Huffin' and puffin

Thursday 26th July

We had a fairly relaxed day today visiting the town of Wick about half an hour away. Wick used to be a huge herring fishing port with hundreds of boats setting out from the port each night. We visited the Heritage Centre where they had an exhibition of photos taken by 3 generations of men in one family. Thousands of photos showing the herring industry in the town and other aspects of the town. Heaps of other stuff on display - possibly one of the better museums we have seen this trip.

This fireplace was rescued from the old maternity home.
Each tile tells a nursery rhyme. The last three on the top are
Mary Mary Quite Contrary, Jack Sprat and Old King Cole.

One of the old herring fishing boats from around 1900s.

The old castle at Wick.

From the clifftops near the castle we could see this off in the misty distance.
We think it is the rig used for erecting windmills in the sea
- we could see quite a few in a line a few k offshore.

The harbour at Wick.

Nearby was a memorial garden to the 15 citizens of the town killed by German bombing raids in 1940.

Plaque in the memorial garden.

From there we headed north around the coast to Duncansby Head where there were some pretty impressive stacks in the water - the locals are quite proud of them and reckon they rival the 12 apostles.

Ruins of Keiss castle along the coast.

Nybster Broch - settlement and burial mound from the iron age.

We couldn't see the Castle of Mey from the main road but being nosy Australians we figured we might be able to see it from the sea side. Got photos from as close as we could get, but no cuppa waiting for us.

I'm  guessing the flag flying has the same meaning as at Buckingham Palace
ie the royals are in. The Mey highland games are on 4th August
and apparently Prince Charles always attends.

Last stop was Dunnet Head - everyone knows John o' Groats as the northern most point on the UK mainland, but it is actually Dunnet Head which is 2.35 miles further north.

There are some pretty spectacular cliffs around the coast.
Rob likes to take photos of the birdlife. 

And here at Dunnet Head we found more puffins.

We tried the second eating out place in Halkirk tonight - very slow. Should have gone to the pub again.

Friday 27th July

We left our very comfortable B&B early this morning to catch the ferry to the Orkneys. Only one hour and thankfully a smooth trip. Whilst it wasn't a brilliant day weatherwise, it was ok; no rain and not too windy.

No whales to be seen on our trip to the Orkneys - just sea birds.

Backing in to St Margaret's Hope.

We first visited the tourist information office and got the low down on where best to see puffins so after lunch that was where we were headed - the cliffs on the far northwest corner of the mainland. We walked/clambered up the path to the cliff edge and I found myself lying on my belly, head hanging over the edge, looking at the puffins on the ledges below. I could have stayed there all afternoon and now I just have to decide which one of the 100 or so photos is the best.

St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. Very striking with the red brick.

Also red brick inside the church.

There was a craft exhibition in the town hall
- a lot of knitted items, including socks,
but £18 for a pair of socks is way too much.

Not very sure-footed - I made sure not to get too close.

The lighthouse is at the most north westerly point on the mainland.

A great gull and chick - pretty big chick.

You don't get a true feeling of just how high up we were.

An oyster catcher.

At the same location as the puffins was the Brough of Birsay which is the site of a norse village from 1100s.

Finally, we went to a session tonight called Peatfire Tales. I found it a bit weird telling of some of the myths of the area - I thought it was going to be more about life from older times in the Orkneys. Oh well, a little something different never hurts.