Another tick in the box

 

So yesterday we had an excursion to North Ronaldsay which is the only sizeable and inhabited Orkney island that we hadn't ever visited. The other 'outstanding' one is Papa Westray but it's tiny and really difficult to get to so I'm not counting that. Who knows? If we ever come back here on holiday we may yet make it. Meanwhile North Ron was the big outstanding one. 

It wasn't exactly ideal timing with my bust knee but I booked it back in April - because otherwise we wouldn't have had a snowflakes chance of actually getting on the boat, as these excursions are only run by Orkney Ferries once a month for five months of the year, and it's the only way you can get there and back on the same day on the ferry. So, obviously,  popular.  Of course  back in April I had no idea that I would be limping rather than walking when the day came round.  At least I'd had the sense to book the car though - after the unfortunate events on Flotta last year when I suffered heatstroke and was really quite poorly - we had decided that we wouldn't go anywhere, however small, without it. Although heatstroke, given yesterday's weather, was unlikely to be a problem. 

So above see a general  view of the place from the ferry. Below is how they got the car off it

and it later went back on the same way. The oddest thing; not only were we  on the ferry with our current car, someone else was on it with our previous one! How small does that make the world? Although Orkney is quite  a small world in itself really. I have to say it was a bit worrying watching them swing the car around in a net, but there again, they do it week in  and week out so they know what they're doing. 

North Ronaldsay is famous for two things. The seaweed eating sheep who are kept penned on the beach by a stone  dyke that circles the island, and lighthouses. 

Here's a picture of the dyke; the dark line along the top 

and here are some of the sheep 

this is the old/first lighthouse

it's a bit far away; I did my best with the zoom function but I couldn't walk any closer to it sadly. I'd have liked to; it looks interesting.  Here's the second/new lighthouse built by Robert Louis Stevenson's grandfather. Built of brick rather than stone because the stone was too expensive to transport. 

It has 176 steps and you can pay to go up it; I told the OH he could go and I would wait at the bottom but he wasn't keen. I don't blame him, even without a bad knee I don't think I'd have wanted to do it. 

It was a very long day. We had to be up at 7.00 to get ready and then drive to catch the ferry, it was 3 hours on the ferry to get there, three and a half hours there, and then another three hours in the ferry to get back. Although we did get off the ferry just in time to listen to The Archers on the drive home. 

So was it worth it? For the sake of completeness, yes. It was a bit of an adventure. I'd have enjoyed it more if I'd been able to walk properly, and if the weather had been better, and if everything hadn't had a sort of tired, end of season feeling. A shame we couldn't have gone in May or June really. It was interesting, but there are nicer islands, imo, to visit  if you want to see more than just Mainland Orkney.