All day long! But it didn’t stop us going to Maeshowe, an impressive and important Neolithic cairn dating from 2750BC.
We bent down to stoop along the low corridor and came out into a stone chamber which was nice and dry!
Our guide, Ellie, was extremely good and informative. She explained how the Vikings had sheltered here in a storm in the 12th century leaving rune graffiti which correlates with Norse sagas. This is a wolf (PC)
At the winter solstice the entrance is perfectly aligned so that the setting sun illuminates down the passage to create an orange glowing ‘door’ on the opposite wall – a door to the afterlife.
We aren’t allowed to take photos inside but I bought a postcard so you can see:
As we came out it was still raining hard!
A museum is dry: – and if it’s the Stromness museum it is also very interesting.
Orkney is on everyone’s journey, be they navy, explorer, fisherman or whaler. And the museum is a wonderful eclectic, though well organised, mix of artefacts from the last 300 years.
John Rae (of the monument in cathedral) was an arctic explorer and probably the first to use an inflatable boat. I think he was a bit annoyed with the chap who forgot the oars…
Unlike many contemporary adventurers he was prepared to learn from the indigenous Inuit and used their knowledge and techniques to survive
He found out from them what happened to Franklin’s doomed voyage to find the North West passage.
Another adventurer was Jack Renton who got castaway on a Solomon Island in 1870 for 5 years living with the natives who gave him a teeth necklace.
Quite a bit of scrimshaw from the whalers showing a more sentimental side
And of course a bit more of Captain Cook’s dinner set
Still raining!! Let’s hope it stops tomorrow as we are spending the day on Hoy!
This cat had the right idea
Wow David looks wet! Where is his hat?