Sunday – Kirkwall, Orkney Islands

Today, we arrived at our first port; Kirkwall, in the Orkney Islands, only 6 miles from Scotland, which meant I was able to connect to a non-roaming network on my phone and use my own wi-fi hotspot… yeeey!

Apparently, Orkney comprises 67 rocks, islands and skerries, covering an area of 376 square miles and has a population of 21,000 human inhabitants on 30 of the islands while the rest remain home to seals and seabirds. Kirkwall is the largest town, and capital of the Orkney Islands.

When we arrived, at about 10am, I was surprised to see we were berthing alongside CMV’s lastest aqcuisition; MV Azores, a smaller ship than the Marco Polo but not entirely dissimilar in design.

A complimentary shuttle bus had been laid on by the port authority to take passengers the two-and-a-half of miles into town, so I queued with about 700 other passengers to board one of three buses, only to notice that it actually seemed quite walkable, and mentally told myself off for not walking it.

It being Sunday, the town was quiet but for a few cafes and gift shops that had clearly had advance notification that a cruise ship was coming in. Kirkwall isn’t a big place by any standards, but looked and felt more or less exactly how I imagined a small fishing town on the Orkneys should look. It has a few interesting buildings; the distinctive Medieval St Magnus Cathedral being one of them (which wasn’t open), and The Earls Palace, a Renaissance building constructed in 1606 by Patrick Stewart, grandson of James V, who succeeded his father Robert as Earl of Orkney and Lord of Shetland in 1600.

A small, attractive-looking, museum; The Tankerness House Museum, held my interest for about 20 minutes, before taking a generally circular walk through the town, glancing in on a couple of small galleries, arriving back in the harbour just in time to catch the shuttle bus back to the port (shame, shame).

After lunch, I took another walk out, along the coastline that stretched away from the breakwater connecting the port to the mainland (which is, unimaginatively, the name given to the principal island in Orkney; Mainland). It was a pleasant walk, with interesting rocks and lots of birds. Sadly, my seabird recognition skills are rather lacking, so I couldn’t say what it was that I saw – except for a very large heron… I did recognise that (or I think it was a heron – unfortunately, I don’t have my chief bird and wildlilfe advisor, Tracey, with me to be able to confirm or otherwise).

I took a few photos looking back at the Marco Polo before heading back. The tide had come in a little, meaning I had to clambour over a few rocks, and edge my way tentatively around a small headland as the sea lapped beneath me. I say tentatively because I’ve been a little nervous of such activities since my fall at Brimham Rocks earlier in the year.

Despite being a little disappointed that we didn’t go to Lerwick, in the Shetland Isles, as originally planned, I’ve enjoyed my first ever visit to the Orkney Isles. Crucially; the weather stayed fine for us, which really showed it off in a good light.

I’m posting this early, while I still have my own wi-fi hotspot available to me, before we leave at 6pm. Tomorrow, we will be arriving in the Faroe Islands… fingers crossed for some good weather…