Muir of Ord to Dounby, Orkneys

August 3:  Today we got up early for a 3-hour drive to Thurso and the port town next door,  Scrabster, so we could catch the 1:15 pm ferry to the Orkneys.  We gave ourselves four hours to complete the drive, but it took a little less than three, so we had time to walk around Thurso and pick up lunch supplies.  Thurso is perched at the top of Scotland on one side of large harbor with a great 'dog walking' beach.  Scrabster is on the other side of this harbor, sheltered from the wind.

Thurso main square

Thurso beach front

We had purchased ferry tickets - one for the vehicle and 3 for us passengers, on-line, so we just had to check in at the ferry gate and get assigned a place in line to wait for the ferry.  We had about 45 minutes to kill so we wandered up to a nearby lighthouse and  around the docks.  There were rare blue butterflies, a rare species of bumblebee, and a very common jellyfish (in the water). 

A rare blue butterfly

A unique bumblebee

We boarded the medium-large ferry with a single vehicle layer and two passenger levels.  We departed in clear weather, hit fog midway, and broke out the fog as we arrived into Stromness Harbor, on the West Mainland Island of the Orkneys.  We enjoyed a picnic lunch on board.

Island of Hoy before completely fogged in

Stromness

We debarked with everyone else and drove about 20 minutes from Stromness to Dounby and checked into the Smithfield Hotel.  It is located at the intersection of two roads at the north end of Loch of Harray, on West Mainland.  As I write this, Elaine and Betsy are reading up on what to do and see on the Orkneys, which include 70 islands in the archipelago, with a total population of 24,500.  There are only 4 islands with roads that we can drive to without a ferry, a couple more that are connected by ferry and may have vehicles (i.e., roads), and lots have little airports.  Hoy and the famous cliff side pillar known as Old Man of Hoy were covered in fog as we sailed past.  Hoy can be reached only by passenger ferry.