The GPS Blog| Activity | Activity date | Activity description |
|---|---|---|
| Fritham | 2021-06-05 | A meet up with Lynn and Martin W at Fritham in the New Forest (after the bastards at the Hengistbury Head car park blocked access for camper vans).
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Lynn and Martin
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| Shetland to Yell ferry | 2026-06-01 | Up from Lerwick to the north half of Shetland to catch the ferry from Toft on the mainland to Ulsta on Yell.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Stanydale "Temple" | 2026-06-07 | More likely to be a neolithic farmhouse than the temple the 1930s archaeologist so confidently pronounced.
Only half a mile a away from the road but they provide occasional black and white poles on the route to make sure you don't get lost (which isn't quite as unlikely as it sounds given the undulating hills meaning the road can't easily be seen).
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Culswick - another day, another broch! | 2026-06-06 | On west mainland of Shetland. A walk to Culswick Broch. Wasn't supposed to be a circular walk but a coast path return looked possible on the OS Survey maps on the GPS. Wasn't probably our best idea given that we had Tye along. Oh well.
Now in Skeld Caravan park and Campsite i.e. Skeld Marina and cursing them as one of their mains hookups made it look as though our van had a partial mains circuit failure - which it didn't! One stressed out hour mis-spent.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Eshaness | 2026-06-05 | A walk from Eshaness Lighthouse in Northmavine on the Shetland mainland.
Along the coast from the lighthouse for a bit and then back inland a bit to visit a collapsed broch in the middle of a lake (or should than be loch?).
The drive from Brae to Eshaness (and back) was very pretty too!.
Back at the Delting Boat Club we saw our first Otter of the trip. We were parked up by the marina entrance channel having breakfast in the van when an otter started waving to us ,- offering to share his breakfast. You'll really have to squint at the photo to see it...
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Yell to Shetland mainland ferry | 2026-06-04 | As the ferry from Unst had been delayed half and hour, it was a quick drive across Yell to be in time for the ferry from Yell back across to the Shetland mainland.
Could see some disturbed water on the mainland side of Yell Sound and so it turned out as we got closer to the shore. Got a little bouncy for a short while.
Then a quiet day parked up at Delting Boat Club with dinner at from the most northerly fish and chip shop in the UK.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Unst to Yell ferry | 2026-06-04 | Back from Unst to Yell.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Unst tour | 2026-06-03 | The fog was so thick in the morning that we abandoned plans for a walk to Northwick and the space station and proceeded on a campervan tour of wherever on Unst happened to be visible at the time. So a really well done recreation of a Viking long house and long ship at Haroldswick followed by Otter hunting around Baltasound. Not a lotta Otter found!
Then down to the south west for ancient stones and pretty scenery.
Slight GPS faux pas at one point.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Muness Castle | 2026-06-03 | A walk round from Uyeasound to Muness Castle.
The walk round the bay was a bit tough with rough, boggy ground and no real track. Add to that the limited room around the geos, the sheep and Tye's taste for sheep and we were looking for options to bail out.
We didn't see anything suitable until we were quite close to Muness Castle so we didn't actually bother visiting the castle!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Muckle Flugga and Hermaness NNR | 2026-06-02 | We thought we'd zip across Unst to "do" the Hermaness National Nature Reserve and see Muckle Flugga (the most northerly bit of the UK - give or take).
While we knew that Hermaness would be special we had an ulterior motive as we had nowhere booked to stay the night and thought we'd try and look out for places on the way back down.
Turns out we were wrong on two counts!
First, Hermaness isn't just special - its super special. Home to probably a billion sea birds we saw _a lot_ including our favourite puffins. Saw bonxies but didn't get dive bombed by them. Saw a million gannets but happily didn't smell them - wind from the right direction.
Saw Muckle Flugga lighthouse - Fl(2) W 20s - since you ask.
Oh and we were wrong about our overnight stay as Hermaness NNR invite self contained camper vans to stay for night for a donation of £10. So we did!
I'd apologise for the number of photos we've uploaded, but they're there to remind us of where we went when we are in the care home...
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Yell to Unst ferry | 2026-06-02 | Up the east side of Yell (getting lost once of twice) and failing to find a place to park up to take Tye for a beach walk.
So then across on the ferry from Gutcher on Yell to Belmont on Unst
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Burra Voe and Old Haa | 2026-06-01 | We were staying the night at the community owned and rather lovely Burravoe marina and camp site.
So we went for a walk round and had tea an cake at the Old Haa Museum and garden (with its rock statues).
Then for a walk round the headland on the south side of the voe. We'd just got round the other side when the fog came in with a vengeance. Made it all quite eerie.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Da Gairdins | 2026-06-07 | After nearly 5 weeks on Orkney and Shetland Liz declared herself ready to stroke some trees again. So off we went to Da Gairdins for a wander about.
Other photos uploaded to this activity are from our "Sunday Driving" to Sandness - the far west of the Shetland mainland and really quite remote. That's probably what makes them so "big sky" in the photos.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Bressay to Lerwick ferry | 2026-06-01 | Back from Bressay to Lerwick on the mainland.
