Orkney, here I come! (For a week this time)

It's not that I'm seriously feeling my age - I'm only seventy-two - but I am conscious of things taking more effort than they used to, and it seems to me that it would be wise to take, sooner rather than later, all the long-range holidays that I want to experience. Better to spend the money now, and enjoy what I get for it to the full! 

Two years ago, in September 2022 to be precise, I had a brief taste of Orkney, those islands off the far north of the Scottish mainland. I took my car (it was Fiona then) over on the ferry from Scrabster to Stromness, and stayed one night. I packed an awful lot in. I drove around the west part of the main island (called Mainland) twice; I had a good look at Kirkwall, Orkney's main town, visiting the Cathedral and Bishop's Palace; I bought Starfishie at Alison Moore's jewellery workshop in Dounby; I ate a very good dinner at The Foveran; I visited a couple of the major archaeological sites (the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness); and saw the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm. I also had a quick look at Orkney's other town, Stromness, while waiting to join the ferry back to Scrabster, giving the famous Pier Arts Centre most of my time, but still making a point of checking out the Point of Ness Caravan and Camping Site at the south end of town. 

I was most impressed with the West Mainland, and loved Stromness. But I saw much elsewhere that needed a closer look, and I certainly didn't have time to see it all, not by a long chalk. I knew I'd have to return, and probably for several days.

Well, I've now booked a full week at the Point of Ness site, arriving 6th May and departing 13th May. This week in Orkney will be the centrepiece, the jewel, in a five and a half week caravan touring holiday, most of it in northern Scotland. I've booked it months ahead because in the second half of May there's the hugely popular Orkney Festival, and getting a pitch will be hard or impossible if I leave it too late. Given that, I don't think booking nine months in advance is ridiculous. Anyway, I'm in now, on a definite pitch, with the cost fully paid. How much? £205 for the seven nights. About £30 per night.

Of course, there's the return fare for car and caravan on the Scrabster-Stromness ferry to pay as well. I expect that to cost over £200. I'd book that now, for the 6th and 13th May next year, but it seems I must wait until Northlink Ferries publish their 2025 timetable in November. 

But I can still go ahead and make a string of site bookings with the Caravan and Motorhome Club. I've already worked out dates and places. Basically it'll be a dash to Scotland, and then a dash home again. I may be able to meet up with a couple of friends on the homeward leg, but the prime object is to maximise my time in Orkney, Caithness, and in the Inverness area. Who knows, I may never go so far north again, although Scotland south of the Grampians will remain within my ordinary range from Sussex. 

This is obviously going to be an expensive holiday, but the hit will be less if I can pay for part of it at 2024 rates. Also, I'll make a significant saving on five and a half weeks' electricity, gas and water at home. That will also offset some of the overall cost.

Orkney is a long way from Sussex. It's about 800 miles by road, just to get to the ferry terminal at Scrabster. Roughly the same as driving to the south of France.

Here are some location maps - tap on any of them to see a magnified view:

The Point of Ness Caravan and Camping Site is bottom centre in the map section just above. Here are some aerial views of it, taken from the website gallery:

The pitch I've chosen is along the edge nearest the sea. So, facing the sea,  I'll have a fine view of Stromness to my left. Off to my right will be the huge expanse of Scapa Flow:

And behind me will be the hilly island of Hoy:

So I really do get very good sea views from my plum spot! Of course, there's no shelter from strong breezes and cold winds. I should think springtime in Orkney comes late, and will have barely started in May. I must expect it to be rather cool and wet. This said, with the electric heating on, the caravan is a cosy place to be. And completely weatherproof. I've just had the caravan checked for dampness: nothing at all was detected.  

Stromness itself is full of character. There's definitely a flavour of a Cornish coastal town about it - Fowey mostly comes to mind. Here are some of the shots I took in 2022, in the space of an hour:

The street you see is actually the main high street, and cars do go down it. There is however a much wider parallel back road, which I will take the caravan along. There are many narrow side-alleys or wynds, some with glimpses of the sea. Narrow to keep out the wind, I'm thinking.

The blue building above is part of the Pier Arts Centre complex. This is a stylish modern gallery of international repute, very much on the lines of the Tate St Ives. And in fact the lady who endowed it knew the chief members of the St Ives School of artists, and some of their work is exhibited. Hepworth, Nicholson, Frost, Heron, and others such as Wallis. (But not Wood - I did ask why not) Plus also many other fine painters and sculptors. I will probably have a second, more considered look. The seaward windows of the gallery frame some harbour scenes very nicely:

Bustling Kirkwall also has its attractions, and better everyday shops, but correspondingly less charm. But as with Stromness I will explore it much better on my week-long stay in Orkney. It's a chance to really nose around and find out what the locals do. Likewise with the other much smaller settlements. There's always more going on than you think. 

I will have time to visit an outlying island. If I possibly can, I will spend a few hours on Hoy. Here's a map:

You really need a car on Hoy. The ferry from Houton (south-east of Stromness) comes in at Lyness, and if only on foot you can view what remains of the former naval base there (Scapa Flow was a vast fleet anchorage in both World Wars), including a museum. But otherwise personal transport is necessary. I'll want to see Longhope, especially the old lifeboat station there, the scene of a dreadful lifeboat tragedy in 1969. I can now make my little pilgrimage. I can catch a glimpse of Melsetter House. At the north end of the island I can inspect the Dwarfie Stane, a huge rock with a cave-like interior fit for hermits, and Rackwick Bay, shown in this shot I took as the ferry passed by in 2022:

Those stupendous sandstone cliffs in the left side of the shot extend unbroken for miles, and standing in front of them, not far from Rackwick, is the Old Man of Hoy. I managed to get only these poorish shots of him in 2022...

...but now I'll have two more chances to secure better pictures. (And with the right camera this time!) It is perfectly possible, for the fit and able, to climb the steep hill out of Rackwick and trek across the moorland to the cliff edge, and then look across to the top of the Old Man. But I'm not fit and able enough for that.

Well, you can probably sense that I'm excited! The first (and most important) site booking has been made. Step by step I will now make this holiday happen. But then that's one of the pleasures and satisfactions of caravan holidays: the personal research, planning and work necessary to get the holiday literally on the road. And then the rest of the effort, every day until home again. It's nothing like an easy-peasy largely passive package holiday. It's relentless self-catering on wheels, and all the intricate arrangements made must go just right. Thank goodness planning is one of my better skills! 

I'm off to Scotland, on a different holiday, in early September. The drive north, with the trusty caravan in tow, starts just over two weeks from now. I haven't yet finished editing the 2,500 photos I took on my last holiday to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, let alone getting down to writing about what happened. I'd better get a move on. You can have too many holidays, you know, but the car and caravan both beg to be used. And, as I say at the start of this post, there's that inner imperative to undertake long journeys while one still has the stamina. 

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