Trip to Orkney - 3 October

From October 3rd to 8th, I went to the Orkney isles. It is quite a scenic journey, and my camera was very busy. Apart from 500 pictures of the journey, I also took 700 photos of wargraves. I'll post a few appetisers on here, and then you can go to Flickr yourself and have a more extensive look.

October 3rd dawned a bit windy, but not as windy as the day before, when the afternoon ferry had been cancelled. The swell had not subsided in the Minch, and there were some high waves about on the 3 hour trip to Ullapool. It had also turned markedly colder, and hail showers strafed the Minch, leaving the mountains quite white. Inverness was reached at midday, and I had 2 hours to wait for the bus to Scrabster, near Thurso, from where the Orkney ferry departs.

I am not very familiar with the east coast of Scotland, although I have travelled by train to Thurso a couple of times. It was nice to see places like Tain

Four hours and 125 miles later, I stepped off the coach at Scrabster, but had to wait a while for the ferry to turn up. It left at 7pm, at sunset, so I did not see much of the Old Man of Hoy, a 120 metres high seastack, which the ferry passes fairly closely. Arrived into Stromness at 8.45 and jumped on the bus to Kirkwall, 16 miles away, where I had arranged my accommodation.

Leaving Stornoway






In the Minch




Rainbow over Loch Broom


Mountain landscape along Loch Broom


Hail shower strafing Loch Broom


Arriving at Ullapool


On the moor south of Ullapool


View north from Inverness


Helmsdale harbour


Departing Scrabster