It's a chilly morning, which I spend going down to the visitor centre at Tormiston Mill. This relates to the burial mound at Maeshowe. It would have been posssible to actually go into the burial chamber, but I have to be back in Kirkwall on time to pick up my rucksack, do the shopping and jump on the ferry to Stronsay. The tours to maeshowe set off at fixed times, and I can't make it for the bus. So, I just potter about the mill, then head back on the bus to Kirkwall. After the shopping, I pick up my pack and head for the ferry. This leaves at 4 pm, and makes for Eday first. A fishfarm is tied up near the pier there. After all the cars and vehicles have gone off and on, we head east for Stronsay. The ferry has to make some manoeuvres to negotiate safely into the berth. There is a colony of monks on Papa Stronsay, and several of them travel on the ferry. They are easily identified, clad in black robes and cowls. After docking at Whitehouse Village, the monks carry on by boarding a separate vessel for Papa Stronsay. This island lies across the bay. Currently, several new cells are under construction there, one for each monk. I head off the pier, and when I turn right, I'm at the hostel. The door is closed, so I report to the chipshop nextdoors. I'm ushered into the hostel, which is cold, bare to the Nth degree and not comfortable. By the grace of God I am allowed to switch on the heating. The kitchen is the barest of bare, although one of the cupboards is chockablock with ingredients for baking. After I heat up my stuff, I have to drag in a chair from the dorm to sit down at the table. Christ! After supper, I settle down in the dorm, which is not very spacious. Later in the evening, I flee the cold and gloom for the hotelbar across the road. By that time it's started to rain. Have a nice chat with various locals who say they're short of a GP. Wrong profession. Spend a very pleasant two hours there, and am sorry to have to leave at closing time. On return across the road, I manage to get a hot shower, then turn in for the night.
Weblink: http://www.stronsay.co.uk
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