First stop today was at Dunnet Head, only 15 mins down the road. It’s the most northerly point on the British mainland. There’s a lighthouse and cliffs, views of Orkney and lots of derelict small buildings left over from WWII. It was very blowy up there and much more dramatic than John O’Groats. We saw our first 3 seals on the way down, hard to spot on photo though!
It was only 10mins to Gills Bay where we took a ferry across the Pentland Firth to St Margaret’s Hope on South Ronaldsay. It’s an hour’s crossing, the only exciting bit was when Tony had to reverse the motorhome onto the ferry but that went very smoothly.
We drive through St Margaret’s Hope towards the mainland with Scapa flow on our left. We cross Churchill’s barrier, made with concrete blocks by POW’s during WWII. It’s now the main road with rusty wrecks of the WWI German fleet still visible.
On the island of Lamb Holm we stop at the amazing and beautiful Italian chapel made in a Nissan hut by Italian POW’s.
Onto east mainland we head to Kirkwall, Orkney’s main town and park up. After a nice break, cuppa, snack, a bit of blogging and pointless we are off into town to paint it red. Well pale pink anyway! We trail around a few pubs in the good beer guide and enjoy a meal in Helgi’s to end our evening.
lin and tony go travelling on wheels 