Re: Orkney Trip | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

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suave harv Feb 16, 2010 11:50:10

Replying to goffik

goffik wrote:

Eeh, ya lucky swine!

We've driven to Orkney and the Outer Hebrides (separately) from Southampton (through Brum) - you're in for a treat! Well, several treats. I'll see if I can furnish you with more info and ideas later...

G x

[EDIT - Actually, I seem to remember someone doing the Lewis-Orkney run in a limited time a few years back on here - can't remember who it was, but I do remember thinking they were bonkers doing it in such a short space of time! They had a great time, though, whoever it was! :) It should be somewhere in the forum's archives if I had time to seek it out... ]

That could be me, we spent one day at Lewis, slept in a van at Callanish and drove to Thurso the next day and caught the ferry to Orkney. It was quite expensive, over £300 in ferry costs alone.
We did stop an extra day in Orkney, because we were starting to feel rushed and there's such a landscape there.
Moth and Jane went a year or so later and did some excellent field notes on Orkney. I remember enjoying reading those.

V

Vybik Jon Feb 16, 2010 15:00:22

Replying to goffik

goffik wrote:

We've driven to Orkney and the Outer Hebrides (separately) from Southampton (through Brum) - you're in for a treat!

What particular part of Brum was a treat?

J

Jane Feb 16, 2010 19:55:23

Replying to goffik

goffik wrote:

[EDIT - Actually, I seem to remember someone doing the Lewis-Orkney run in a limited time a few years back on here - can't remember who it was, but I do remember thinking they were bonkers doing it in such a short space of time! They had a great time, though, whoever it was! :) It should be somewhere in the forum's archives if I had time to seek it out... ]

We drove up to Helmsdale from Leeds in a day. Easy peasy. B&B in Helmsdale then up early for the Scrabster-Stromness ferry next morning. On the way back, we got the 4pm ferry, arrived in Helmsdale about 8pm to find that our (booked) B&B room had already been taken. We decided to just keep driving - through the night. This turned out to be brilliant as there was no traffic to delay us and we saved the money on the B&B. We got back to Leeds at about 3.30/4am as I recall.

We did the drive-through-the-night-thing a couple of years later when we went to Lewis. Ullapool to Oxford in about 8 hours. You can maintain steady speed all the way and just stop for coffee and a wee.

We found a week on Orkney was enough to do it quite thoroughly, though our daily 'strike rate' of sites can be quite punishing!