After calling at St Peter Port in Guernsey, P&O Oriana had made her maiden call at Scrabster in the North Of Scotland. Our cruise continued with visits to Kirkwall, Stornoway and finally Dublin.
Day 5 Tuesday 6th September Kirkwall, Orkney
The pilot boat passing under my window was my early morning wake up call and out on deck this was the view as we sailed in.
Breakfast was again in the Oriental and once issues of the gangways had been resolved it was time to catch a bendy bus into the town. The beauty of coming to Kirkwall is the Hatston Pier where ships as large as Oriana can dock.
The tourist centre provided us with a set of maps of Mainland Orkney so my TomTom was not needed this trip. We picked up our hire car from the Ford garage next top the bus station. This was instead of catching the open top tourist bus that we had caught in our earlier visit.
We went South towards the airport and then onto the Churchill Barriers. These were built in the early years of WW2 to prevent U-Boats from firing torpedoes into Scapa Flow where the Royal Navy had its ships moored. They were built by Italian prisoners of war and after the war they were turned into road links. This one links Mainland to the island of Lamb Holm.
The Italian Chapel
The Italian Chapel (La Bella Cappella Italiana) is on Lamb Holm island where Italian prisoners turned two Nissen huts into a chapel. The interior was decorated and has become one of the main tourist attractions on the islands.
The interior of the chapel is stunning given that the creators were prisoners of war. Over the years there have been donations from artists in Italy and statues have added in the grounds. It is wonderful that the chapel was not removed after the war and that it survived until it became protected and revered by all who visit.
Back over the Churchill Barrier we stopped briefly at St Marys.
The Standing Stones of Stenness
The next stop was the Standing Stones of Stenness. On our last visit to Orkney the tourist bus passes past the stones at 50 mph, so this visit I was determined to get closer to the stones and even better the site was empty except for….
…. the sheep who came to graze right next to me. This one decided I should stroke her before resuming grazing.
The Ring of Brodgar
The next stop was the Ring of Brodgar. After parking the car I crossed the road to walk to the stones and at the gate one of the passengers off Oriana had fallen on the footpath. The poor lady was in pretty bad way but was being well looked after by the local guides as well as the tour guide and ship’s representative.
The wind had really picked up by now and my walk to the stones felt as though I was walking head on into a gale. Just like the Italian Chapel this is a very popular stopping place for the coach trips but I was able to fit my walk around the stones with hardly anyone else there.
After walking part way around the stones I walked to a small mound a short distance away to try and get a different perspective on them.
Skarra Bay
We went for lunch at the cafe at Skarra Brae. Afterwards I drove to a parking space at the top of the beach so I could get closer to the waves. But this also meant exposing myself to the high winds that made opening doors and the boot of the car an almost impossible task.
We returned past Stromness and alongside Scapa Flow. After leaving the car back at the garage we went to The Reel on the High Street for a quick drink. Yesterday I had avoided any alcohol on the ship as I wanted to make sure I was going to be alcohol free while driving around Orkney. I celebrated being able to drink again with a pint of Orkney Gold.
We then went for a walk up and down the street and then caught the coach back to the pier. After another visit to the arts and crafts stalls by the pier we boarded the ship.
Then it was time for a trip to the Taverners bar for an individual quiz and the opportunity to sample some more new beers. This was Lancaster Bomber Bitter and an American Pale called Chiron brewed by Thornbridge …
… and to listen to Chris Shaw play some of my favourite Chris Rea tracks.
As I watched a ferry came into the pier next to Oriana and I watched this cloud formation high over Mainland.
From the cruise log we later discovered that at the Hatston Pier the ship was hit with Force 8 winds. The ship had had to deploy extra wide mooring lines in addition to all the other mooring lines. This was in addition to having to use her thrusters to keep alongside the quay in the high winds at 2 pm. This was about the time that I was trying take images of the storm waves at Bay of Skaill.
Dinner was a delicious beef stroganoff. Over dinner we learnt that one of the other passengers table was going on a trip to the distillery on Harris. We asked if she could pick us up a bottle of Harris Gin. A bit cheeky but this was our backup if I couldn’t buy any in Stornoway.
Here’s the evening sky as we sailed away from Orkney.
In Kirkwall the last post the ship at 19:30 and a post card cost a £1.