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Orkney — cycling — any advice ?

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Trish T
Trish May 4, 2006 07:34:13
Replying to suave harv

Wow Bonzo - fab pictures! Thanks very much for posting them! took me right back (we went to Skye + Lewis/Harris last year) and it was great to see the Orkneys! The photos are brilliant - do you have a super special camera or is it one that a mere mortal like me could own/use?!

SuavHarv - lovely story!! We tried to go to Orkney back in 2001 (I think - it was when foot and mouth happened... so we didnt go over in the end.) whilst we had 2 weeks in Sutherland... Had to be content with standing at Dunnet Head (beautiful place) and looking longingly ... We're going on the Gills Bay / St Margarets Hope ferry - Pentland ferries I think..
cant wait! I know what you mean about the town hiding - it was a huge thrill being on the ferry as it drew close to Tarbert on Lewis... The whole journey had been shrouded in mist, then suddenly as we approached land it lifted, and Harris loomed out at us, it was really spooky, like something from the Lost Islands (who remembers that!?) ... OOOOhhhh I want to go NOW!!!!!

Thanks guys!
t
xxxx

B Bonzo the Cat
Bonzo the Cat May 4, 2006 08:30:28
Replying to Trish

> do you have a super special camera or is it one that a mere mortal like > me could own/use?!

We like to keep it lightweight & very simple. For everything up to & including Orkney etc. we used our point&shoot Olympus µ [mju:]-II ZOOM 115 (http://www.photo.net/olympus/mjuII), mostly with 400ASA film. The Orkney etc. ones we had put immediately to cdr (all pics before that I scanned - exhausting).
As Orkney etc.'d had us come back with 14 rolls of film, for Knoydart we'd decided on digital, the Canon PowerShot S70, with a 1GB Extreme III CompactFlash SanDisk card. It's 7 megapixels and a spiffing machine! (http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/s70.html) It's point & shoot, but it has all the manual stuff to if you want it (so price-wise its a couple of steps up from the Olympus). It's on the heavy end of the lightweight ones, but it has a wide-angle lens, which is stellar for indoor shoots. But really, the detail you can get with that machine! Pity I have to reduce size on the web.

> it was a huge thrill being on the ferry as it drew close to Tarbert on
> Lewis... The whole journey had been shrouded in mist, then suddenly
> as we approached land it lifted, and Harris loomed out at us, it was
> really spooky, like something from the Lost Islands

I know exactly what you mean; wrote a thing about it here http://users.skynet.be/bert_saskia/travel/scotland/epilogue.htm

Enjoy your stay - I envy you!!!

-arf!!