Orkney Treasures

Our ferry from Lerwick, Shetland arrived in Kirkwall, Orkney late at night and we were surprised that Malcolm, our Airbnb host, didn't meet us as he had promised. We took a taxi to our new home and wondered what had happened. The next morning we found out that he had flown into Aberdeen for kidney stones. He returned later that day full of energy from his too long stay in the hospital and decided that he needed a day outdoors. He asked us if he could show us around the island the next day and we took him up on his offer.
But first we had some time on our hands to wander around the city of Kirkwall (population ten thousand or so) and see its quaint shops as well as the massive St. Magnus Cathedral. One interesting tomb in the cathedral was of an explorer named John Rae from Stromness, Orkney who had sailed to northern Canada and found the final portion of the Northwest Passage. He had worked for the Hudson's Bay Company which was quite common for people from Orkney during the 1800s. There are many connections between Orkney and Manitoba because of this. We also took a local bus south of Kirkwall and found a beautiful small port called St. Margaret's Hope to wander through. The locals on our bus were very friendly and pointed out many interesting sights along our route such as the Churchill Barriers where Winston Churchill had ordered ships sunk to block naval routes through the islands during the Second World War. Orkney was a vital naval route during the war because ships couldn't sail through the English Channel while the Nazis occupied France. German U boats did some serious damage here. We also visited an Italian Chapel which was built by Italian POWs during WWII.

On our 'Malcolm Day' we were driven to all the corners of Orkney. He showed us many neolithic sights such as the Standing Stones of Stenness (older than Stonehenge - a farmer blew half of them up because they were in his way before he was stopped). After visiting a Neolithic Barnhouse Village, we stopped at the Ness of Brodgar archaeological site where our guide explained why it was probably the most important dig in the world at this time because it was so well preserved and showed that neolithic societies were much more progressive than previously thought. Next came the Ring of Brodgar where twenty seven stones are still standing of the original sixty. After going into the Unstan Tomb, we had lunch in Stromness, the second largest town and one time seaport for the Hudson's Bay Company. John Rae, the explorer, was born here. In the afternoon we went to Skara Brae, the best preserved Neolithic Village in Europe because it had been buried under a sand dune for thousands of years before it was discovered. We did a quick walk through the Skaill Mansion before driving to the Broch of Birsay, a Viking village. Then it was time to return to Kirkwall. Malcolm made every stop interesting and entertaining because he is passionate about Orkney's history and is quite a colourful storyteller. We never realized how fascinating Orkney history could be. We left Orkney feeling like we understood what makes this island such a unique and fascinating place. And we made a wonderful new friend as well!