ISLAND HOPPING Day- Three
First of all, a question for you. Where is London Airport ? Okay, think about that, I will give you the answer later.
So todays island is Eday, this is one of the North Isles of Orkney, about 14 miles north east from Kirkwall. It takes about an hour and a quarter on the ferry to reach Eday. It did not bode well, as, as soon as I stepped ashore and cycled up the hill it began to rain. However after about 10 minutes it stopped and it turned into quite a nice day. You do have a choice on Eday of which road to use, unlike some other smaller islands. But I needed to head north up towards the small community run shop first, as I needed something for my lunch later and I had an idea that it was not open this afternoon.
I soon reached the shop, and found it was closed and fenced off with workmen on the roof. It was being renovated, fortunately they had moved everything into an old barn behind the shop. It was rather disorganised but I soon found something for later. This barn/shop did have something I have never seen anywhere else before in a retail emporium. I better say this very quietly so the Elf & Safety Zealots don't hear me, despite the best efforts of the staff, the Swallows that nest in the barn every year refused to be put off by the customers and were quite happily getting on with setting up their summer homes. It was slightly strange to be walking around the aisles looking for lunch with Swallows chirping and flying around above your head.
I found a lovely sunny spot for lunch down by the waters of Calf Sound looking over to Calf of Eday, watching Terns fishing for their lunch. Later on I toured around the island, watching the wild life and visiting several ancient monuments. Then it was time to catch the ferry back into Kirkwall.
A couple of interesting facts about Eday, St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall is built mainly with Red Sandstone quarried on Eday. It is also a centre of some of the most innovative tidal energy technologies being tested up here.
London Airport ? Bet you thought that was a trick question, of course its just outside London in southern England. WRONG !!!
Down there you have Heathrow Airport, you also have London City Airport not far from Canary Wharf.
The real and official London Airport is on Eday, it is used for the inter island flights as an alternative to the ferries. It is named after the Bay of London, a wonderful sandy beach just across the road from the runway.
Islands Visited; One
Total Visited; Eight
Ferries Used; Two
Total Used; Six
Ports Used; Two
Total Different; Seven
If you wish to see the rest of todays shots just click on the link below..........
http://365project.org/markp/Alternatively/24-06-2015
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