The Standing Stones of Stenness

The Orkney Islands, for those who don't know, are off to the North of John O'Groats and Duncansby head. Yes it is far North but, contrary to popular belief, it neither rains nor snows all the time. We stayed on the mainland when we visited as we only had 4 days which isn't enough time to get to and have a good look round the smaller islands like Sanday.

Despite an unusual lack of wind, we did manage a session at Scapa with the local kiters. The beach faces SSW and will work in any direction from SE through to W although the wind comes over the land at the extremes so can be a bit gusty. The water is totally clear so you can see the guillemots and razorbills swimming around under you which is very cool.

 The options for kiting on Mainland Orkney are quite limited and are not ideal for beginners as the beaches tend to be quite narrow with limited safe crash options. The local kiters seem mainly to use Scapa Bay and the beach on the east side of Churchill Barrier No 4. Various other beaches we looked at might work but are not ideal - Swanbister Bay, Waulkmill Bay, St Peter's Pool and Sand of  Wright at Hoxa all looked possible. We have a sneaky suspicion that a trip to Sanday, which as the name suggests has many sandy beaches, would definitely be in order at a later date.

Other Stuff

 Skara Brae and Skaill Bay

There are many interesting archaeological remains on the Orkney islands including the Standing Stones of Stenness, the Ring of Brodgar and Maes Howe. One of the best historical sites to visit is Skara Brae which is a fantastically, almost eerily, well preserved neolithic village. If more recent history is your bag, there are plenty of WW2 remains as well. The Churchill Barriers  are an eerie reminder of less settled times in Europe and kind of bizarre to see in such a remote location that you may think would have been untouched by war. For those of you who remember your WW1 history, the German High Seas Fleet was scuttled in Scapa Flow and therefore, despite the removal of some wrecks, there is excellent wreck diving to be had in the area.

On a lighter note, the standard of restaurants on the Orkney Islands is extremely high, in fact we had the best Indian meal we've ever had in Dil Se in Kirkwall, not the first place that springs to mind when you think curry! If you're into the special Scottish brown water, there is the Highland Park distillery to visit. There's also an old distillery at Scapa (it's on the photo above) but it's no longer functional.

If you do spend some time in Kirkwall, the Ortak jewellery workshop and visitor centre is worth a look, especially if anyone you know has a special birthday coming up. They do a wide range of stylish contemporary and Celtic jewellery.

Getting There

Loganair do flights from Glasgow and Edinburgh (as well as Aberdeen, Inverness and Wick) which take about an hour. Even though the plane was small, we didn't have any problems getting the kite gear on board although the board bags did get a bit stuck on the luggage carousel in Kirkwall airport (it's only wee).

Northlink ferries go from Scrabster (near Thurso) to Stromness which takes about an hour and a half or from Aberdeen to Kirkwall (about a 6 hour crossing).

We stayed at the Mill of Eyrland, a converted mill which has loads of character, a fine breakfast that will keep you going all day and a friendly cat to cuddle.