Rousay, day three.

Another day, another chambered cairn, or two! Firstly the Knowe of Yarso, which is the highest of all the cairns, with stunning views, which I'm sure the dead buried there would have appreciated greatly! The bones of at least twenty nine people were found in the various chambers, together with pottery, bone tools and flint arrow heads. The remains of thirty six red deer were also found here. 

It was a super walk up to it, with lots of the same plants we saw yesterday and lots of wild thyme too.

The second one was Taversoe Tuick, unusual for being a two tiered cairn and also for having a tiny extra cairn nearby, connected by a long tunnel. It is my blip today, showing the wonderful vegetation growing on the mound. Too dark and small inside for decent photos, but there are plenty elsewhere on line. 

These tombs are amazing, you end up wondering all about the people who lived and died here 5,000 year ago, when deer roamed Orkney and everything was built by hand. Life must have been so very different from today. There are so many things we don't know about them and can only guess at based on the remains that are found. 

We had a wander round Trumland House Gardens this afternoon. After Lottie and I came with the garden club, I was keen for Mike to see it. It was such a hot and sunny day that being in amongst the trees was a lovely bit of respite!  We sat by the waterfall surrounded by all the greenery and it was like being in a foreign country! 

Raspberry Magnums from the village shop on the way back to our beach, definitely a holiday highlight, then went for a walk on the lovely soft white sand and a bit of a paddle. Lottie didn't paddle, all she wanted to do was crunch up bits of crab shells! Everyone has their own way of enjoying themselves on holiday!