Day 21: Armadale to Kirkwell, Orkney - Wednesday, 18 September

Weather: 12º - 17º - Sunny

Accommodation: Home on Orkney, Kirkwell 


We woke to a wonderful sunny sky and a flat tyre. Detta told us at breakfast at 8.30am. One of her other guests had just told her. We wolfed down our breakfast and looked at all the possibilities. We were in the middle of nowhere and we were 35kms from Thurso our next destination and a place where we could get help.


Henk found there was no spare tyre in our hire car but it did have a brand new tyre pump compressor still packed in its plastic. 




Detta offered the use of her tyre pump compressor and Henk used it to pump the tyre and that seemed to hold. We quickly packed the car and headed off to Thurso driving cautiously and avoiding any potholes. Halfway Henk checked the tyre and all was good. We arrived at Thurso at 9.45am and had until noon to rectify the situation before going to check-in at the ferry terminal at Scrabster near Thurso. The first tyre place was too busy to help us and recommended the second place and thankfully they could deal with the tyre immediately. They found the flat was caused by a screw and it was quickly rectified and cost twenty-six pounds. We were on the road again and we would make the ferry deadline.



We had some time in Thurso before check-in so we walked around the town, harbour and beach. It was a beautiful day in the town. 





We popped into a cafe and I had a Shell Pie which is a traditional Scottish pie filled with mutton. They must be popular because there was a stack of them in the window.



Our ferry journey from Scrabster to Stromness was in calm waters with a swell and I coped well, thanks once again to Kwells. It took 1.5 hours. When Henk booked the ferry three months ago he also included tickets to go to the private lounge. We sat back and were treated to drinks and food which was great.


We passed close to Hoy Island and we had good views of the high cliffs.




The view along the long, narrow harbour going into Stromness was lovely with all the houses lining the water.



We were soon off the ferry and drove the thirty minute journey through farming areas to Kirkwell, the capital of the Orkneys. It surprised me how big and urban-like it was. Our cottage is about a 15 mins walk from the centre of the town. We rested and then walked into town and its harbour to get our bearings and find a place for dinner. It was still sunny and warm.



It was a beautiful evening in Kirkwell which ended an eventful start to the day. Tomorrow we will go to the information centre first thing and plan our next four days in Orkney. 



And finally… Detta’s friend made this crossstitch for her and it was in the dining room where we ate breakfast. I loved it. 





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Day 30: Manchester - Friday, 27 September Weather: 6º - 13º - Partly cloudy, windy, chilly Accommodation: Staycity Aparthotels  We woke to a brighter day. The clouds had lifted considerably and the wind had dropped. The sea between the high cliff and the harbour wall at Eyemouth was still very rough with high waves coming onto the shore. It was so different from the calm seas we saw only two days ago only a short distance north of Eyemouth. Our accommodation didn’t include breakfast so we packed our car and drove to the harbour at the other end of the village to find a cafe. We couldn’t see anything open and nearly walked passed  the Waterfront Cafe as we walked into the chilly wind. The award-winning cafe sits inside a plain harbour building. Henk and I indulged in French Toast with bacon and lashings of maple syrup (as Enid Blyton would say!). Whilst waiting for breakfast to be cooked I walked along the long, narrow harbour to take photos. The wind was sti...
Read more
Image
Day 5 - Oban to Portree, Isle of Skye - Monday, 2 September Weather - Overcast, drizzly - 10º - 15ºc  Accommodation - Burnbrae Apartment, Portree  This was a day of travelling to arrive at the Isle of Skye for our week’s stay. Our highlights on the way were the Eilean Donan Castle and the little village of Plockton. And, of course, we were very excited to have arrived on the Isle of Skye. It was a good day to drive as the weather was mostly drizzly and it was cosy in the car. We left Oban at 9.00am and arrived at Portree at 3.00pm. There was four hours of driving. The A82 road hugged the coastline most of the way and it felt we were very much in Scotland with the drizzle, low mists, high mountains, large fir trees, lochs and mountain streams. It was a very pretty, atmospheric drive.  The one radio station we could tune into was BBC Gaelic so the Scottish music added to the experience. After three hours of driving we arrived at the Eilean Donan Castle. It was goo...
Read more
Image
  Day 28: Leith, Edinburgh - Wednesday, 25 September Weather: 3º - 11º - Sunny Accommodation: Pillars House Guesthouse We woke up to a glorious day in Anstruther. There was not a cloud in the sky. Before breakfast I crossed the road from our accommodation and took some photos of the harbour in the bright sunshine.  The day was in two parts - before arriving in Leith, Edinburgh and after arriving in the city. We took the Fife Coastal Route and visited many pretty harbour villages, all very close to the each other and looking spectacular in the morning sun. The first village we visited was Pittenweem only a seven minutes drive on a minor road from Anstruther. I wanted to visit Pittenweem having read Australian author Karen Brook’s terrific historical novel, The Darkest Shore which is set in the early 1700’s in the tiny village. It has a beautiful deep harbour.  A number of men were sweeping up autumn leaves from the Main Street. The leaves are now falling quickl...
Read more