Coloured bay

The day did not start well. Our sleep last night was interrupted by a mechanical rumbling noise that switched on and off on a regular basis in a room next to ours. We went through several cycles of dropping off to sleep for 30 minutes or so then being awoken by the noise as the motor started up again. We gave up on any further attempts at sleep at 05:00am, and considered our options. We certainly couldn't spend another night at the mercy of this noise. However, our booking here was for three nights, we did want to see Hoy, and if we didn't stay here where would we go?

We asked about the noise at breakfast time. Apparently nobody else has ever mentioned it. We find this astonishing. Anyway, it looks like a freezer in the utility room is the culprit and it has been moved. We decided to stay on. Tonight we will see if we sleep...

We spent  most of the rest of the day exploring the north of Hoy in beautiful weather - wall to wall sunshine most of the day. Our first stop was Betty Corrigal's grave, then we walked up to the Dwarfie Stane.

Our last destination of the morning was Rackwick Bay. Here we parked the bike and headed over the cliffs to see the Old Man of Hoy. On our way back to the tandem we stopped off at the Rackwick Bay museums. Then we broke the journey back to our accommodation with a late lunch at the wonderful Beneth'll Café. After lunch I blipped the colours of the sea from the east coast of Hoy looking over to Mainland.

Dinner at our bed and breakfast this evening was somewhat better than last night's offering, but I am still very puzzled at the enthusiastic Tripadvisor reports for this place.

Exercise today: 26 miles of tandem riding.