As you can see, we were north of Denmark on the Northern tip of the UK.
We took a 3 and a half hour train from Glasgow to Inverness. The train ride is lovely. In only 20 minutes we are out of city limits and weaving through hills which become mountains sprinkled with beautiful trees, cows and sheep across landscapes. We then picked up our campervan, from the same company as last year, or shall I say, they picked us up.. at the train station when we got in. What service! We had a bigger van than last year - which included a gas stove and burner, sink with running water and fridge and a big girl car seat for Ruby.. then after a quick grocery shop we were off.
Here we are on our first night.. camping on a little bay just a wee bit North of Inverness - still on the mainland.
The next day we drove 2 hours North to the Orkney Islands ferry crossing for the 1 hour ferry to the . Orkney is full of and known for its wildlife - dolphins, seals and a bird watchers paradise. Here are some seals playing at the ferry crossing.. and believe me, this is not much of a zoom shot.. they were indeed very close. I have not experienced something like this since I was in New Zealand - Orkney and New Zealand are very very similar in terms of wildlife and landscapes.
Our first stip was about 40 minutes from the ferry, after popping at the Highland Park Distillery, to the Standing Stones of Stromness. In Orkney, the evidence of prehistoric times is all around you.. everywhere you look and walk.. you see mounds of earth, stones, circles and grooves and faint signs of human existence 5,000 years ago (older than Stonehenge). We were far off the beaten path. We camped on a Loch overlooking these stones on our first night in Orkney.
Ruby the explorer - standing next to a stone over 5,000 years old. Some stones had graffiti but, not what you would expect.. we saw carved 1846 and someone's name in a stone.. that is 'old skool'! ;-)
A preserved prehistoric house by the sea. This discovery was unearthed only 20 years ago. Amazing, right? We took a guided tour through the stones. It is fantastic that you can walk through and touch everything.
We drove around the island and had another night of camping in front of this.. breathtaking.
The next day we took a hike up a mountain cliff... it was daring to say the least. Orkney is unblemished. I am happy we had the camper van as there were not many places to stop and eat.. or even have a pint.. however, we stocked up with dinners, fruit, breakfast, food for sandwiches and a box of wine.. so I guess you could say we were all set.
Don't look down!
Ruby loved all the bunnies on the cliff.. there were loads of them.. clover is in season.. munching away.
Rugged Scottish Brent.
Ruby loves the Orkney Islands!
More standing stones. This is called the Ring of Brogdar. Amazing.
The above is actually animated in the new Pixar film 'Brave' - you can these stones in the preview below.. has anyone seen it yet? it's at the :30 second mark. The owner of the camper van company went to the opening of the film (which was in Inverness and Edinburgh) a few days before we met her to pick us up.
More photos of driving, landscapes and Orkney adventures to come - including some funny videos of Brent interacting with some wildlife.... this is just a teaser.
