ISLAND HOPPING DAY - Seven
Just about managed to grab breakfast at the B&B, this morning before rushing off for the ferry. As well as the regular ferry services,on Sundays during the summer, Orkney Ferries run Special Sunday Excursions. These give you the chance to get to maybe visit and spend a bit more time on islands that it is not always possible to during the regular timetable. It was one of these excursions that I used to get me out to Stronsay. Stronsay is quite a large island and I enjoyed visiting it last time I was up here.
However I was not going to see much of it today. After yesterdays e-mails it had been arranged by Father Yousef, he would pick me up 15 minutes after the ferry docked, and take me over to their island. He would then return and bring me back sometime after 4.00 pm, the ferry leaving at ten past five. That did not leave me a great deal of time to see anything of Stronsay, and really would have preferred to have spent longer on Stronsay, but I felt that if Father Yousef was prepared to interrupt his day to take me there and back, I would go along with his plan.
It is a short 5 minute trip in the little boat that the monks use to cross over their island. As we went over Father Yousef gave me a little map of the island. There was one small part marked I was not supposed to go into, maybe the most interesting bit. The church and the area around were the monks lived was out of bounds, but apart from that I could wander anywhere else I wanted.
Papa Stronsay is only small, 183 acres, and its biggest mountain (?) is a mighty 43 feet above sea level. I did not think that would prove much of a challenge to my mountaineering skills.
There have been monks on the island since before the 8th century. The name Papa Stronsay means Priests Island of Stronsay. There was a time when there were no monks living on the island however in 1999 it was bought and became home again to a group of priests and monks. The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer ( Transalpine Redemptorists ), to be honest before my visit I had never heard of them. They still celebrate the Holy Mass in the traditional Latin.
Apart from some rainy spells, I spent quite an enjoyable day, basically walking around the whole island. Seals, terns, skuas and Fulmars and a few ducks and waders were amongst the things I saw.
It was soon time to make the short journey back to Stronsay along with Father Yousef and another brother who was leaving to go on pilgrimage.
They farm Papa Stronsay and apparently also have a farm on Stronsay, and when we arrived there were three other brothers waiting for the boat.
Father Yousef was dressed in a very clean and smart habit, the others were filthy and you could see that they must have had a busy day, looking at their habits, with cattle.
It was quite a nice evening with a lovely flat sea as we cruised back to Kirkwall.
Islands Visited; Two
Total Visited; Fifteen
Ferries Used; Four
Total Used; Seventeen
Ports Used; Three
Total Different; Thirteen
If you wish to see the rest of todays shots just click on the link below..........
http://365project.org/markp/Alternatively/28-06-2015
Thank you very much for taking the time to view and for leaving your lovely comments and Favs. They are all very much appreciated.
