droppings from the birds nests above
There is a very large house here owned by a very rich family from long ago and when the ocean came smashing on the shore from a storm it exposed parts of this pict village. So the owner of the land did the excavation and now it is quite a tourist attraction
Inside the big house there was a photo of the Duke of Windsor, the one that became Edward VIII and also this signed visitor book by the Queen Mother, the mother of Elizabeth
This ring of standing stones has been here for more than 4000 thousand years
And now it’s time to get back to the mainland on a very nice and relaxing ferry complete with Shop, bar and restaurant
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Orkneys – try it out

the Orkneys are a group of islands between the mainland of Scotland and the northernmost islands, the Shetlands. If you decide to go there make sure you go by car on the ferry since local transport is probably not going to be satisfactory for a short visit. You really need a card to get around.

In Scotland it’s the way to start a day
There is a gap between the toilet and the walkway to the pier which I guess they are referring to as the “no swimming” area. I’m sure they are not talking about swimming in the toilet.
The Batmobile van
The skull and crossbones seem to be prevalent icon on many Graves
Sheep everywhere
And oil rig close by
Evidently there was no need to repair the roof
A very typical building on the island
This is the older ferry which was not on loan to the Hebrides
The island of stroma is not deserted
Of course it has a lighthouse
On this old ferry you just drive on and turn around to get off
Sheep, cattle and the fishing industry
I’m sure one of the popular magazines in Scotland. This land is filled with farmers
A great place to have a Guinness. Everybody was very friendly and even bought me another one