A long day travelling today. A stunningly beautiful day for it! We prepared for bone chilling cold winds, and got 17 degree day - Yay!!! Three hours coach travel from Inverness to John O'Groats, then a 40 min ferry trip to the Orkneys. A coach tour followed, that led us to
Skara Brae. Older than the pyramids, but not quite as old as Catal Huyuk, the settlement at Skara Brae dates back 5000 years. It was uncovered in a storm in 1850 and was found to be so well preserved from so long buried in the sand away from the elements. The homes were still furnished with beds and dressers and doors, and most artefacts were recovered and rotated on display in the visitor centre exhibition. The roof of the dwellings would have been timber and animal skin, but of course that has eroded away. I always find it so humbling to stand in ancient sites - we are but a mere speck in the timeline of things.
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| At John O'Groats |
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| Chips and haggis on the ferry |
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| In Kirkwall - St Magnus' Cathedral - beautiful red and yellow sandstone |
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| The main game was "photos without tourists". 3 tour buses pulled up together. Only 60min stop, and it took 10min to get our tickets purchased. That said, we re-did the excavation site after the main bolus of tourists left - very glad we did! |
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| Most of the complex was a series of single-roomed "huts", but all were accessed through a single front door and a tunnel coming off it. The access tunnels were crawlways, but the huts were large enough to stand up in. |
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| Map of the Neolithic dwellings |
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| Set up as it was found |
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| This was farming land in the time of the first inhabitants here |
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| A recreation of one of the dwellings was set up for us to walk into and experience |
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| Wee little birdies between the rocks |
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| Skara Brae at the time it was inhabited - lots of low-lying nearby farmland. |
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| Now, the whole site looks as though it would slide down onto the beach, were it not for some pretty heavy-duty retaining walls. |
On the way back to the ferry we stopped at the Ring of Brodgar Circle.
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| There were idiots back in 1809 graffiting things |
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| And a little Italian Chapel made during WWII |