Tye met his mate from the pub the previous night working on the ferry.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Bressay campervan tour | 2026-05-31 | The weather forecast (fog and heavy rain) wasn't too encouraging for a stomp round Bressay so we did a campervan tour of the island instead. Started with the lighthouse at the southern end and then had a look over the Isle Of Noss (happy that they don't allow dogs given the charge for the ferry that goes all of two hundred yards).
Then on to Setter where we did go for a little walk to see the remains of a broch and a very atmospheric church ruin and graveyard.
Completed the campervan tour by heading to the north of the island.
Dinner tonight at the Maryfield House Hotel on Bressay. Allowed Tye in the bar, fair prices (and draught Guiness and Henry Westons cider), good food and friendly. Happy punters.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Bressay walk | 2026-05-30 | Short walk around Mail in Bressay. Lunch at the excellent community run Speldiburn Cafe.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Lerwick to Bressay ferry | 2026-05-30 | Little ro-ro ferry across from Lerwick to Bressay for a couple of nights.
Passed all the TV/film trucks for the filming of the next "Shetland" TV series.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Scalloway | 2026-05-29 | With a decidedly iffy weather forecast we abandoned plans for a big yomp around Scalloway for a small wander round the town and visiting the museum. The museum was small and interesting and majored on the "Shetland Bus" (WWII boats to Norway).
We went round to Da Haaf Restaurant which has great reviews for its seafood and Cullen Skink. Unfortunately, they couldn't let doggies in and had no outside seating. So we went off to Kirkwall and had a very nice Cullen Skink at Fjara Bistro. Slightly expensive at £14 a go and I'd rather have spent the money in Scalloway but thanks to Fjara's for letting us in with the hound and great coffee to go with the soup.
After yesterday's stroppy teenager behaviour, Tye was super well behaved in Fjara's.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Sandwick | 2026-05-28 | Bit more of a lazy day today. We'd planned a bit of a stomp around the peninsula south of Sandwick. Started well but Tye hound had other ideas and pulled like a bastard, ate all the sheep shit and spent too much time trying to look over vertical cliffs.
Saw Mousa and Mousa Broch in the distance and reflected on our decision that the RSPB were too equivocal about their "dogs on leads" access policy and the local boatman could teach the IoW ferry something about fares.
Some of the photos attempt to show pairs of birds that were starting to get a little "ansty" with us - swooping in quite low. Exeter birding support reckons they are bonxies.
We cut walk a little short and went to the visitor centre and, more importantly, the cafe at Hoswick (but, to be fair, the visitor centre was interesting).
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Muckle Roe and Cunningsburgh Marina | 2026-05-27 | While I was off swanning around Ronas Voe, Liz took Tye for some quality time on Muckle Roe.
Lots of photos but no GPS track of that so here's a GPS track and some photos of our rather lovely campsite / marina.
Here's Liz's description of her Muckle Roe walk.
"Liz & Tye's adventure around Muckle Roe. Aidan off kayaking so we were left 'rudder less' so walked to the light house. Precipitous cliff walk was mentioned in guide book but we decided to err on side of caution & took an inland route. We were also GPS less so followed route old school style of navigation with a map, compass, position of the sun....in reality just followed muddy footprints! Tye enjoyed a smorgasbord of eating sheep rabbit poo. Lovely views of little coves & cerealean blue seas. Himself had to be hauled over 3 styles, pulled the whole way but had a lovely time. Liz's bingo wings had a real workout trying to keep him under solo control for 4 miles!"
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Kayaking on Ronas Voe | 2026-05-27 | A truly superb day out kayaking on Ronas Voe on the north west of Shetland.
Organised by Jason of Sea kayak Shetland - https://www.seakayakshetland.co.uk/ - and thoroughly recommended.
The geology is amazing with cliffs, arches, watery passage ways and lunch on a deserted beach.
We got lucky with the weather and the location is chosen based on the wind direction and strength.
A memorable day out - thank you to Jason and my fellow paddlers for making the day so fun!
Bit of a shame that I knocked my camera off the idiots setting but the photos might give a flavour of the day out!
All the good photos (at the start of the sequence) taken by Jason and re-used here with permission.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| St Ninian's Isle | 2026-05-26 | Yet another stunning walk. This time across the tombolo beach between the land ansd St Ninian's Isle. Only such sandy "tombolo" beach in the UK apparently.
Then a stomp around St Ninian's Isle with dramatic rocks and islands everywhere you look.
In fact, keeping a good look out is a must on this walk as the grass in front of you constantly seems to turn into vertical drop cliffs with no warning! Clearly the sea birds love it but it is slightly unnerving that the grass slope ahead of you frequently ends in free air!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Newburgh Seal Beach | 2026-06-12 | You'd think after 5 weeks in Orkney and Shetland we'd have had enough "seal spotting" but a stop off at Newburgh Seal Beach proved otherwise. Hundreds of them hauled out on the beach for a rest at the entrance to the River Ythan estuary.. A lot of eider ducks as well. Some grand dunes on the beach and the misplaced WWII defences showing how much they move over time.
