This was one heck of a day!
Our ferry left Stromness on the Orkneys at 6:30 AM – actually a bit earlier than scheduled. Thank goodness we stayed overnight on the vessel as we would have needed to board around six with a wakeup before 5. Can you imagine the noise from the female contingent?
The transit back to mainland Scotland and the Scrabster ferry dock is only an hour & a half but it’s a cool route, passing through the Hoy straights with views of the ‘Old Man of Hoy’, a legendary sea stack and one of the ‘must sees’ for Orkney travelers, the Orkney isles, and the Scottish mainland. Not the best of light but were still able to get a pic or two.
Robyn of ‘Robbie Mac Tours’ met us at the Scrabster ferry dock for a tour of Caithness, the northern district of mainland Scotland. We had booked Robyn back in 2019 for our original 2020 trip. It was fun to finally meet her.
She gave us the ‘full monty’ tour of the area – Thurso Castle ruins, Old St. Peters Church, Harold’s Tower (burial vault for the Sinclair clan), a field with Scottish cattle, peat farms, Castletown harbor & Canisbay Parish Kirk. Of special note was the Dunnet Head and Stevenson Lighthouse. Dunnet is the northernmost geographic point on the British mainland with a Stevenson (of the Robert Lewis Stevenson family name) designed lighthouse. Next up was a stop at John O’Groats, the northern point of the longest end-to-end UK route (almost 1,000 miles) starting in Cornwall, England. A short drive from JoG and through farmlands dotted with sheep was the Duncansby Head and Stacks. A walk through the sheep-dung littered pasture (must be great grass for feed – those sheep really left their mark!) led to a fantastic view of the stacks. Amazing views.
OK – get ready for this. We saw what are called ‘Easy Care Sheep’. Honest. Evidently, this breed was developed to eliminate the costly requirement of sheering sheep. They shed their fleece in the summer which decomposes as a natural soil conditioner. They can withstand harsh weather; meat yields are good and lambing ratios unaffected. Whoda thunk it?
We did a scheduled a tour of Castle Mey and Gardens. Castle flags were at half-mast and the somber staff wore black armbands due to the Queen’s passing. Castle Mey was purchased by the Queen Mother after the death of her husband, King George VI. The Castle & grounds are the only property privately owned by a member of the Royal Family. It has since been transferred to several trusts, the current one being the ‘Prince’s Trust’ headed by now King Charles III. Longtime staff have very lovely memories of both the Queen Mother and the new King.
We are staying at “The Granary” on the grounds of Castle Mey and the accommodations are top notch.
Our dinner is at The Castle Arms. We have a taxi called for us and the driver is Susan who is also our driver for the Robbie Mac tour. She is quite amusing to say the least. The dinner was excellent; however, they had a strange practice. They sat us in the lounge area where we had a drink and ordered our meal. Once the meal was prepared, we were taken to our table and the meal was delivered – strange.
