Dwarfie Stane

Day two wasn't quite so good. The haar was down. Thick but dry...

The planned visit to Hoy didn't go so well. For a start, we didn't realise we had to book the ferry sooooo... running late again (you might find this to be a common thread btw)!

The low lying mist was very dramatic though and of course demanded a mono treatment. The first stop when we arrived was the Dwarfie Stane. The cairn dates back to somewhere between 3500 and 2500 BC and the chambers are carved from this single massive block of stone.

Next on the schedule was the Old Man of Hoy. By the time we reached Rackwick beach we were fighting against time and although we kind of guessed we weren't going to make it all the way round the headland to the Old Man on foot, we gave it a shot. The mist cleared in patches and through it there were gorgeous views of the beach as we climbed to the top of the hill. With time running out we decided to give up about halfway though and decided to go back down to the beach and take some shots there. That's when the wind really started which made the downward journey a bit heavy going. But descend we did and had a nice wander along the beach.

Back to Orkney on the last ferry and off to Maeshowe for a twilight showing around the Neolithic burial chamber/temple. A wonderful history was passed onto us about this chambered cairn. What we know and what we guess, but the runic script and carvings in the rock are there for certainty. Unfortunately there's no photography inside the structure.

Sorry for the delay between the last and this. My guilty conscience got the better of me and I packed the rucksack. Rather than rush through the posts I'm going to leave it at the two tonight. Time for bed. Early start in the morning.

Still to go through all the shots and process the ones I'm going to post to flickr, but when I do, I'll add a link for anyone remotely interested in having a peek!