On our return, we saw a Scottish wedding party taking photos at the local beauty spot - seems to be a Scottish thing as we saw the same at The Bridge to Nowhere at Dunbar the last time we were in Scotland.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Malvern | 2026-06-20 | With the news that we've sprung a leak at home, the leisurely trip home was cancelled and we left York a day early to head home. Two hundred miles is about a much as we want to do in the van in a day so we stopped at the Malvern CAMC site. While the CMACs website IT couldn't cope with us wanting to book into a CAMC site when we were supposed to be at another, the CMAC "wardens" at York and Malvern were great and we got a refund on York as we were "buying" at Malvern. Actually saved us a tenner!
The food on this Orkney and Shetland trip has been a real disappointment. Some of it due, no doubt, the the establishments we've frequented but they all seemed to offer the same bog standard pub grub menus. To the point that it has been a standing joke about having to order fish and chips and "mac and cheese". So the decent pub food at the Swan in Hanley turned out to be the best dining we had all holiday!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| York - where it all went wrong | 2026-06-19 | So today was the day it all started going wrong...
We never thought we'd manage to get away for 2 months in the Orkneys and Shetland. Would our 20 year van terminally fail it's MoT (passed first time, next to no advisories), would Trump crater the fuel supplies (well - it only went up to £2 / litre of diesel) or something else?
But none of it really happened and we had 7 trouble free weeks of touring (baring the odd couple of hinges in the van).
Then, on the way back in Kielder Forest, the midges came in (not too bad) and the grass cutters fired up at 8am in our Forestry car park site (thanks - we'd forgotten to set the alarm clock). But just as we were parked up near Hadrian's Wall considering whether "The Bitch" (Google Maps voice) was taking us down too skimpy a road, we got a call from Sarah - who'd kindly been checking on our house. Was this strange pattern on our lounge ceiling new? Certainly was - and not a good sign. Super, super grateful to Sarah for noticing and calling.
Turns out upstairs office carpet is wet and the ceiling above that is wet and flaky. On the plus side Steve D's builders were just over the road and they came in and turned off the mains water. But we suspect we actually have two separate problems. So now in York but looking for quick trip home.
Attempts to catch a bus into York from CAMC site outside York failed (roads too busy / buses only run at commuter times). So we've failed to see York and have to pass on the 2nd night here - the most expensive campsite we booked on our 7 weeks away.
And to top it off, the Friday night Pizza van at the site has had to throw all his pizzas away due to a "kitchen malfunction" - chappie is more unhappy than even we are.
So, in the absence of any interesting GPS tracks around The Shambles or York's city walls, here's the GPS track of our drive to the local supermarket to get some wine to get pissed.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Kielder Forest | 2026-06-18 | Back into England (just) and another take on the walk up to Kielder Skyspace and Kielder Observatory.
The local campsite had "front page" news about the appearance of the dreaded midges so we togged up and applied the "Skin So Soft". Didn't see any though. A bit drizzly and overcast so views not quite as good as last time we were here.
Then camped in the Forestry Commission car park at Kielder Castle for £15 for the night.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Arthur's Seat | 2026-06-17 | Another stomp around Edinburgh - this time with the aim of getting Liz back to Arthur's Seat.
Stopped at Holyrood for a coffee and a laugh at the entrance prices for the Palace.
Then on to Arthur's Seat where I "mutinied" a little below the summit and sat it out with the hound. Liz marched onwards and upwards.
Then back via the Royal Mile.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Edinburgh | 2026-06-16 | Doing the tourist thing in Edinburgh. Princes Street, Royal Mile and Calton Hill.
Didn't bother with going in to the castle itself.
Good buses from the campsite (Mortonhall) to the centre of Edinburgh and Tye does appear to now be bus trained!
Oh - and my vertigo didn't enjoy driving over the Queensferry Bridge on the way to Edinburgh.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Pitlochry and Black Spout | 2026-06-15 | Down from Drumnadrochit to Pitlochry on the A82 alongside Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal. Then the A86 along Glen Spean and the A9 though Glen Garry. All very picturesque and Scottish!
Into Pitlochry for some wandering and lunch.
We did a short walk from Pitlochry to a local viewing point which left us a little underwhelmed. We weren't expecting "herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain" (TM) but maybe the views on the morning's drive had raised our expectations too high! Then on to the Black Spout waterfall that met with our approval.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Fraserburgh | 2026-06-12 | OK - so Fraserburgh wasn't our bestest ever choice for a night's stopover. We didn't really give it a fair chance - it was raining and the food wasn't too inspiring (please no - not another fish and chips!). And then the Friday night boy racers in their "hot" hatches were all parked up just near us.
But, then again, the beach is great and the hound liked it.
The size of some of the trawlers in the harbour is thought provoking though.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Glen Affric and Dog Falls | 2026-06-14 | A good walk round three Scottish forestry ancient Caledonian pinewood walks in Glen Affric. Another case of going back to Liz's childhood holidays.
