All in a Day's Drive

We have rented a car for three days and were scared witless by the detailed pre examination of it with the garage manager before we had even driven off.
The tiniest scratch had to be marked down on a sheet, and heaven help us if we get a mark on the wheel trims by parking too near to a kerb. With the words ' only petrol, NOT diesel' ringing in our ears we were free to joy ride round the Mainland.

First stop, coffee at the Orkney brewery, where we were so early we even got a parking space - it has been known in days of yore to go alternative when finding a place to park there.

Then it was on to Skaill where this blip was taken, before rounding the corner to the Bay where the waves rolled in never ending succession, turning from blue to a translucent green just before they crashed down on the rocks.
There were black figures exploring Skara Brae in the distance and an early bus load unloading at Skaill House, but we were seasoned Orkney tourists and had no need to stop.

We continued north on roads last cycled on Sunday, past Twatt to Birsay, with a minor deviation to blip The Barony Hotel on Boardhouse Loch for Bb.

The tide was out at Birsay and the walkway clear of water but busy with tourists. Once more we eschewed the crowds to scramble along the shore in the hunt for cowrie shells as we 'sooth mothers' call them but which also go by the local name of groatie buckies. Whatever they are called, they weren't calling to us and we left empty handed to have lunch at the Birsay Tea Room with its view of the Broch of Birsay, the Lighthouse and the memorial at Marwick Head.

With the rain clouds massing to the north and east, we drove down past Evie to Tingwall with Rousay fast disappearing behind the rain clouds, and on to Finstown before turning west to Stromness where the rain had all but stopped.

It has been another perfect day.