Orkney Islands
At last. I take a bit of pride in my unusual places rides but this is a bonus as I had expected not to bring the bike.
In the end I rode up from Inverness though the coastal route to John O Groats and then on to the ferry terminal.
I had been wised up about the locals ferry faster and cheaper so when I rounded the headland and saw a ferry I was surprised by its size. So I trickled up to the man on duty, we are full for this sailing but....there is only one van ahead so buy a ticket and get on the wait list. So I did, and while I was waiting booked a room in case as beds are impossible up here in the summer, all over Scotland.
As luck would have it I consumed my ‘supper’ from Tesco made a couple of new friends landed in Orkney and found the hotel all in the blink of an eye..
The Norse gods were smiling.
So I visited standing stone rings, an ecological dig uncovering a 5000 year ago civilisation that eat cattle shin bones (talk about waste not want not).....
History teaches us how little we understand.
I have been learning since the day 10 plus years ago when as a green tourist I arrived in Chile.
I still recall the huge sculpture in the park and I will find it amongst my photos.
Then I recall the actual need to demonstrate self reliance. The bike was in a crate with the wheel removed. My task was to pusuade customs to allow me to unpack the crate assemble the bike and calmly ride off with no petrol in the tank. I was a little pre warned and the $2 jack I had in the crate allowed me to lift the bike fit the wheel and complete assembly. A very early lesson in thinking ahead.
That trip through Chile Argentina (a little bit), Bolivia Peru and back down the coast of Chile to the coastal resort Valparaiso near Santiago.
That got me started and now here I am in Orkney so what’s the connection ? The age of the place and the uniqueness of the people. Just the people that were born there. No evidence of immigrants since the Spaniards and my first introduction to a people that were made extinct by the invading Spanish. The irony was the beer that we all enjoyed was named after that extinct people. A civilised people with no arms no enemies and a totally self sufficient and organised community with reticulated water and waste water. Communal gardens, just a wonderful existence in those times.
Yesterday here at Brodgar, they were unearthing a community, I expect much older, like several thousand years but both civilisations were wiped out by an event. We know about the Spaniards but who or what overwhelmed the Orkney Neolithic society we may not know.
So my good fortune continues apart from being able to transfer photos. Dear me do Apple need the money ?
So tomorrow I will hope to travel toward Skye. Well no Skye Hebrides instead but found this picture of a house on orkney with an abandoned water wheel. The austere houses are the norm. No outbuildings and no verandas, too windy apparently.
In the end I rode up from Inverness though the coastal route to John O Groats and then on to the ferry terminal.
I had been wised up about the locals ferry faster and cheaper so when I rounded the headland and saw a ferry I was surprised by its size. So I trickled up to the man on duty, we are full for this sailing but....there is only one van ahead so buy a ticket and get on the wait list. So I did, and while I was waiting booked a room in case as beds are impossible up here in the summer, all over Scotland.
As luck would have it I consumed my ‘supper’ from Tesco made a couple of new friends landed in Orkney and found the hotel all in the blink of an eye..
The Norse gods were smiling.
So I visited standing stone rings, an ecological dig uncovering a 5000 year ago civilisation that eat cattle shin bones (talk about waste not want not).....
History teaches us how little we understand.
I have been learning since the day 10 plus years ago when as a green tourist I arrived in Chile.
I still recall the huge sculpture in the park and I will find it amongst my photos.
Then I recall the actual need to demonstrate self reliance. The bike was in a crate with the wheel removed. My task was to pusuade customs to allow me to unpack the crate assemble the bike and calmly ride off with no petrol in the tank. I was a little pre warned and the $2 jack I had in the crate allowed me to lift the bike fit the wheel and complete assembly. A very early lesson in thinking ahead.
That trip through Chile Argentina (a little bit), Bolivia Peru and back down the coast of Chile to the coastal resort Valparaiso near Santiago.
That got me started and now here I am in Orkney so what’s the connection ? The age of the place and the uniqueness of the people. Just the people that were born there. No evidence of immigrants since the Spaniards and my first introduction to a people that were made extinct by the invading Spanish. The irony was the beer that we all enjoyed was named after that extinct people. A civilised people with no arms no enemies and a totally self sufficient and organised community with reticulated water and waste water. Communal gardens, just a wonderful existence in those times.
Yesterday here at Brodgar, they were unearthing a community, I expect much older, like several thousand years but both civilisations were wiped out by an event. We know about the Spaniards but who or what overwhelmed the Orkney Neolithic society we may not know.
So my good fortune continues apart from being able to transfer photos. Dear me do Apple need the money ?
So tomorrow I will hope to travel toward Skye. Well no Skye Hebrides instead but found this picture of a house on orkney with an abandoned water wheel. The austere houses are the norm. No outbuildings and no verandas, too windy apparently.
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