Farewell to Stromness

The hotel wasn't sufficiently open to be providing breakfasts yet, so I got on to the Hamnavoe asap and had one of their delicious bacon rolls with a coffee. I stood out on the deck and waved to Mary on her pier, in traditional fashion. Didn't get a good shot zoomed in, or indeed of her actually waving, but luckily the trusty Ogatodomar had done so previously.

I took a distant view of Stromness as we headed round the Ness (1st extra) and then realised that we were about to head past the cemetery (2nd extra). So waved to Ogatodomar as well. I don't know if he liked Peter Maxwell Davies' Farewell to Stromness, but I'm very fond of it.

The journey home was no longer than the journey up, but it felt that way. 'Only' 5 hours of sitting on trains, but 2 hours waiting for connections in both Thurso and Inverness stations. Thurso station had signs saying 'No Loitering' - well, I had to loiter for 2 hours, sorry! And of course, no 'facilities' available yet on the trains (apart from the toilets) or much on the stations. So left Stromness harbour at 09:00, but didn't get back to Leith till 23:00.  Oh, the third extra was a quick snap of Cairngorm as I passed Aviemore - it was not entering into the May Day spirit at all.