Then we tried Plodda Falls which was a big mistake - worst road we've ever subjected our poor campervan to!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Drumnadrochit | 2026-06-13 | From Fraserburgh, a pleasant drive along the A96 and the Moray Firth. Got a bit gnarly round Inverness with some roadworks and a sudden plague of roundabouts.
Now at the very nice Lock Ness Bay campsite after having gone looking in Drumnadrochit for somewhere to eat. Confusingly, the Lewiston Arms is now the Loch Ness Inn - presumably because if you look at the word Inn all squinty and with just the right font it could just look like nessie. Or not.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Newark Bay and Point of Ayre | 2026-05-24 | A hound beach walk while using up time waiting for the evening's ferry to Shetland.
Tye liked the beach at Newark Bay - he preferred that bit of the walk to the section along the top of the coastline to the Point Of Ayre.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Potarch Bridge - meeting old friends | 2026-06-12 | Off the Lerwick to Aberdeen ferry at 07:00 and along to the river Dee to Potarch Bridge to meet one of Liz's childhood friends.
Arrived a couple of hours early so went for a short stomp around the local woods.
Met Claire D and Colin at Potarch Cafe - logon for photos. First meet up in over 20 years!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Slains Castle | 2026-06-12 | Stopped off on the way to Fraserburgh to have a look at Dracula's Castle (i.e. the 2nd Slains Castle).
Interesting history - https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/crudenbay/slainscastle/index.html - built after the original Slains Castle was destroyed and added to over the centuries. But abandoned and in disrepair for over a century now.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Night on the town in Lerwick | 2026-06-10 | Ferry back over as foot passengers from Bressay to Lerwick for an early evening trip round the town.
A pint in the Thule Bar followed by dinner and a pint in The Dowry followed by live folk music and a couple of pints upstairs in The Lounge.
Talented musicians but I'll take The Joyce Gang in The Hourglass for preference!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Lerwick to Aberdeen ferry | 2026-06-11 | Ferry back from Lerwick on Shetland to Aberdeen.
As we were in the last remaining pet friendly cabin down in the ships bilges somewhere, the GPS didn't have a signal most of the time so the track is a little "creative" (i.e. we didn't actually go over part of Scotland's land mass on the way).
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Another day, a final broch! | 2026-06-11 | Down from Tescos in Lerwick to have a look at Clickimin Broch.
Its in very good condition but its hard to tell what is original and what has been "improved" by earlier investigations.
Also saw the coastguard practising just off Bressay lighthouse.
There's also some photos from Liz's "shift" at the Lerwick Museum while I babysat the dog (i.e. sat in the campervan playing guitar)
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Bressay ferry | 2026-06-10 | Ferry across to Bressay to park up for the night ahead of a "last night on Shetland" visit to Lerwick later this evening.
Liz took the opportunity to visit the Shetland Textiles Museum.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Meal Beach and Fugla Ness | 2026-06-09 | An excellent sandy beach to let Tye off the lead for a little bit. Then on round the headland. Couldn't really go to Fugla Ness lighthouse and there was a bouldery section that wouldn't have been great for Tye's spindly legs.
Then back via Hamnavoe.
There seems to be a lot of "Hamnavoes" in Orkney and Shetland but I guess that is unsurprising as it means "safe haven" in old Norse.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| West Burra - Kettla Ness | 2026-06-09 | An excellent stomp around West Burra with glorious views and glorious weather!
Across a couple of causeways / bridges and down to the end of West Burra.
Just for once, a walk without much archeology on show. Just a lot of sky, cliffs, seas and sheep.
Where the track speed goes to zero for a while is where I very sensibly sat out the bit of the walk that went to The Heugg (and wouldn't lend the GPS to Liz in case she fell off)!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Lerwick | 2026-06-08 | The weather forecast was poor so we thought we'd make this the day to "do" Lerwick and the Shetland Museum.
First up a big thank you to The Dowry for doing good food and allowing our doggie in - a bit of a first for Shetland.
Secondly, the Shetland Museum was outstanding. My main interest is in the periods up to and including the Vikings but it has lots to grab your interest across all time periods. Very definitely recomended.
Interesting walk around the harbour including starting at a yacht with a rig that I'd never seen before (see the photos).
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Hoxa Head | 2026-05-08 | Up to the north west bit of South Ronaldsway for a short stomp around the headland that "guards" the entrance to Scapa Flow. As you'd expect, lots of old military relics.
Some scary cliffs and with a young, enthusiastic, stupid 20kg hound that scariness occasionally amplified.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Old Man Of Hoy | 2026-05-13 | A splendid walk from the rather splendid Rackwick to the rather superb Old Man of Hoy.
The cliff next to the Old Man was rather scary so I went nowhere near it. I liked our guide book's suggestion that "For walkers wanting a less nerve-shredding but equally unimpeded view [walk] 200 yards towards St John's Head, where the cliffs are a little less, well, edgy". So we did.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Ferry to Hoy | 2026-05-13 | I only intended to record the ferry trip from Houton (on the mainland) to Lyness on Hoy. But I forgot to switch it off but that's fine as the road from Lyness to Rackwick took us through some spectacular scenery.
More on Rackwick soon!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Skara Brae | 2026-05-12 | The best-preserved group of prehistoric houses in all of Western Europe. Stunning to think that this group of houses is 5000 years old - older than the pyramids or Stonehenge.
A coach load of American tourists disgorged as we visited the re-created, example home and all tried to pile in at once. So we came back later after they'd left.
Then a quick tour round the rather austere (from the outside) Skaill House - home of the laird who discovered the neolithic houses after a large storm.
The cullen skink from the Skara Brae visitor centre cafe was nothing to write home about but the visitor centre was good background before visiting the site.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Brough Of Birsay | 2026-05-12 | A tidal island that can be reached by causeway +/- 2 hours of low water.
Lots of Viking archaeology built on some Pict archaelogy.
Was blowing a hoolie again today (F8 gusts) so had to keep well away from the cliff edges (at least that's my excuse). So we didn't see the promised puffins / fulmars etc.
For any sailors, the first few photos are of Hoy Sound (Stromness) wind against tide at neaps!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Stromness | 2026-05-11 | On to Stromness. The idea had been for one night here and then on to the island of Hoy. However, the weather tomorrow looks likely to be the worst of the week (it's not looking great all week), so we'll be in Stromness for 2 days planning to visit the Brough of Birsay and Skara Brae tomorrow.
Another Orcadian ice cream today but not quite as good as the one at Lybster.
There's something about Stromness that reminds us of Cornish villages like Cawsand.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Ring of Brodgar and Stenness Standing Stones | 2026-05-11 | Standing stones - and lots of them. Round the truly impressive Ring Of Brodgar, passed the now re-covered Ness of Brodgar site and on to the Standing Stones of Stenness.
Really impressive and I thought a good balance between preserving what's there for the future and letting you get close to the stones.
At the Ring Of Brodgar, they ask you to walk around the stones because of erosion fears but there are no overwhelming security fences. At the Stenness Standing Stones you are free to do what you want.
We then went along to the Barnhouse Settlement where recent layers sit on top of old buildings. Very interesting but I expect Skara Brae may top this!
Maeshowe was booked up until September!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Soggy Kirkwall | 2026-05-10 | After hiding from the rain in the van for much of the day, we told the hound to "man up" and headed off to Kirkwall to look for some history and dog friendly cafes. First blow was that the museum was shut on Sundays. Liz and I took shifts in the dog friendly Judith Glue cafe while the other "did" the cathedral. Second blow was the cafe was out of lunches (but the chocolate tiffin was an excellent alternative).
The cathedral was excellent - not just the usual cathedral monuments for all those "who so gallantly gave their lives to keep China British" (TM) but all the way back to Vikings (who had some truly excellent names!).
Then a soggy trudge back to the van fully testing out the copious layers of waterproofing I'd diligently applied to anything out-doorsy before we set off.
Still - rather glad we had postponed "archaeology day" - wouldn't have been much fun in the rain.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Kirkwall | 2026-05-09 | Up from South Ronaldsway to the capital Kirkwall on the "mainland".
Wandered round Kirkwall during the day and then back to The Kirkwall Hotel for a rather nice dinner.
More drunk Scottish "hen" women being driven round on the back of a truck - must be a Scottish thing.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Brough of Deerness | 2026-05-08 | Across the various "Churchill Barriers" (blocking entrance to Scapa Flow from the east side). Stopped off to view the Italian Chapel built by the Italian POWs who were "asked" to build the barriers. Then off to the north east tip of East Mainland Orkney for a walk to the Brough Of Deerness. Mad, hardy, ancient people (Picts, Norse and later) lived on a headland separated from the mainland.
You can climb to the actual Brough but the guide book talks about holding on to the chains to guard against the dizzying heights. Yeah - right - with my dog - not likely! So photos from a distance only!
The Gloup is a hole in the land when the sea comes in!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Hoy, Lyness and Rackwick beach | 2026-05-14 | Rackwick is campervan heaven. The scenery is stunning. The beach is great - Tye loved the quartz sand beach and scrambling over the boulders. If you look closely at the photos, you can see The Old Man Of Hoy peaking out round the corner. To stay there is free, there's loos and a campervan service point. On the 2nd night we were there, we were the only campervan there.
There's also a newly renovated bothie on the beach. All so good we wanted to make a donation / contribution but couldn't find a way (the appeal for the bothie refurb was recently closed).
Because the weather forecast was poor, we decided to make today a "history day". I selfishly wanted to see the Scapa Flow museum at Lyness - full of history about the use of Scapa Flow in WW1 and 2. We "did" the museum in shifts (as Tye wasn't allowed in) and Liz went first. She came back a long time later really bigging up the museum. And rightly so - as much as telling the story of ships it tells the stories of the people affected by the ships being in Scapa Flow during the wars. Highly recomended.
