A Ferry Ride to the Orkney Islands

Our ferry is on time and the line of cars and trucks pulls into the belly of the ship and we climb the stairs to the upper levels of the boat. 

MV Hamnavoe which serves Scrabster on Scotlands mainland and Stromness, Orkney Islands.

http://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/on-board/


The MV Hamnavoe has 3-4 levels and is downright luxurious compared to my expectations.   My only other experience with ferries was in North Carolina taking the ferry to Okrakoke Island.  Looking back, that boat was a shrimp trawler compared to this.  It is outrigged with a bar, restaurant, gift shop and even a small electronic casino type area in addition to the massive holding area for cars and even large delivery trucks underneath.  We have a snack in the restaurant and walk up to the bar area, order wine and step out onto the back deck.

Hubby on the back deck of MV Hamnavoe

Enjoying my wine on the back deck of the MV Hamnavoe

The engines chug and chuff away while we look out at the far distant landfalls -- mainland Scotland to the south.  It is possible to view the typical Scottish weather patterns of drier on the east side while the west side shows more gathering clouds.

 Most of the passenger prefer the side of the deck which will have a good view of The Old Man of Hoy as we approach Stromness.  I linger on the west side in the warm Sunshine and ponder how on earth I will ever describe what I am seeing in my travel journal.  It's a rather simple view of sea, sky, clouds and sunset but it feels so vast, deep and wide.  All sunsets are unique and artists have driven themselves to madness trying to paint sunsets.  I simply chose to take a picture and leave it at that.

The Old Man of Hoy comes into view on the right side of the boat, a large chimney shaped rock formation off the Island of Hoy.  I am told that rock climbers routinely clamor to the top.

Old Man of Hoy, Okney Islands

Our ferry docks in Stromness, we fetch our car, pull out and turn right to head to our nights lodging eight miles away at Houghton Bay Lodge in Orphir on the southern tip of the main island.   http://www.houtonbaylodge.com/ It is a short trip and we find our accomodations to be homey, well appointed, comfortable and quiet.  Our hostess Linda is very welcoming and a wealth of information.  The Lodge sits on land that overlooks Skapa Flow  http://www.scapaflowwrecks.com/  the body of water that features a rich naval history dating from the time of the Vikings to the scuttling of the German Fleet in 1919 after WWI and key events during WWII as well.

We settle in.  Sam goes for a short run, Thomas skateboards out behind the lodge and Will and I find a trail through some pasture that leads to a small bay.  Something is bobbing in the water and soon we discover that a seal has surfaced silently regarding us.  Very far off on the horizon is an oil platform and all around us it is very quiet.  The vast sense of space-- that lid on the top of the world feeling-- is so very evident here .  Walking back to the lodge we realize how tired we are.  It is still daylight but very late.  We have a we dram of local Scotch in the bar, shut the blinds in our room and remind ourselves that lack of darkness is not an indicator of when to go to bed.