We brake for oystercatchers
Jun. 26th, 2022 08:26 pmAround the hotel, the commonest bird seems to be the curlew, which is a pleasant surprise: the air is noisy with them, and there is often one keeping watch on top of the old Nissen hut. But today we have driven the length of the island, and more than once had to stop abruptly while an oystercatcher decided what to do - or tried to run away from us, on unexpectedly pink legs, along the road.
A beautiful drive north, with sea views all the way, the distances blurred by mist but the sun bright: we are going to have to be more careful if this goes on. We scrambled up to the Dwarfie Stane, not a long climb, but one which has unaccountably become more difficult since I last did it, and made even more so because it seemed to be rush hour, and we were overtaken by three different groups of visitors. The reward for my extreme slowness is that by the time we reached our destination, they were just leaving - the last group were singing inside the stone, which appears to be a thing - and we had the place to ourselves, to sit and think peaceful thoughts until we were ready to descend.
On to Rackwick Bay, which was also busy with visitors, many of them walking dogs. The Bothy looks even more decrepit than I remember it, but the single bench is still there, and the young woman who was occupying it was happy to share, so there was more sitting and gazing at the sea.
Back the way we had come to the north coast, but![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
durham_rambler wasn't quite ready to give up and come home: the OS map showed a couple of promising bays further north up the island, so we turned left instead of right. The scenery was indeed very pretty, and what's more there was an unexpected café. We had resigned ourselves to not finding any lunch: we had eaten a substantial breakfast, and there were tea and biscuits back at the hotel, but we were quite willing to indulge in scallop and black pudding rolls at the Beneth'ill Café. Orkney hand-dived scallops, Stornoway black pudding, and the café really was beneath the hill.
Thus fortified, we paused in Lyness to admire the exhibits on show outside the Scapa Flow Museum (which is about to reopen after refurbishment, but not until we have left the islands). I liked this anti-torpedo netting:
A beautiful drive north, with sea views all the way, the distances blurred by mist but the sun bright: we are going to have to be more careful if this goes on. We scrambled up to the Dwarfie Stane, not a long climb, but one which has unaccountably become more difficult since I last did it, and made even more so because it seemed to be rush hour, and we were overtaken by three different groups of visitors. The reward for my extreme slowness is that by the time we reached our destination, they were just leaving - the last group were singing inside the stone, which appears to be a thing - and we had the place to ourselves, to sit and think peaceful thoughts until we were ready to descend.
On to Rackwick Bay, which was also busy with visitors, many of them walking dogs. The Bothy looks even more decrepit than I remember it, but the single bench is still there, and the young woman who was occupying it was happy to share, so there was more sitting and gazing at the sea.
Back the way we had come to the north coast, but
durham_rambler wasn't quite ready to give up and come home: the OS map showed a couple of promising bays further north up the island, so we turned left instead of right. The scenery was indeed very pretty, and what's more there was an unexpected café. We had resigned ourselves to not finding any lunch: we had eaten a substantial breakfast, and there were tea and biscuits back at the hotel, but we were quite willing to indulge in scallop and black pudding rolls at the Beneth'ill Café. Orkney hand-dived scallops, Stornoway black pudding, and the café really was beneath the hill.Thus fortified, we paused in Lyness to admire the exhibits on show outside the Scapa Flow Museum (which is about to reopen after refurbishment, but not until we have left the islands). I liked this anti-torpedo netting:
