Orkney

Saturday May 23, 2026

Dounby, Orkney Main Isle, Scotland

Distance traveled: 116 km. Cumulative distance: 2595 km

Weather: started out brilliantly sunny and fresh! Lots of "casual water" around and the bike was quite wet but it was easy to wipe off the bird poop. As the day progressed, increasingly cloudy and occasionally threatening. 

We were up at 6:30 because we had a planned departure of 7:30. We were booked for the 8:45 am ferry to Orkney and the advised arrival time was ONE HOUR before the scheduled sailing but the Too Bad So Sad cutoff was 30 minutes before sailing. Google Maps had predicted a 15 minute travel time to the ferry last night. 

We actually did a pretty good job of getting up with the alarm, getting ourselves showered and organized, checked out by 7:15 and the bike loaded and on the road at 7:31. I was somewhat surprised that at the ferry terminal, we had to go through a gate where we were asked for our reservation name. I was prepared to show my email confirmation but he just looked me up and handed Nan two tickets and a receipt (I had booked passage months ago) and instructed us to proceed directly to the ferry. All the cars were lined up in a "holding area".

We were instructed to wait at the top of the ramp with the two other motorcyclers; cars were coming off the ferry. When our time came, one bus was loaded ahead of us and then the three motorcycles boarded. Each was waved into position and as soon  as we were off the bikes, a crew of guys came around and tied our bikes down including laying a piece of carpet over the seat where the rope was to lay over. I'm always glad for this step; I can tie my bike down but these guys do it everyday and it's their responsibility to ensure there isn't an insurance claim. I've been on some ferries where I had to bring my own straps.

Laying the carpet to protect the seat.

Do a good job, boys! My deposit is at stake!

The ferry is pretty big. Not quite as big as one of the BC ferries but plenty spacious. There are more trucks than cars, which surprised me somewhat given this is a Saturday. Also, as we discovered on the ferry, there is a music festival on at Orkney this weekend, so there will be plenty of traffic but appatently  ot on this ferry so they must all be on the island already. 

You will recall we were booked for the 8:45 sailing , so don't you think I was surprised when  we pulled away at 8:30, a total of five minutes after I had said to Nan, "don't worry, we still have 20 minutes before we leave, and they never leave on time!

I can tell you that I was pretty happy that WE were on time, especially as I have a tendency to assume that schedule times are generally a little loose. How much do you think Nan likes that? I was also glad that we had scouted out the ferry terminal yesterday when we were in the neighbourhood as I was having a little trouble with our navigation  system. Anyway, once it was clear that we were really underway and not the captain just trying to scare the last few people boarding to hurry up, I went to the pursor's station to find out what gives. Especially as I had double checked my booking confirmation to see that it really did indicate 8:45. It seems that if all the scheduled passengers have boarded, the Captain can make the decision to go, which he did. However, this doesn't mean that we are going to arrive early at our destination, the Captain is going to just go a little slower and reduce the overall fuel consumption. It's a climate initiative. 

Taken at 8:45 am. We should still have been in dock!

The ferry crossing took us past Hoy Island. Not to be confused with Ahoy, island! Hoy is one of the larger Orkneys but still sparsely populated, from what we could see from the ferry and the infrastructure showing on the map. However, it has some spectacular cliffs and the ferry passage is famous for passengers getting an opportunity to see them. In addition, there is a famous "stack" like we saw the other day, of a pillar of layers of shale where surrounding rock has been eroded away by an unrelenting ocean.  Passengers on the ferry were pressed against the side of the boat facing the cliff face well in advance of being close enough to get a decent picture. Lighting conditions weren't all that favourable, particularly as the morning sun was behind Hoy, however, you can judge for yourelf whether they are worthy.

I could go on ad naseum about the sights we are going to see today. But let me preface your vomiting with a few words about Orkney. It is a harsh, unforgiving group of islands that will boggle the mind with its beauty. But I think the people here are tough and hardy. The wind is always blowing, which you can see by BOTH trees here, leaning hard away from the wind like somebody's comb-over. The colours are brilliant, particularly the pastures filled with cows and sheep, with an almost neon green defying that they are actual natural colours criss-crossed everywhere, seemingly randomly, with stone fences keeping the flocks in their assigned paddocks. 

OK, so there is FOUR trees.

Wild flowers along the side of the road. 

As hard as it is to believe that the Orkneys couldn't get much better, the islands are blessed with an abundance of historical treasures from medieval times, bronze and iron age and Old Testament times left by the first inhabitants of the area from thousands of  years ago.  I'm not talking old houses abandoned on farm lands, these are monuments created by people four to five thousand years ago and they are in abundance on the island. Many or most things are protected by the government of Scotland.

The Earl Patrick Stewart's castle build in 1601-06.   

He had a reputation for extravagence, cruelty, ambition, and debt he could not pay.  He owed 150,000 pounds at the time of his death. 

The castle kitchen.

Across the street was the Bishop's castle! This one was built in the 1100s, so quite a bit older than the Earl's. 

Let's look at some prehistoric treasures. The Stones of Stennes are four (formerly 12) giant stones erected 5,000 years ago. Archealogical finds confirm human remains evidence of feasting and signs that people lived within or around the circle. 

There were stone slabs laid at the spots where upright stones would have been placed to complete the circle. I didn't think they were prehistoric, however. 

Below is the Ring of Brodger, another UNESCO site, 5,000 years old. We were not allowed to walk around inside the ring as they are attempting to help the grass recover. 

Our Scotland portion of this trip was to ride the North Coast 500 highway, which rings the Highlands. It slays me that Orkney is not on more people's radar and the fact that we are here at all is really just luck: we are taking 12 days to ride a 500 mile highway. It doesn't take THAT long! This seemed like it would be an interesting side trip but a dedicated trip to any of the islands would be a worthy venture.