Day 5 - Baltic Jewels & the Midnight Sun: Orkney Islands

 Wednesday, June 29, 2022 ~ Orkney Islands

According to Wikipedia, Orkney, which is also known as the Orkney Islands is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland.  It is located off the north coast of Great Britain and has about 70 islands - 20 of which are inhabited.  The local people are known as Orcadians.  The "Heart of Neolithic Orkney" is designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Breakfast is only served until 9:30 a.m. - unless you travel up to Mamsen's, named for the Viking Chairman's mother, which serves family recipes throughout the day, and is a great little place for grabbing a snack at odd times of the day or evening.  Jeff has enjoyed Mamsen's waffles as a breakfast treat on a couple of occasions.  This morning we were up early enough to head to the World Cafe, where I enjoyed their very excellent coffee, and Jeff enjoyed his eggs, fruit, and sweet roll.

One of the interesting things to observe on the ship involves the processes of getting into and out of each of the ports.  We have observed Pilot ships either dropping off or picking up the "pilot" who essentially pilots the ship safely into each of the ports.  Tug boats (usually two of them), like the one pictured above right, also accompany us, assisting in keeping the ship steady and stable as we dock and tie up.  Although we are not a giant cruise ship, we are large, and these working boats help to make docking nearly seamless.

With breakfast enjoyed, we returned to our stateroom to prepare for today's excursion, the Heart of Neolithic Orkney.  

Laura, born and bred on Orkney, was an extraordinary guide - very knowledgeable, well prepared, and always had a smile.

Maes Howe – a unique chambered cairn and passage grave, aligned so that its central chamber is illuminated on the winter solstice. It was looted by Vikings who left one of the largest collections of runic inscriptions in the world.

The Standing Stones of Stenness includes four remaining megaliths, the largest of which is 19 feet high.  The surviving stones are sited on a promontory at the south bank of the stream that joins the southern ends of the sea loch Loch of Stenness and the freshwater Loch of Harray. The name, which is pronounced stane-is in Orcadian dialect, comes from Old Norse meaning stone headland. 

We drove to the Ring of Brodgar, which is the finest known circular stone ring from the early Bronze Age.  The ceremonial circle of 27 remaining standing stones is almost 5,000 years old.  The Ring of Brodgar is a stone circle 341 feet in diameter, originally composed of 60 stones set within a circular ditch up to 9 feet deep and 30 feet wide.  There isn't a lot known about how the ring was erected or why.  The significance is lost to the ages and left to archeologists and theorists for speculation.

The last part of Neolithic history we learned about was Skara Brae, a cluster of eight houses, forming one of Northern Europe's best-preserved Neolithic village.  The group constitutes a major prehistoric cultural landscape which gives a graphic depiction of life in this remote archipelago in the far north of Scotland some 5,000 years ago.  The photos below, although not mine, show what it looks like up close.  We did not do the tour that took you into Skara Brae.

Photo credit: John Burke

Photo credit: Wknight94

After the driving tour of the Neolithic sites, we continued our ride into the countryside.  Our guide has a lovely brogue, and she speaks very carefully to ensure that we understand her.  Truly she is a joy to listen to.  

Orkney is a very green island with many fields of barley.  Laura tells us that as the barley grows and ripens it turns a beautiful golden yellow.

Sheep farming is another important occupation for the people of Orkney.  It is lambing season while we are here, and it has been such a treat to see the tiny ones scampering about, getting themselves into trouble, with mama close behind to guide them back to safety.

Although it was a cloudy day with rain threatening, we stayed dry and enjoyed the broody landscapes of Orkney.  

Our last stop took us into the little village of Kirkwell, where we strolled down the single lane street, popping our heads into tiny shops along the way.  

Dr. John Rae, Arctic Explorer

Rae was born at the Hall of Clestrain, a house in the parish of Orphir on Orkney.  He studied medicine in Edinburgh, graduating with a degree from the University of Edinburgh.  He was licensed by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Rae went to work for the Hudson's Bay Company as a surgeon, accepting a post at Moose Factory, Ontario, where he remained for ten years. 

While working for the company, treating both European and indigenous employees, Rae became known for his prodigious stamina and skilled use of snowshoes. He learned to live off the land like a native and, working with the local craftsmen, designed his own snowshoes. This knowledge allowed him to travel great distances with little equipment and few followers, unlike many other explorers of the Victorian era.

He was a great explorer of the Arctic and was probably an instrumental part of the discovery of the Northwest Passage.  He is buried here in Orkney.

No sunset tonight, as we were socked in with clouds.  We will also be entering the land of the Midnight Sun with no sunrise and no sunset!

Good Night again, from somewhere in the North Sea heading toward the Shetland Islands.