Then went on a tour of the rest of Hoy and over the causeway to the island of South Walls and Longhope.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| First standing stone, first beach | 2026-05-07 | Down from our campsite for a quick walk.
First stop a really rather large single standing stone. Orkney farmers and Tye hound conspired to make it slightly difficult to get to. Still no injuries (people or hounds) and no ripped clothes on the reams of barbed wire.
Next up a walk along the beach. Tye in full-on delinquent teenager mode. Every bit of seaweed (and there was a lot) was doggie gourmet dining. Pulled like a bastard near enough the whole way.
Now curled up next to me like we've never had words - ever!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Duncansby Head | 2026-05-06 | Had our first sight of The Orkneys as we approached Duncansby Head.
Had a short stop (as we were running a little late) to see some birds and sea stacks - and the most north easterly point of the UK mainland - and a lighthouse.
Saw some birds and sea stacks. Don't think the birds were plain old sea gulls but not 100% sure.
Now ensconced at the rather nice Ferry Boat View campsite for the night ahead of the midday ferry to South Ronaldsway.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Lybster Harbour | 2026-05-06 | Up from Inverness to the north east coast of Scotland on the A99.
A shortish stop in Lybster as Liz's family had friends there.
Walked down to the harbour for our packed lunch and then the best ice cream of the holiday so far. Would still have been the best even if it hadn't also been the first.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Nairn and Inverness | 2026-05-05 | From Stirling along the A9 through the Cairngorms and onto Inverness - where we took a little detour to Nairn to let the hound have his first off-lead session on a Scottish beach.
Nairn is a bit like a posher Dawlish Warren but lost a mark as the better ice cream shop was closed on Tuesdays.
Made some progress on Tye's desire to eat all the seaweed on a beach - or maybe Scottish seaweed tastes different to English seaweed.
Spotted a Sadler 26 in Nairn's compact and bijou harbour.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Stirling and the castle | 2026-05-04 | A "day off" from driving north so we took the bus into Stirling and then wandered round the town being tourists. Then up to the castle. Liz had been before so that saved £20. All very interesting but a might overpriced for me.
Then back via the grounds of Stirling University which probably beats Exeter University into 2nd place for "most picturesque campus" award.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Witches Craig, Stirling | 2026-05-03 | A shorter drive today from Carlisle to Stirling and the Witches Craig campsite.
The campsite is nice enough but our pitch is a little municipal with us looking out at a sodding great caravan.
Into Stirling tomorrow by bus or a walk along the Hillfoots Diamond Jubilee Way that runs just behind the campsite.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Englethwaite Hall - Carlisle | 2026-05-02 | Drove across the western part of the Peak District which was really quite picturesque. Round god-awful Manchester and then up the M6 towards Carlisle. Stopped at Englethwaite Hall campsite just south of Carlisle.
Then off to the The Greyhound pub in Cotehill for dinner.
No photo of the "jobbie" left in the urinal in Carlisle Tescos for obvious reasons but I'm afraid it's now indelibly imprinted on my mind when thinking of Carlisle. Which is very unfair!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Blackshaw Moor | 2026-05-01 | A long drive to get to the Peak District. Fine until we got to Birmingham and then it all got a bit gnarly. And the traffic slowed down a lot too. So about five and a half hours to get to the southern peak district. So just a short walk to the nearest pub and some photos. Looks nice enough to have wanted to have a better look around but we're off Carlisle way tomorrow.
Oh - and the pub had both Aspalls and Guinness so both Aidan and Liz happy.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Fish and chips in Morthoe | 2019-09-21 | Walk to Morthoe and the rather nice (and huge) fish and chips. Some other bastard had our seats at the cemetery overlooking Woolacombe Bay.
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Fish and chips
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| Ferry from Tingwall to Rousay | 2026-05-20 | Ferry from the Tingwall on the north of the Orkney maninland to Brinian on the island of Rousay.
Across the fearsome Eynhallow Sound (which was a pussycat today) and carefully round the west cardinal of Wyre Skerries.
The guide book claims that the tides in Eynhallow get to 9 knots. The wind against tide effects are called "the roosts" locally.
This was one of the "reverse on" only ferries - there seemed to be about 6 inches spare either side of the van but I'm sure it was actually a little more than that!
At the suggestion of Martin (owner of Peedie Farm) we did a quick anti-clockwise tour of the island that evening to get a feel for the place before going "tomb raiding" the next day.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Jarlshof | 2026-05-25 | Now I thought that it was "Orkney for the archaeology and Shetland for the flora and fauna".
And so it may turn out overall but Jarlshof was something super special on the "old stuff" front.
I mean its not exactly promising that the name Jarlshof was made up by Walter Scott only a couple of centuries ago. But it does have just so much historical interest. So much lived in space from so many different time periods all built on top of each other but excavated such that there are examples from so many different eras. So you get neolithic round houses next to wheel houses next to bronze age, next to (a hint of) pict, next to viking next to medieval.
And Historic Environment Scotland handle it all so well with a fair entrance price and really good, free audio guides for while you are walking around the site.
