Breweries/Distilleries

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Day Trip to Orkney

8:07 am

I’m on my way to the Orkneys!!! The Eastern coast of the Highlands is lush and green, very fertile, I’m told. This area is known the ‘Black Isle’, only it’s a peninsula, not an island. The guide says that, being so close to the sea, it snows very little, if at all, here.

It’s the North Sea…

8:34

I’ve just left Ross for Sutherland

8:40

Dunrobin Castle. Early 14th century, longest continually inhabited castle in all of Britain.

So many sheep!

11:38

Orkney is so beautiful!!! She looks a lot like Scotland, but even more rugged. There’s no heather as far as I can see. The North Sea is deep blue, but near the shore she’s pure turquoise. The voyage here (by ferry) took exactly 45 min, the water was relatively calm and it was freezing. Luckily, I was appropriately dressed!

The water is patchy, some turquoise, some dark blue. Several beaches look like they should be in the Caribbean! They are pure white sand leading to turquoise infinity!

12:17 pm.

Skara Brae. Lots of heather here. Still, it’s obvious somehow that we’re no longer on the ‘main land’. The islands are for the most part uninhabited, but you do get the occasional fair sized village. In Kirkwall, for example, there is a cinema and a fancy car dealership (why ‘dealership’ and not ‘car store’?)

1:33 pm

I’m so far from ‘home’! (As I walked through the wind and ocean swept cobblestone streets of Stromness, Orkney, the incessant buzz of a ‘strange’ accent in my ears, I came to the realisation of how far away I was from Canada.) Yet, not so far away. I mean, I found a shop that had ‘Backstreet Boys’ memorabilia on the window ! I enjoyed a delicious vegetable broth (90p) at a tiny café. I figure that any place where the soup is ‘always suitable for vegetarians’ is worth encouraging! (and I discovered another use for barley!) I had some kind of delicious chocolate iced cake for dessert (35p). For dinner tonight, I’ve ordered sandwiches offered by the tour. (£2) Stromness is beautiful, all stone and cobblestone. You wouldn’t know driving streets are driving streets until you saw a car carefully inching its way down past pedestrians. The accent here is almost incomprehensible. It took me a while to get lunch ordered!

2:15 Ring of Brodgar

Older than Stonehenge. Nice pile of rocks. Tried to tip a few over. Didn’t work! Up there, it feels like the top of the world. I can easily imagine thousands of half-clad men performing some ritual over 5,000 years ago. Very beautiful ring with a mat of heather in the centre.

Swans!

Orkney—a self-contained world?

A house with a boat as a roof! (The hull of the ship was used to roof the house. Supposedly, it’s rather common in fishing communities in the islands.)

Honest to goodness street sign: ‘otters crossing’!!!

2:48 pm.

Highland Park Distillery—northernmost in Britain. I prefer their whisky to that of Edradour. Here, it’s actually kind of smokey. Sure warms up the insides! I think that last big sip went right to my head, which explains the worse than usual writing!

4:07 pm

My wildest medieval related dream/fantasy has come true!!! I have walked freely through the ruins of a mostly early 12th century castle!!! By freely, I mean I had access to every part of the castle/palace that wasn’t a public danger. I climbed the equivalent of 4 flights of narrow, twisting, flagstone stairs to the top of a watch tower. But, that’s not all!!! I also wandered even more freely through the ruins of an early 16th century palace/castle. This one had plaques indicating the purpose of each room, one room was tiny and unlit, but I could see a plaque. ‘It’s probably the latrine closet’ I thought gleefully as I pulled out my handy flashlight. I was right! It was so cool wandering through ante-chambers, kitchens, dining halls, great halls, bedrooms, latrine closets, narrow winding turret stairs, etc. And it only cost £1.50 pound for both. Oh, and I also wandered through an early 12th century cathedral!!!!!!! As a medievalist, this made my whole Orkney tour ‘worth it’ !

7:11 pm

I’ll never regret this day, but I don’t know if I’d do it again, it’s a hell of a lot of travel ! I mean 2 ½-3 hours to John O’Groats, exactly 45 min ferry ride, then the grand tour of Orkney for the trip home. Whew ! ! However, I think this trip was an excellent compromise between getting to Orkney on my own and missing out on other ‘stuff’ in the south and not going to Orkney at all. I could live there, it’s not the barren isle I thought it would be. The Orkney archipelago has several bustling towns and all the modern conveniences on several of her islands. My favourite quote of the day by our guide: ‘To the left, the North Atlantic. Next stop: America.’!!!

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Tomorrow: Skye.

(This entry conveniently leaves out the part where I almost got seasick from too much whisky on an empty stomach while crossing a choppy North Sea!)

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In Which I Discovery Whisky and Uskeba is Born

10:27 AM

I’m following the orange trail. I’ve stopped at the Golf pond. You should see the ducks! I shared part of my lunch with them!

