Journey to Orkney

Now for something completely different! A few days in Orkney with K and her parents. I don't think I could get further from Marrakesh if I tried. We left at 8am and headed North. We took both cars because we're coming down much earlier than K's parents but that meant we got to listen to our banging choons.

Our first stop was for breakfast at Bankfoot just north of Perth on the a9. I had a roll and links and scrambled egg, k had a roll and bacon and her dad got a massive pile of pancakes with yoghurt and berries. Soon we were back on our way and we saw a lot of roadkill on the famously perilous a9, including an adult deer. We also had a sheep and her 2 lambs run in front of us but we managed to break ok, hopefully they got back to safety. 

The weather was grey and drab until we got to Inverness when it brightened up. We stopped at the Storehouse just outside Dingwall for lunch.  It's a lovely place and the staff manage to get everyone seated even though it's always super busy. I had chicken and ham quiche, k had a tuna sandwich, her mum had the road veg quiche and her dad had a wrap with brie, ham and redcurrant jelly. It was all very nice but we were on a strict timetable so we we didn't hang about too long.

The continued road north was beautiful,  especially since the weather had brightened up! It is weird how different the east coast is from the west coast. Where the west coast is super dramatic the east is much greener and rolling. We saw a lot of lambs en route which delighted me too. We stopped for a wee bit at the Mound just north of Dornoch to enjoy the views but didn't see any otters sadly.

Our final pre ferry stop was at Laidhay Croft Museum and cafe where we had tea/coffee and scones/cake and had a wee look round the museum. It was really nice and the views down the cliffs were beautiful.

We got to the ferry terminal in plenty of time for the 630 crossing. We got loaded onto the ferry and we were off. The crossing was a wee bit bumpy but not too bad and the light was really beautiful which meant I got lovely photos of Hoy and the Old Man of Hoy. It was very breezy though. We had dinner on the ferry,  k had fish and chips and I had mac cheese. Disappointingly, the mac cheese wasn't very cheesy and I needed to add a ton of salt to it.

We arrived in Stromness and drove round to the beautiful house that K's mum and dad always rent (the merchant's house on www.orkneyescapes.co.uk). K's brother Colin and his girlfriend Jola decided to come up at the last minute so they were already in the house waiting. We sat round the kitchen table having tea and oatcakes then just chatted until bedtime.

The bed was super comfortable and I was tired from the early start so I was asleep pretty quickly.