June 1st

We set off around 10 am from Poolewe to Achmelvich Beach, still on the west coast near Lochinver. The drive was spectacular. The photos say it best.

The drive down to our campsite at Achmelvich Beach from the main road was one of our more interesting one’s, single track, narrow, winding and few passing places. Thankfully we didn’t meet any other cars in precarious spots. Once set up, we went for a beach walk just before the heavy winds and rain started to descend. It would be another night with the pop up part of the camper down.

We had fish and chips from the pop up chippy on our site for dinner. It was a cozy night in the camper-van, sheltered from the wind and rain.

June 2nd

The drive to Durness on the northwest coast of Scotland was about 2 hours. We were very excited to have made it this far. The road was spectacular through an eerily remote part of Scotland with a lot of single track roads.

We arrived in Durness, a little village that sits atop the North Atlantic. We went to Cocoa Mountain cafe in Balnakeil, down the road from Durness. After we got caffeinated, we saw around some local art galleries.

We booked into our campsite, had lunch and then walked the beach below the site. It had interesting rock formations and beautiful sand.

In the afternoon, we visited the Smoo Caves. It was a little touristy but well worth seeing. The Smoo (apparently meaning hole or opening in Norwegian) Caves are both sea water and fresh water caves. Many artifacts have been found in the caves but mostly from Viking and Norse and medieval origin. Remnants of boatbuilding and fishing activity were found there. The large and cavernous natural phenomena provided a secure and sheltered place for its occupants during the Viking Era. (https://hiddenscotland.com/listings/explore-the-spectacular-smoo-caves)

After Smoo. We went looking for the John Lennon Memorial Garden. Apparently John Lennon used to holiday here with his family in Durness when he was a youngster and remained fond of the area through his later life. The garden definitely needed some love as it was overgrown with lots of weeds. There were slabs in the garden with some words inscribed, lyrics from the Beatles song, In My Life , “There are places I remember, all my life….”

Afterwards, we were back to the campsite for the evening. It was set back on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic. It was a beautiful sunset on this very windy night.

June 3d

We set off from Durness along the A838 across the north coast of Scotland to Scrabster where we would take the ferry across the Pentland Firth to the Orkney Islands. Again, mist, showers and wind with 50% of the journey being on single track roads, was the name of the game. It was a lonely journey at first, no other car to be seen for at least an hour. Midway, we started to see more signs of life 😆

Once in Scrabster, we had time to kill before our ferry at 1:15pm so we found a little rustic diner called the Peerie Cafe next to the wharf. Turns out it was a fisherman’s cafe that serves up hearty food. We had a good reasonably priced lunch in an atmosphere that beckoned to times of old and Scrabster’s fishing history. A few fisherman or harbor workers were there enjoying a break too.

The ferry was late leaving. Once onboard, the captain announced we would be going a different route due to high winds, not around the Old Man of Hoy, which is the usual one. It was fairly rough crossing the Pentland Firth, but once in between the islands, it levelled off. We were happy to see Stromness coming in.

The winds were extreme that night. Our campsite, Point of Ness, was on an outcropping on the ocean with very little wind protection. The van shuttered and shaked a lot of the night. It was cold so we kept the heat on well into the late hours.

June 4th

We set out reasonably early to see Skara Brae.

Skara Brae is a 5000 year old Neolithic Village and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, about a 25 minute drive from our campsite. When we got there, we were told that because of the high winds, the actual village was closed all day. We would have to come another day. We were free to go around the exhibition and museum inside as well as the inside of Skaill house, a heritage estate next door. We did all that including a walk down to the beach in the wind, vowing to come back, if we could, to see Skara Brae itself.

Afterwards, we set out to the Ring of Brodgar, another Unesco World Heritage Site in the Orkneys. This stone circle, with 37 of the original 60 left standing, is likely from 2500BCE – 2000 BCE and probably like other stone circles used for ritual. They are as important as Stone Henge due to its size and age. Like at Stonehenge, we couldn’t walk through the stones, only around them. With so many visitors each year, even stones need to be protected. The walk to the stones from the parking lot in the wind and the rain was very atmospheric and the elements somehow added to the whole experience.

Afterwards, we walked out to the Stones of Stenness, about a mile down the road.

They are thought to be the oldest stone circle in the British isles, dating back to 5000 years ago. Also part of the Orkney World Heritage site, there used to be 12 large stones in the circle and now there are only 4.

The sun came out as we walked back to the car, a pleasant ending to our time visiting these ancient sites. After a quick parking lot snack in the van, we drove the half hour into Kirkwall, the largest town and most major hub in the Orkneys. Our plan was to see the Magnus Cathedral, The Earl and Bishops Palace and the Orkney Museum. In the end, we only had time to quickly see the Cathedral and go through the museum. We made the plan to come back to Kirkwall on our last day to spend more time there.

The Orkney Museum gave us a good overview of the area from the Stone Age to the Vikings. The Orkney Islands is made up of 70 islands. 20 of these islands are inhabited. The Islands are 10 miles off the north coast of Scotland. They have a Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Norse history with the Vikings. People from the Orkney’s are known as Orcadians. Vikings came to the Orkneys in the 8th century and began colonizing it in the 9th century. The Orkneys went from Norse rule to Scottish rules in the 15th century. Apparently 1/3 of Orcadians are descendants of Norse settlers and it’s shown in family names, place names, and genetically. The Orkneys are also a place of rich wildlife and the area was very involved in the first and second World Wars.

(https://www.wildernessscotland.com/orkney-islands-travel-guide/)

After the museum, we wandered back to the car, our heads like cabbages with all the information. We got gas and pumped up the tire with a slow leak. Then we picked up some groceries. We were heading to the Isle of Hoy the next morning for a couple of days. The Old Man of Hoy was expecting us.