Day 16 - Hoy (North)
It was quite sunny when we woke up this morning. We decided to go to the northern part of Hoy. This is one trip that many have told us we must do.
We caught a passenger only ferry from Stromness at 10 am for the 30 minute sailing to Moaness on the east side of Hoy. The boat passed close to the island of Graemsay which is between Mainland and Hoy and has a population of 22. We got a good view of one of its two lighthouses, Hoy Low. The other lighthouse is called Hoy High.
We cycled from the ferry terminal to Rackwick on the West side of Hoy. The ride was not too arduous, considering that Hoy is the hilliest of all the Orkney Islands. The road was single track and we only had to negotiate the occassional car. There are so many passing places that we dont hold cars up for long. The scenery here is stunning as we cycled through a valley with high hills either side. It was much sunnier and warmer today and we soon had to remove a couple of layers.
Most visitors to Rackwick take the 3 hour round walking trip to see The Old Man of Hoy but it is a very steep path and we had already seen it from the ferry on the way from Scrabster the previous week.
We left our bikes at the end of the road and walked along a grass path running parallel to the sea front and a small river.
We found a very old building which is called "The Bothy" which is used for backpackers and campers and is free of charge and managed by the Hoy Trust. There were 2 tents in the field behind the building. We went in and there were tea and coffee making facilities, fresh water and a lot of bedding. We met a few who were planning to camp there. We left our rucksacks in the building while we went to explore the beach, which is mostly made up of large pebbles with sand dunes at the back so it was quite difficult to walk on. Rackwick has an enormous bay with high cliffs either end.
We got qutie close to the huge rock face but could only see fulmars nesting. We had our lunch on a seat at the Bothy. We then retrieved our bikes and cycled around the village of Rackwick where there are a small number of houses, old and new, dotted about but nothing else. The guide books say there is a cafe/restaurant but the only building with picnic tables outside was being renovated and therefore closed.
We made our way back to the ferry port, stopping to see the Dwarfie Stane on the way. Paul didnt want to walk to see a stone so I went on my own. This is a very large piece of stone that was meticulously cut into about 5000 years ago to make a tomb. You can crawl into the tomb which has two compartments. It was quite eerie and I didnt spend long there.
We got back to the ferry terminal with about an hour to spare so went to the cafe (yes, finally found one open) and sat outside with a drink. I also went to the beach which has a lot more sand and seaweed than Rackwick Bay. The wind started to get up and before the ferry arrived it became very cold and the sky clouded over.
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