Really blown away (almost literally - it was windy again). I wasn't expecting this.
Oh, and yeah, the road to Sumburgh Head does cross the runway of Sumburgh Airport!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Sumburgh Head | 2026-05-25 | Off the ferry at 07:30 (happily no reversing required), and on to a dreek Lerwick early on a bank holiday Monday. Unsurprisingly, it was mostly shut so we headed off south towards our first campsite but way too early to check in. So we kept heading south to Sumburgh Head even though the fog came down to about 300 yards visibility at times.
Anyways - we did see a lot of birds at Sumburgh including puffins, guillemots, kittiwakes and stuff.
In fact, the chap in the Lookout Cafe at Sumburgh Lighthouse was so friendly, helpful and keen that Liz can now tell all her auks apart and can even identify puffins on the water with their beaks away from her. I, on the other hand, now know the light sequence for Sumburgh Head light house - Fl (3) W 30s if you are asking.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Orkney to Shetland ferry | 2026-05-24 | Overnight ferry from Kirkwall on Orkney to Lerwick on Shetland.
A good crossing with very little swell.
But the "simmer din" meant that there was too much light for me to sleep with the blinds open and too much swell for Liz to sleep with the blinds shut.
Aidan quite tired now.
Dog was happy with it all though.
Breakfast on the ferry was £7.50 (they debated whether I was entitled to a cheaper child's portion). They aren't ripping off the tourists here!
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Tomb Of The Eagles | 2026-05-23 | Off to the rather wonderfully named Tomb Of The Eagles. So named as the bones of about 20 white tailed eagles were found in the tomb along with loads of humans of course. In actual fact, the eagle bones seem to be much later that then 5000 year old human bones but it's such a great name I'd stay with it!
Now being somewhat of an expert on neolithic tombs, this was a bit of an odd one in that it had both "stalls" for interees as wall as three separate chambers.
The tomb has only just been re-opened by a local community group but is doing so well it felt a little crowded - at least compared to Rousay. By crowded, I mean that there were about 2 or 3 people ahead of me to go into the tomb on the slidey trolley (think "The Great Escape").
The later photos are from a nearby bronze age house with a large container for heating water in the centre of the room which has got people very puzzled.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| St Margarets Hope | 2026-05-22 | Down from the rather delightful Wheams Campsite to St Margaret's Hope looking for a pint and dinner.
The pub with the best reputation for food claimed to be full for dinner when we called in at 17:30 (probably don't like the English as I suspect they might just have been able to squeeze us into the empty beer garden). Took our custom elsewhere for a so-so pub meal.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Rousay to Tingwall ferry | 2026-05-22 | Back on the ferry (reversing on again) from Rousay to the Orkney mainland.
Back across the fearsome Eynhallow Sound which was, again, a pussycat.
However, it is clearly a dangerous bit of water. On our "Westness" walk yesterday, I was wandering around an old church's graveyard, and of the three or four grave stones I could read, two listed people who had drowned in the Eynhallow Sound.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Three tombs to the pub | 2026-05-21 | The community run pub on Rosay was a couple of miles from the great, free (gratuities accepted) "camper van aire" we were staying at near the ferry terminal in Brinian. Big thanks to the hosts Martin and Vivian - search for Peedie Farm, Rousay.
In fact, as per the activity title, we had to walk past three of the ancient tombs we had visited earlier in the day to get there.
Great, friendly pub and Midge (the owners' dog) had a great time playing with Tye.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Tombs - and lots of them! | 2026-05-21 | After visiting the Midhowe Broch and Cairn, we visited three separate tombs within a couple of miles along the road. There's only one GPS track (for the Knowe Of Yarso - the highest of Orkneys tombs) but there are also photos for Blackhammer Cairn (another "stalled cairn" where the tomb is divided by upright stones into stalls for multiple bodies) and, our favourite, the Taversoe Tuick - which was a unique "double decker" tomb (albeit where both tombs had their own entrance).
Scary Orkney cows were guarding the Taversoe Tuick.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Midhowe broch and tomb | 2026-05-21 | If you like your history or archaeology, Rousay is a simply stunning place! Known, apparently, as "the Egypt of the north" for the concentration of ancient sites, a few miles along the south west coast of
Rousay is full of archaeology.
First up, the "Westness walk" and the stand outs of the Midhowe Broch and the Midhowe Tomb.
The broch is one of Scotland's best preserved and dates from about 200BC to 200AD.
Right next to it is Midhowe chambered cairn which is about 5000 years old. It is now housed in a "warehouse" with gantries that allow you to walk above the cairn. It housed 25 bodies in their own "stalls" (leading to the nickname the "great ship of death").
A wealthy local distiller in the 1930s excavated and "preserved" a lot of the Rousay tombs with steel and concrete which has its pros and cons. With all the places we visited on Rousay we could walk right into the sites and were the only people there.
