Have you ever been to Orkney?

I've just returned from a family holiday there with 6 family members, including the 2 grandkids.

We went by ferry from Gills Bay, on the north coast of Caithness. Apart from the hour crossing over the Pentland Firth on the Pentalina, you would swear you were still in Caithness! Orkney has a similar landscape - maybe more cattle & sheep & more cultivation of crops, but certainly like Caithness, say 30 years ago; same peerie hamlets; maybe more single track roads leading to dead ends; but similar place names of Norse origin AND certainly more archaeological sites to visit!

Caithness would have similar amounts, if a team ever went to the bother of unearthing them! The trouble with archaeology is NOT the finding of sites but the worrying expense and manhours involved in excavating them; the fastidious need to record e v e r y t h i n g; and then the maintenance cost once the site is discovered. But I'm sure this reticence to uncover sites is nationwide.

I digress.

We did all the touristy stuff like Skara Brae and a quick circuit of the Ring of Brodgar in a thunder plump. We also visited the Tomb of the Eagles in Cleat. The method of entry to the tomb was to lie on your back on a sorta skateboard, and then pull yourself through the 2m long, low passage with the help of a rope that's attached to the ceiling.

Although Grandkid2 (aged 3) dispensed with that modus operandi and just crawled through! Like a miniature Indiana Jones, he shouted, 'I'm okay!' from deep inside. That boy is very hands-on, but with his feet firmly in his wellies!

I asked his older sis if he was in love with his wellies? She just laughed and said, 'Maybe?'

They seemed to be superglued to his feet. He was happily stuck in them all day!

I recall his auntie, at his age, having a similar affection for hers. She even wore them in bed! I had to sneak upstairs when she was asleep and release them from her feet, for fear of trench foot.  They stood together like soldiers at the foot of her bed - at ease - until morning manoeuvres resumed.

Grandkid2's wellies did reluctantly come off when he decided he would paddle in the sea at the remote sandy beach near our rented farmhouse. His daddy and uncle went fishing from the rocks, his mummy and grandad went sea-swimming in their wetsuits, and his sister was already in her swimsuit, karate-ing & kickboxing waves, noisily and with gusto!

No self-respecting little superhero could allow his sister to battle those unrelenting waves singlehandedly! So the boots were flung off in different directions, while I was arbitrarily recruited as a sidekick with a curt, 'Cum'on granny!'

The farmhouse was chosen because of its remoteness, and its proximity to this beach.

So, the fact that every night up to 11 campervans were parked there, irked somewhat. I know wild camping/overnight parking is allowed in Scotland, AND the visitors were doing no harm...but it still irked.

It was difficult to get our 2 cars parked in the grassy carpark, because the campers had sprawled themselves all over it with deckchairs, tables, washing lines etc. As you know, I've hung up my VisitScotland uniform, so I find this behaviour cheeky. It is a CARPARK! It has delineated parking spaces. So you're not supposed to park the opposite way and take up 3 spaces!

By the way, it was only me who was bothered. In my defence, I can only admit that I am a lover of unspoilt remoteness!

My sis concurs that it is the same in Latheronwheel. So many campervans parked at the harbour overnight that the local fishermen can't drive to their boats. Not to mention the rubbish and waste water (grey AND black) tipped everywhere. It's so disrespectful.

That rant aside, I loved Orkney. And I love the Orcadian accent. The lilt of the elongated vowels. Nothing like the Caithness accent, despite Orkney's proximity.

After we'd left - with our cars, yet again, jammed into the Pentalina like sardines - I wondered if Orcadians were sighing, 'Jist a peedie respite aafore 'ee next lot!'

That's the trouble with unspoilt quiet remoteness: the more people want to sample it, the less unspoilt and the more noisy and crowded it gets.

Hey-ho.

Anyway, the weather was mixed & the black flies were annoying.

It's so nice to be home again! The sun's baking hot here.

Time to chillax.

: )