I was starting to get rather excited about taking The Goddess onto a Ferry again and sat watching all the activities on the quay with great interest. It became obvious Orkney had a large Tesco store, as was evident by the large trailers that had turned up and been left by their lorry drivers. The trailers now being loaded, expertly, onto the ferry by drivers in smaller tractor units. Watching them reverse down the ramp and park them into spaces, with inches to spare, in the open, central part of the deck. I was impressed.
Why hadn't the penny dropped? This wasn't a Roll on Roll Off Ferry!!!
The Harbour-master came over to tell me it was my turn, so if I could just pull forward and swing round and reverse on please!!! WHAT!!!! That ramp suddenly looked about as wide as a gang plank and less inviting. Not only that, how many people were going to be watching me doing this???
Well, I'm not one to back down from a challenge!! So off I went. No problem but oh my, my heart was certainly in my mouth as reversed down that ramp, with the water visible, either side.
But here she is, front left, neatly tucked in, with her roof just 4 inches away from the upper deck!
Some of the shop trailers.
The journey across to Orkney was disappointingly misty but we went and got ourselves a delicious bacon sandwich and by the time we were back outside, the sky was starting to lift a little.
Having disembarked, off we drove, not really having any idea where to go, or what to do but there were some good roads, so we thought we'd just go were the fancy took us and stop, when we saw something that interested us.
I can't write a history lesson here but there was a lot going on here in WW2, and we saw the Churchill Barriers, drove across them, saw some of the sunken Block Ships and visited the Italian Chapel, all relics of the War and worth reading about.
We stopped by a beach to stretch our legs and let the dog do what dogs have to, as I wandered a little nearer the sea, I was struck by a smell which I think has to be the worst I ever smelled in my life. I decided to head back to where Mike was with Rowley but he was getting the stench too. Looking back I saw what looked like an old, rolled up, rotting carpet. It was then I realised it was a dead seal. A sharp exit was made. The smell wasn't helped by an enormous pile of rotting smashed eggs, near to where we'd parked. Strange place that was, not a beach I'll be recommending!
The town of Kirkwall was really quite pleasant and even had a few trees around, trees are noticeably absent up here, both on the island and the coastal mainland. I've never been to The Channel Isles but Kirkwall is how I imagine it to be.
The St Magnus Cathedral was impressive. With some very interesting, carved, memorials.
We had a look around the Orkney Museum, which was a bit crowded but had a lovely staircase and the garden contained probably 40% of the Island's trees.
All too quickly or day had passed and it was time to head back to the Ferry, for yet another, white knuckle, reversing feat but on the way, we stopped at a beach to let Rowley have a run, much to the annoyance of some birds, who berated us for invading their space.
Obviously nesting, so we took great care in where we were walking and didn't stay long. It was then I realised, we were finally seeing some Arctic Terns and I was able to get my much wanted photo.
This time the weather was kind to us and we were able to enjoy the views for the return crossing. Yet again The Goddess was neatly shoe-horned in, expertly, by ME!! So proud of myself, especially as the man in another Motor-home got the Harbour Master to reverse his on for him. Blow struck there for feminism!
Some of the sights on our way back to the mainland.
Yes, it was an expensive day, as the crossing was £60 something, each way but about the same price as a day coach trip, which isn't our sort of thing and nowhere to leave the dog when we went inside buildings, so for us, it was far and away the best option. I would have really regretted not seizing the opportunity.
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