ORKNEY ADVENTURES :: DAY EIGHT
LONG DAY
I had a plan for today, but did wonder as I went to bed if it would go right, there was a snag.
Up early, packed, breakfasted, coffeed, and Bumble loaded by 7.45. left Pierowall Hotel and set off south to get the 9.00 o'clock ferry from Rapness, Westray over to KIrkwall. Only 8 miles to cycle, a little hilly but nothing to worry about, and over an hour to do it, simple.
Except for the snag, the forecast was headwinds of 20mph, with gusts to 40 mph, with all the Panniers on Bumble acting like giant sails this was going to be fun. Anyway I made it and reached Kirkwall. I had a wander around Kirkwall shops , then around St. Magnus Cathedral, fantastic building. Over the road to the Orkney Museum, excellent place to visit, wonderful exhibits, just did not have time to see all of it, will need a return visit.
It was time to bid Kirkwall farewell, my plan was to ride south, into the wind again, down over the Churchill Barriers to the very bottom of the Orkney islands, to the port of Burwick, South Ronaldsay, and catch the little passenger ferry over to John O'Groats and then cycle into Wick and my B&B. Easy !
Orkney is not very flat, in fact the roads are quite hilly, and I took my time, stopping regularly as I spotted interesting things to photograph. I reached the Italian Chapel and was very surprised, that unlike previous visits, I was alone in the church for nearly 30 minutes, more about the chapel in my other album today.
A free sample of Orkney Wine, nearby, was very welcome and I reached St Margaret's Hope in time to watch the Pentland Ferries ship set sail. With hindsight I should really have jumped on that, but that was not the plan.
After a long climb to a viewpoint, that gives wonderful views over the Orkneys, the Pentland Firth, and Caithness, I dropped down to the harbour in plenty of time for the ferry. This is only a smallish boat, 250 passengers, and I have had some interesting crossings in the past, but today it was fine.
John O'Groats looks a bit brighter these days, but is still not quite right considering the numbers of tourists it gets.
I made a mistake here, I only had 18 miles to cycle to Wick, and I should have stopped at the Fish and chip van, as I was beginning to get hungry and had been on the road for 12 hours now. No I will wait till I get to Wick I thought. As you leave John O'Groats, you have a 3 mile climb in front of you, not mentioned by the End to End cyclists. Then more climbing, and open moors, with no shelter and still the headwind was not the best way to be spending the end of a long day. I know that road reasonably well and it seemed to take forever to reach certain landmarks I remembered. Finally three miles short of Wick, you reach the main road, and turn left, now I had the wind on my back and whizzed along at over 25mph. In Wick the chippy was shut, so I found a shop and bought some junk for tea and cycled to the B&B up the steepest hill I had been on all day !!!
I knocked on the front door just after 10pm, I did not bother unpacking, and had a picnic on the bedroom floor.
Rather a long day and certainly not the easiest one I have had whilst cycling, but still very interesting and at least I had achieved my destination.
My other album has another shot of the chapel and a bit more info.
http://365project.org/markp/Alternatively/15-05-2014
@abimagery You should Ann, they are beautiful islands and well worth visiting, you won't be disappointed