27 Aug. - Orkney

 Image: Duncansby Head Lighthouse from the ferry to Orkney

A meandering, roller-coaster, ribbon of road - coasting north.

Wide, flat North Sea bright + hazy, turbine studded, stretching upon our right.

Over crest (or summit) each vale reveals stone-walled fields of green or gold - studded now with white sheep or glossy black bales of hay.

And then the heights - great, round, soft, pregnant bellies of stone + heathland - dressed in shades of green, dun + grey, but with glorious warm expanses of heather - mauve + sweet.

From the solitary light at O'Groats to the industrial maritime thrum of the ferry - past shingle + reef, beach + cliff, old guns + fresh green grass to wide ... flat ... lonely ... friendly ... beautiful ... timeless ... Orkney.

Notes: In the rental car again, heading north from Inverness along the coast to John O'Groats and the Pentland Ferry from Gill's Bay to St Margaret's Hope on South Ronaldsay; finally to our accommodation in Kirkwall.