Bay of Tafts

One of the best walks in Westray is the Castle o Burrian and the Bay of Tafts. The Castle o Burrian is a huge sea stack (extra) which is home to breeding puffins in the summer. This year's have all flown now but it's still a good place for a walk. You blow away the cobwebs on the cliffs then walk past fields of barley down to the white sands at Bay of Tafts. As you can see it wasn't busy. The air is clear and the island of Rousay, the Brough of Birsay on the Orkney mainland and the hills of Hoy were visible. There were groups of tiny sanderlings running about on the sand and many seabirds overhead.

Back to the village and we had lunch at a newly opened (only 6 weeks in) place. I had a feeling it was going to be really good and it was. There will be another visit later in the week. Then I called in at a favourite place for a long overdue catch up.

Thanks for all the good wishes yesterday. We had a perfect meal of Westray crab followed by scallops. The hotel isn't posh but the food is as fresh as can be.

Just to continue the celebratory theme today is my birthday. After that lunch I won't need to eat much tonight. The freshly made gf scone with rhubarb jam I had earlier was my birthday cake! We will have a family zoom later with a glass of fizz.

For now I'm having a cup of tea watching the tide reach its highest point and two cormorants drying their wings on the jetty. The inter island plane is droning overhead. The ferry is coming in from Papay. Island life is treating me well.