Orkney in April

James and I went to Orkney for a few days earlier this week. The timing could not have been better. It had taken most of the weekend for me to wind down from work, and on Monday morning I boarded the flight to Kirkwall in good spirits.
And the three days were an absolute dream. We took the bus from Kirkwall airport into the town, a journey that we expected to take about ten minutes. However we didn't realise that the bus would wend its way for half an hour all around what seemed like every street in town, picking up and depositing passengers who were all on intimate terms with the friendly bus driver, before she eventually shouted to us that we had arrived at our hotel.
After checking in we went for stroll round the centre of Kirkwall, including a visit to St Magnus Cathedral, where I showed James the memorial to my favourite Arctic explorer, John Rae. It's a great memorial; Rae looks as if he is just having a nap, stretched out comfortably with his hands clasped behind his head and his rifle at his side. The we set off on a pleasant circular walk to Inganess beach which was a nice way to stretch our legs and get some fresh air after the journey. We had dinner in the Shore Restaurant which was excellent (scallops, mmm!) Then we had a post dinner drink in the cosy bar upstairs in our hotel.
The next morning we picked up our hire car and headed to Marwick Head, from where we walked to the Brough of Birsay and back, a return trip of 16 km. It was quite windy, and as we climbed up towards the Kitchener War Memorial we saw a rain cloud approaching across the sea with sheets of rain trailing from it. We thought it would miss us but we got caught by the edge of it and suddenly had to scramble to put on our waterproof trousers. I ran ahead to take shelter from the squall behind the memorial, and was surprised and then concerned as the minutes passed with no sign of James, who had been right behind me. I began to worry; the wind had increased when the rain shower arrived and we had been right at the edge of the cliffs...
I set off back down the path to look for him, and soon saw his familiar figure approaching; it turned out that his GPS had fallen out of his pocket and he had to go back to look for it. So all was well!
The rain soon stopped and the sun came out; the colours of the sea and sky were very vivid after the rain. It was a beautiful walk and we chatted as we strode along the cliffs and beach. When we got to the Brough we couldn't cross the causeway because of maintenance work but we were delighted to find a snack van in the little car park, where I purchased an excellent cup of coffee to drink in the sunshine. I cannot express the pleasure that this gave me - I wish a magic snack bar could appear at the furthest point of every walk! The return journey was also very pleasant; the were lots of seagulls nesting in crevices in the cliffs, and lots of oystercatchers. James also spotted a pair of gorgeous shelducks with their distinctive black, white and brown plumage. Later we went for another coffee (and a cheese scone) at the Skara Brae visitor centre, and a stroll around Stromness.
Dinner was taken at Helgi's, a lovely pub with great food and a friendly atmosphere. And then it was time to head back to our hotel bar for a nightcap, where we were talking to the owners who had just arrived back that day from a wedding in Belfast, they were chatting about their plans for the hotel and told us that they have a busy season ahead.