Houton Pier, Orkney

Backblip


You have no idea what a relief it is to have decent broadband again now that I am back home!  The photos upload in seconds, instead of taking ten minutes or more and then refusing to get beyond 90%.  Even commenting became impossible when they couldn't be sent but just sat and looked at you:-)  I'm sure that total electricity blackout did something to the router in our accommodation.

All I have to do now is remember what we did each day:-)  Sunday started off fairly clear and dry and we decided to go out for a drive to familiarise ourself with the Mainland.  This is Houton Pier, just a mile up the road from where we are staying at Orphir overlooking Scapa Flow.  There are actually three piers here - one for ferries, one for fishing boats and one for seaplanes.  The seaplane venture was short-lived as the Flow is far too shallow here to allow them to land safely, which the company owners discovered the hard way!

We drove on to the north of the island to visit the Brough of Birsay where there are puffins nesting.  Sadly, it had started to rain heavily by then and we didn't fancy walking over the causeway or climbing the cliffs to see them and planned to return another day.

We passed lots of places whose names we recognised, but decided not to stop as we were going on a conducted tour with a local guide to many of them later in the week.  So it was back to our lovely cosy lodge with underfloor heating which was much appreciated in the cool temperatures of summer in Orkney:-)