In early 2016 I went out for a coffee and somehow booked a trip to Orkney.
I walked the wrong way back to Angel tube station and followed a bunch of signs to a travel show... where somehow I found myself handing over 40 quid to secure a spot on an Orkney adventure for six days in the summer.
That trip inspired the name for this blog - it was called Orkney Stravaig
STRAVAIG: to wander about aimlessly. "If you embarked upon 'a stravaig' you'd have a wander through glens and over hills with no set purpose other than to enjoy the walking".
ORCADIAN HIGHLIGHTS
The Ring of Brodgar: Stonehenge eat your heart out.
Maes Howe: a chambered cairn (burial mound) more than 5000 years old, with the most incredible Viking graffiti. If you visit in the weeks either side of the winter solstice, sunlight streams into the entrance passageway lighting up the chamber.
Skara Brae: the ruins of a settlement from 3100 BC, buried into the sand dunes by the Bay of Skaill
The Tomb of the Eagles: another incredible cairn, this time buried into the cliffs at Isbister on South Ronaldsay
Scapa Whisky: best enjoyed while listening to Orcadian fiddlers - I like Fara (their CD is on high rotation in our wee car Macduff)
Tammie Norrie - puffins can be found at coastal sites around Orkney between May and early August
Kitchener Memorial - right on the rocky cliffs at Marwick Head
Stromness: get lost in the backstreets... this is where I found Eliza Fraser's house - how far from home she'd end up.
Woolies: Orkney knitwear is pretty striking, check out Judith Glue for amazing beanies, gloves, scarves and jumpers.
The Ba: I can't say I've seen this (yet) but my boss, who hails from Orkney, assures me it would blow my mind.
The Ba is ball game, of sorts, held on New Year's Day in Kirkwall. The Uppies and Doonies battle it out for the leather 'ba' (see below).