Visited: The island of Hoy, ferry ยฃ4.30 pp, bus ยฃ6 pp (both return).
Stayed: Stromness, long term car-park at the port (2nd night), free with toilet. N58.96712, W03.29482
Hoy is Orkneyโs second largest island, it has the highest hills as well. The northern part of the island is a reserve for breeding seabirds. Walking to the Old Man of Hoy is a highly recommended activity on Orkney and todayโs our day.
Looking across Hoy Sound from the port car-park in Stromness. Unfortunatley this photo was taken the evening before our planned walk.
We wake a little dusty after a later than usual evening at the Ferry Inn with Ian and Jo. Itโs a grey cold morning but the forecast shows no rain as the four of us walk down to the ferry. You donโt come to Scotland for the weather.
Soon enough we are on the ferry with about 40 other souls. The passage across Hoy Sound takes about 30 minutes. There is a bit of rockโnโroll but we are made of sturdy stuff.
Thatโs Hoy in the distance. The big ferry from the mainland making for Stromness on the right. Our little ferry drops us at the pier in Moaness. A couple of houses nearby and a small shed adjoining the pier is Moaness.
But just as it states in the Lonely Planet, a couple of local buses are waiting in Moaness. We ask if this bus goes to Rackwick?, the driver points into the little bus. The bus fills he gestures again to those still waiting and drives off up the valley. We stop again after 10 minutes and he points across the valley and says Dwarfie Stane.
So we follow the path across the floor of the valley of peat to Dwarfie Stane. This 5000 year old burial chamber is the only example of a rock cut tomb in Scotland. I wouldnโt fancy excavating this with modern tools, let alone a flint axe.
The actual tomb is inside, then to the right. The locking stone, which now sits outside, would have slide into the main opening.
Our bus continues on to Rackwick, at the other end of the valley. He stops outside a small hostel and points up the hill. โIโll be back at 3pm, best be back at 3pmโ, he says and drives off. Our driver is a man of few words.
The walk is steep in sections, but generally not too hard. The trail is well marked, Pam loves a โDangerous Cliifsโ sign.
Almost there. The path to the Old Man of Hoy is just less than 5 kilometres long, which takes us about an hour.
This 137 metre high rock stack, standing like a sentinel is the Old Man of Hoy.
The coastline is rugged and the views spectacular.
We sit down and take in the views whilst we have lunch before starting to walk back.
An hour later we are back in Rackwick. At 2.58 the bus arrives at 3.01 the bus departs. We seemed to be a few people short, but our driver appears unconcerned.
Itโs been a long day and we are all happy to see our little ferry turn the point. The sun is out again and we have seen the Old Man of Hoy.
Within the hour we are safely back in our respective motorhomes, cleaning up and get ready for another social evening over a couple of beers and a wine.
Date: 30th June 2019 Travelled: 85 kilometres from Londonderry to Bushmills both in Northern Ireland Visited: Derry and the Bogside Stayed: Bushmills […]
One thought on “The Old Man of Hoy, Orkney 2018 ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ”
Beautiful scenery.