11:08 AM

I’m sitting on a carved piece of wood that has a plaque which says ‘sit and enjoy the view’. So I am. The whole of Perthshire is laid out before me. Everything is so painfully beautiful and green. I’m following a road that Robert the Bruce marched across in 1306! Is it a wonder that I have ‘Scots Wha Hae’ running over and over in my mind! And to think that I couldn’t get myself out of bed this morning! It was 9 when I finally dragged myself out. Well, I’ll be on my way. I do want to make it to the distillery today and I must do so before 4. Lots of time, you say? I’m still at the beginning of this walk and it’s like 9.5 klicks or something. I haven’t felt so at peace since Colorado. Here’s another place where I’ll leave a chunk of my soul.

time? I don’t care! near noon

I’ve just finished an incredible hike up. The view here is so clear we can see straight through to the Glencoe mountains in the west. This place is called Craighower Hill. (The view out to Skye is ‘the Road to the Isles’, which can only be seen on a clear day, which are very rare. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky!!!)

12:58

Well, I’m back on the bench! It’s taken me 2 whole hours to get up and back. The road down was very twisty. The people who design roads in this country must be a little loco! The view from Craighower was incredible. I felt like I had the whole of Scotland at my feet. I used to find Canada rugged, well it isn’t, it’s untamed. Scotland has tamed its lands, while not foregoing an endearing ruggedness. ‘How could people have survived here for so long, fought to keep the land?’ (I took this paraphrase from the Lonely Planet guide to Great Britain) Oh! It’s so beautiful, better than in all my dreams! I walked through meadows of what I assume to be unbloomed heather. I’ll be on my way now, I want to do the distillery walk and the distillery opens in an hour. I can’t wait to taste the supposedly foul tasting brew. I’m told that most people don’t like ‘water of life’, so, since I’m so unlike most people, I’ll probably like it! Yeah right! I’m not expecting to enjoy it, but I look forward to finally tasting some.

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5:38 pm.

I think I’m in trouble. My initial reaction to whisky was the same as my initial reaction to beer: ‘I don’t like it, but I don’t hate it’. One knows how I have come to acquire a palate for beer, to say the least!

I’ve done more than enough walking for today! I am so stiff! I luxuriated in a scalding shower and put on totally fresh clothes, including jeans. I’m spending 2 nights in Aviemore, so if I launder straight away when I arrive I should have pretty much 2 full days for my laundry to dry! (turns out Aviemore is one of a few hostels I encountered which has a ‘drying room’—a room where the heat is turned way up at night so that clothes may dry more quickly.) I’m so pooped I can’t envision going down the steep hill outside leading up to the hostel in order to get dinner. I’ll have to go up it, after!

I’m very ahead in my budget so if I manage to get my butt ‘downtown’ I think I’ll have dinner in a restaurant. I should be eating more. Maybe that’s why I’m not up to my usual speed.

On my way back from Craighower, I stopped to feed the ducks (again). I got some to eat right out of my hand! One even clamped his beak down on my finger, but it didn’t hurt. One of the birds had a lame foot. I was extra generous to it!

It’s almost 6 so I guess I’ll go in search of dinner. I think tomorrow will be a ‘down’ day. They are necessary, I think. Tuesday, I’ll explore the area around Aviemore just like I did today in Pitlochry. Later.

7:48 pm

I returned from a yummy dinner of a veg. burger (hey, they’re cheap and filling, and this one was (and still is) the best I’ve ever eaten!) to find 2 guys in my room. Thanks to Edinburgh, I was hardly fazed. I nonchalantly headed down to the common room to discover that in my absence one of the ‘hostesses’ confronted the Aussie who was also staying tonight, claiming that she and I hadn’t paid for tonight! Well, my roomie got that sorted out. Anyhow, I found out that 6 guys had been put in the room and we had to move. It’s no big deal, but it is a hassle. I’d just spread out some wet stuff (now all those guys know what my undies look like!) and after rummaging through my bag, I’d left stuff strewn all over the bunk. Plus, I had to remake the bed. Oh well, it is better than sleeping w/ the sheep! I hope I won’t be hassled about ‘not having paid’ tomorrow! I asked for directions to the ‘small dining room’. I was told to look for a door marked ‘strictly private’… and go in. Boy, I love the Scots!!!

… (extremely tentative itinerary)

Hell, I’m never going home!

Despite its beautiful name, it would appear that there isn’t much in Inverness. That doesn’t matter, I guess, since I’ll be using Inverness as a ‘springboard’ to the northern Highlands. I’m even starting to think that I shouldn’t ‘rush’ things with Haggis and just make a quick ‘overnight’ to Edinburgh to meet John and Linda (the authors of the ‘MacBraveheart’ homepage). I think Skye will take a long time to explore. It would appear that Eilean Donan (castle) is worth the trip. Besides, Skye is part of the Hebrides! ‘And we in dreams behold the Hebrides’. (‘Canadian Boat Song’) I have to go!

It’s 8:35 and I’m just about ready for bed! I hiked almost non-stop and was up for 8 hours. I guess this is how I’ll feel once I’ve tackled Ben Nevis ! Actually, I have a ton of packing to do. Breakfast is from between 8 and 9 AM. And I have to be out of the room by 9:30. I’m supposed to be out of the hostel by 10 :30, but I’m sure I’ll be allowed to stay until the Haggis bus comes (there are 4 of us leaving, at least). I hope that the Aviemore hostel isn’t on top of a hill.I’m going to have to rethink my travel arrangements, I’m losing a lot of time.

 

I just discovered that Aviemore is in the Highlands!!! Yippee!!! This is way cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool!!!