The "Westness Walk" continues through sites with iron age, pictish, viking and later origins. For example, it was great to know we were walking through the site where Earl Paul the Silent was abducted by Swein Asleifsson while hunting for otters. Tye was strictly on the lead as he was hunting for otters in the same spot a 1000 years later.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Meet up at the Imperial | 2019-07-06 | Into Exeter with Liz to meet up with Rose and Midge at the Imperial.
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Rose and Midge
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| Ferry back from Westray to Kirkwall | 2026-05-20 | The return ferry trip back from Rapness on Westray to Kirkwall on the Orkney mainland.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Castle o'Burrian and puffins | 2026-05-20 | The guide book said that Castle o'Burrian was the place to spot puffins so we thought we ought to go and have a look. The Westray heritage centre mockup had shown that puffins usually roost towards the top of stacks above the other birds and so it turned out.
Puffins duly ticked off the "to do" list!
Then on to yet another somewhat scary cliff walk and then a short cut to make sure that we made it back in time to catch the ferry back to the Orkney mainland.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| North Westray walk | 2026-05-19 | With the weather forecast being for heavy rain and strong winds coming in by mid morning, we planned an early morning stomp around the north of Westray. Of course, we failed to get up in time but our failure was punished by no more than strong winds and a lot of drizzle.
Notland Castle was very atmospheric. The owner - Gilbert Balfour was clearly a bad lad who needed some protection!
Tye had some off lead time at the beautiful (but soggy) Grobust beach.
Westray Heritage Centre in the afternoon.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Papa Westray and Knap of Howar | 2026-05-18 | A great day's wandering around the really rather special Papa Westray.
Started with a walk along the east side coast path. More birds than you could shake a stick at. I'm sure there were quite a few that we don't usually see on the Exe Estuary but if its not a sea gull (chips in beak) or an osprey (fish in talons), I'm stumped. Took some photos of them anyway.
Then across the island (having just missed the community shop opening times), via the great little bothy museum and on to the Knap Of Howar. The oldest stone house in northern Europe (5000 years old) and we wandered round all on our own. Stunning.
Then up the west coast to a renovated, ancient "kirk" and back across the island to the beaches on the east.
Tye delighted to be off the lead and ate very little seaweed and actually came back when asked.
Then back along the east coast to the ferry. As we were early we sat on the beach and shared it with some seals.
With the 3 mile walk to/from the ferry on Westray, this was a 12 mile walk day - but just what I thought the Orkneys might be like!
A lot of photos uploaded but there was a lot to see.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Papa Westray Ferry | 2026-05-18 | Whoops - forgot to turn the GPS on until half way through the outbound trip.
No wind on the outbound trip so we sat outside at the rear of the boat enjoying the sun.
There was a fait more wind for the return trip and the rear outside seats were suspiciously wet so we went inside. Where we found fully sprung seats with safety belts - just like on Saving Lives At Sea. I guess get it gets rough here! Tye (who didn't get a bouncy seat) much preferred it inside.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Pierowall walk | 2026-05-17 | We're on the ferry tomorrow from Pierowall on Westray to Papa Westray. We thought we ought to check out how far it is to the pier that the ferry leaves from and as it is over one and half miles we're glad we did.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Kirkwall to Westray ferry | 2026-05-17 | From Kirkwall on the mainland across to Rapness on the island of Westray.
Some strong (4.5 knot) currents (according to Navionics) on the way. Liz very grateful that the strong winds from the north had abated for a while as the 4.5 knot current was flowing northerly. Still a little rolly for a little while. Hound was a wuss dog on the ferry as usual.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Kirkwall Museum | 2026-05-16 | As we couldn't get a ferry to Westray until tomorrow, we used today to visit Kirkwall museum (as it had been closed when we were here last Sunday).
A great little museum albeit slightly confusing at the start. However, it is then nicely laid out with exhibits from the neolithic to the 20th century.
As we had to "do" the museum in shifts (due to the hound) we both took the opportunity to do some wandering.
It was RNLI day down at the harbour so Liz got to board the Kirkwall offshore lifeboat and ask them how they get into their dry suits so quickly on "Saving Lives At Sea".
As an aside, it is usually recommended to avoid Kirkwall when their is a big cruise ship in. We knew that there was a 500 passenger German ship in but decided that was small enough to risk. Fair play to them though, they were delightful - went round the town in small groups of less than 20 and the tour guides were speaking quietly into face mics with the passengers listening on ear buds. And loads of them couldn't get enough of Tye "kisses"!
Now at the Kirkwall Bay Touring Park for the night reading up about Westray and Papa Westray.
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Orkney and Shetland
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| Lyness to Houton Ferry | 2026-05-15 | The ferry back from Lyness (on Hoy) to0 Houton (on the Orkney mainland).
Not many photos as it was just too wet and windy to sit outside during the ferry crossing.
By way of a diversion, I've attached a screen grab of the marine chart as we were crossing. I was intrigued to see a buoy named "Barrel Of Butter". Two years ago I was sailing in to L'Aber W'rach in Brittany and was amused to see a buoy named "Petit Pot Du Beurre" so I took a photo then - see https://thegpsblog.com/activities/brest-to-laber-wrach/photos
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Orkney and Shetland
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