Orkney in September

By the time of this entry, I had been in Orkney for nearly 3 weeks. On September 20th, I was finishing my weekend in Westray and was now preparing to transfer to another island, Eday, which lies southeast of Westray. You can't sail directly; you have to do so via the Orcadian capital, Kirkwall. Not a bad wee place, redolent of Stornoway in some respects. You can view a map of the Orkney archipelago here.

To Eday - 20/09/04
Head off on the bus to Rapness. It's still blowy outside. Leave this very comfortable hostel with a certain degree of reluctance. The minibus picks me up at 11 a.m. to deliver me at the ferry terminal half an hour later. It's raining as we get there, so wait in the bus for the boat. This comes wallowing in through the swell, a little late. The two hour journey to Kirkwall is rather lively, particularly in that infamous maestrom west of Eday. There are white riders on the waves, and it's choppy. But at least the sun starts to come out, and once past the Galt Skerry buoy it gets positively exhilerating. Back in bonny old Kirkwall at 1.30. Make a quick phone-booking into the Eday Youth Hostel from the Orkney Ferries waiting room. Then I'm off to Safeways for shopping after a stint in the internet cafe opposite Tankerness Lane. Return to the terminal at 3.30 for the Eday & Stronsay ferry. Although the inward journey from Westray was bumpy this morning, things have calmed down since. As I sit on deck I get an emotional text message, for as much as such messages can carry emotion. This from a contact in South Yorkshire who is about to leave for Bangerland (no translation provided, sorry) to get hitched. I've been keeping her updated with progress of this trip since the start, but now I'll have to do without this moral support, at least until the end of the year. All morning, I've had messages to the tune that she was about to leave, but at 3 pm the time was there. I sit on deck in the sun, while the ferry cruises down the Wide Firth. It turns northeast at Galt Skerry, heads past the island of Muckle Green Holm and the south end of Eday, then it veers round to dock at Backaland Pier. I'm accosted by a lady with a minibus who tells me her name and that she's the taxi to take me to the hostelfor £4. Eday looks empty, with only the odd house along the road. We pass a nice beach and the island's airfield, then we pull up by some old barrack type buildings. This is Eday Youth Hostel, located next to the firestation. After Sue leaves, another car pulls up which turns out to be the hostel's manager. She shows me round the places, and after a few minutes' chat leaves me to my own devices. I arrived at 5 pm when the sun was out. This masked the fact that this place is actually freezing. As yet unaware of that, I go for a little walk down the road to the airfield.

This is called London Airport, named after the adjacent bay. It's a good one for a joke. Fancy London Airport with only one place a week. Proceed to make my dinner at the hostel, where the temperature is dropping like a stone. After nightfall, I switch on the heaters. That means: two large rings on the kitchen stove and electric heaters in the common room. There is no-one else here. The heaters in the dorm are all broken. Furthermore, the dorm is a high-ceilinged affair, with single-pane windows. Go to bed at 10 pm under a pile of 6 blankets, but any protruding bodyparts are perishingly cold. I don't sleep properly and in the end I relocate to the Common Room to be a tad warmer. Jayz!