Orkney! Day 4: South Ronaldsay to Sanday!

Day Four began wet, grey and unremitting, but I’m think I’m safe in saying that it was the first good night’s sleep we’d all had so far, sorry Sam! We had a quick breakfast and headed back along the only road to Kirkwall to catch the ferry to Shapinsay. As we were leaving the car this time to save costs, we needed to find somewhere to park it reasonably cheaply and within walking distance to the ferry. This turned out to be straightforward and we found Kirkwall to have a variety of short (cheap) and long (free) term parking (not sure on logic there) close to where we were headed. 

Shapinsay!

On the way to the causeway to Helliar Holm

The sailing was fairly run of the mill, again the waters were calm despite the slightly stormier weather, but as we approached Shapinsay, Helliar Holm came in to view with an alluring causeway seeming to stretch from one island to the other. Being the baggers that we were, we made a bee line for the beach closest to Helliar Holm, full of cider and optimism, navigated slippery rocks and stranded jellyfish before coming to the realisation that both the tide was coming in and the rock causeway had a rather large break halfway along. 

 No we weren’t up for swimming, though the idea was floated (for old time’s sake), so we continued east along the road to see if we could find any of the arbitrary landmarks I had selected for the itinerary to lure new recruits Terri and Rob:

“Landmarks include a standing stone, an Iron Age broch, a souterrain and a salt-water shower.

In 1905, The Orcadian newspaper reported that a strange creature had been seen off the coast of Shapinsay. It was reportedly the size of a horse, with a spotted body covered in scales. Opinion on the creature's origin was divided, with some islanders believing it to be a sea serpent, while others opined that it was merely a large seal.”

The harbour at Shapinsay

 So it was with great disappointment that after ten minutes, the rain and the wind picked up enough to harry us back into town to seek shelter and warmth, which was found in spades at the Heritage Centre. We ordered some ballast (sausage, egg and beans) and the staff kindly offered to hang our coats to dry near the boiler, explaining that we could go upstairs to look around the exhibition and she would call us when the food was ready.
 

Balfour Village, Shapinsay, in the rain

The most memorable part of the museum for me were the reports written by local children of events that had happened to their grandparents; fishermen being stuck on Auskerry, memories of the German warships, that sort of thing. Also, there was a fantastic model of Burroughston Broch, the first of many great models we encountered around Orkney, mostly made by school children I believe. Those kids have some serious talent on their hand. Or time. We ate, Rob bought some delicious spicy ginger treats, and we headed back to get an earlier-than-planned ferry as the weather had made it difficult to do much except a quick stop at the salt-water shower.
 

Burroughston Broch model

On the boat

A slightly more interesting sail back as we were sharing the ferry with the very school children whose work we had been perusing in the Heritage Centre and they told us they had seen some orcas swim by their school earlier in the year and elucidated on the subtle complexities of Top Trumps. A nice life for some I suppose.

Our next destination was Sanday, but later in the day, so we spent the intervening time exploring Kirkwall, stopping in at the St Magnus Cathedral. I scoured the place for “mushroom art” amongst the intricately decorated stained glass in the hopes of finding some validation for my flatmate Jake’s theory, but alas none was found.

Hanging out in town

St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall

It turned out fortunate that we had caught the earlier ferry back from Shapinsay, as industrial action was taking place within the ferry operators and were therefore running an amended timetable. This meant an earlier ferry to Sanday and without calling in at Eday on the way. Luckily we had no real plans for Eday aside from jumping on and off the ferry a la Egilsay and Wyre, so only marginally dismayed, we boarded our last inter-island ferry (flying from here on out!) for Sanday, leaving the car and the mainland proper for the Northern Isles. 

We were informed by a fellow passenger that it would be wise to book seats on the Sanday bus to take us to the Ayres Rock campsite, to avoid a nine (Orkney) mile hike with all our gear. Seats reserved over the phone with ease, the bus met us directly after disembarking from the ferry and dropped us at the campsite for less than £2 each. Ayres Rock’s Paul greeted us and showed us around, offered to hire us bikes for just £5 between us, and directed us to the pubs in Kettletoft.  

Liam on his bike

 We set off in an excitable mood in the wrong direction, got corrected by a passing car, and continued cycling in leisurely fashion. The island seemed remote in every direction, low hills and sea around us, no obvious village/town and in the distance the neighbouring islands of Stronsay and Westray either side. It was a deliciously peaceful ride with the bikes lending the evening a Famous Five air. We enjoyed our drinks and pool at both pubs, and blindly navigated our way home in the dark, the only lights being the occasionally rotation of a nearby lighthouse beacon. Paul’s Camping Pods were up to comfy-cosy code, and another great night’s sleep finished another great day’s adventuring! 

Downhill to Kettletoft

Somewhere on Sanday