Day 25: Kirkwall, Orkney - Sunday, 22 September

Weather: 11º - 12º - Cloudy 

Accommodation: Home on Orkney, Kirkwall

For our last full day on Orkney we decided on a different type of day as we booked an all-day tour instead of being independent travellers. Our destination was Rousay Island, a thirty minute ferry ride north of Mainland Orkney and is described as “the Egypt of the North” with its many significant archeological sites. 

It was a long and amazing day. We left our cottage at ten o’clock to catch the Tingwall ferry at 10.40am to Rousay. The small ferry only takes eight cars and all had to back their car onto the ferry. It was tricky for some. It was easy for us, we just walked on!

Patrick Maguire who runs Rousay Tours was at the Rousay Pier with his eight-seater van ready to pick us up. 

Two other Australians from Darwin were also on our tour. There is only one road on the island and this is 23kms long and circles the island alongside the rocky coastline overlooking the sea and the other islands close by. We went in an anti-clockwise direction starting at 11.15am and returned to the pier at 5.00pm. There was a lot to see in the 23kms!

Only 200 people live on the island and most are involved in farming and fishing. The island has over 160 archaeological sites. It suffered greatly during the mid nineteenth century clearances when many of the island’s people were forced to leave. As a consequence there are many vacant stone houses and farms throughout the island.

We had lunch at a picnic table at Saviskaill Bay where we could see seals bobbing up and down in the sea and great views of the coastline. The tour provided the picnic lunch packed in straw hampers which consisted of Westray crabmeat sandwiches, a selection of Orkney cheeses, oat biscuits, salad, fruit and tea and coffee. It was delicious and we were hungry as it was 1.00pm.

After lunch the afternoon tour concentrated on the Neolithic sites on the western and southern side of the island. The first site we visited was the outstanding Midhowe Chambered Cairn, a 32m long tomb about 5,400 years old and sits very close to the coastline where the North Sea meets the Atlantic Sea. 

The tomb is protected by a huge hanger which was constructed in 1936. When we walked into the hanger we were blown away with the size and completeness of something so old. We were able to walk around it and over the top to view the internal structure of the tomb as special walkways had been constructed. 

Nearby is Midhowe Broch which was constructed about 3,500 years after the Cairn and built during the Iron Age around the 1st century AD. It had a lot of similarities to the Skara Brae Broch we saw a few days ago. 

A short walk from the Broch and the Cairn was a black plastic covered archaeological dig by the University of the Highlands. Discovered in 2019 it is believed to be a large and long Norse building likely to be a hall. It sits beside a more recent abandoned farmhouse.

It was fascinating that in such a short distance we had explored Neolithic, Iron Age and Viking structures. 

Our last site was a double-decker Neolithic tomb, the Taversoe Tuick Chambered Tomb about 5,200 years old. It didn’t look anything special on the outside with its grassy roof but inside it was a complex structure. The lower section had a long, small entrance into the chamber. 

Patrick had us back at the Rousay Pier at 5.00pm ready to catch the 5.30 ferry to return to Mainland. This gave us the opportunity to visit the nearby exhibition centre giving another overview of the island’s history. 

Overall, it was amazing that such a small island in such an isolated part of the world could offer so much. Even more amazing was that the sites are free to enter and anyone can visit them at any time and there is no security. Patrick thinks this will need to change as damage has been caused by some visitors.

We arrived back at Kirkwall about 6.15pm and we “Tescoed” dinner again after the long and fantastic day. It was an early night for us. Tomorrow we return to mainland Scotland to start the next part of our journey.