Day 15 - South Ronaldsay
It was a lovely bright morning but we took our time getting ready and didnt get out until about 11 am. By then sea mist had started to come in.
We went to the most southerly Orkney Island of South Ronaldsay. On the way we stopped again at the Italian Church on Lamb Holm and went in. It was really lovely especially considering everything had been made from salvaged materials.
We drove over the 3 remaining Churchill Barriers going from Lamb Holm to Glimps Holm, then Glimps Holm to Burray and then Burray to South Ronaldsay. Between Glimps Holm and Burray, several German boats captured at the end of WWII were sunk off the barrier. On the way over we saw the top of one of them.
We decided to go to the very south of the island and parked at Burwick harbour. There is a passenger only ferry service to John O'Groats from here. It was drizzling but this had cleared by the time we had eaten our lunch so we went on a bike ride around the most southern part of Orkney.
We went to find the Tomb of Otters which is a fairly recently excavated cairn where they found the remains of about 100 humans and also many Otter remains, hence the name. The website and other tourist information says there is a visitor centre but it is shared with "The Skerries Bistro" a restaurant in the middle of nowhere where many people had come for Sunday lunch. The visitor centre wasnt open but we could see inside and there didnt seem to be anything there. The tomb was a mound in the middle of the car park and was completely covered with turf with an entrance door.
We walked up to the cliff tops where there would have been some lovely views across to Caithness but it was too misty to see. We found an ancient cairn on the cliff tops but there was no information to suggest what it was.
On our way back to the car I saw an Orkney Vole which I had disturbed in the field next to me. It ran parallel to me for a short distance before disappearing into a ditch.
South Ronaldsay is also very undulating and definitely not flat. The highest point, on Ward Hill, is 118m by the roads we used only went as high as 41m but there were still some steep climbs. After our ride we made our way northwards to a viewpoint on the main road. This would have been lovely if it had been clearer. We did see some linnets. I saw a common gull sitting on a fence post and then it started flying and mobbing another bird which I think was a Hen Harrier.
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We next stopped at St Margarets Hope, the main village on South Ronaldsay. There is a car ferry to Gills Bay on the mainland, near John O'Groats.
We cycled out of the village to Hoxa. We passed a lovely sandy beach before continuing to Uppertown. We had planned to get to the end of the headland but it was marked as a private road so we turned back.
On our way back we crossed the Churchill Barriers but this time the tide was going out and we could see much more of the sunken German ships.
After getting back the sun came out and it was a lovely evening with a low tide at the lodge. A female Eider duck swam past with several duckings.
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