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After reluctantly bidding a fond farewell to Kirsty and Dave at Orkney Island Memories B&B, who have been such fabulous hosts for 9 nights, I embarked upon the next stage of my Orkney Odyssey and boarded the ferry to Westray.
When we were about 15 minutes from Westray, there was some amusement when a member of the crew came into the lounge and took a lifejacket! Must've been a false alarm though as he brought it back a couple of minutes later.
Westray is one of the northernmost islands of Orkney and, in keeping with the rest of Orkney, the earliest known settlement was about 3,500BC and is an archeological treasure chest.
Sadly, the weather today has been non-stop heavy rain and strong winds. Therefore, upon disembarking from the ferry I went on a driving tour of the island before heading to the Westray Heritage Centre in the island's main town, Pierowall.
As well as being dry, the Heritage Centre was fascinating, detailing the history of the island from Neolithic through Norse and the Orkneyinga Sagas to the present day. The centrepiece of the Centre is the Westray Wife, aka Orkney Venus. This was discovered at the ongoing Noltland archeological dig in 2009. Although small at 4.1cm (1.6in) the remarkably well preserved Neolithic figure was a massive find as it is the earliest depiction of a human face found in the UK Alongside it are two similar figures except one is missing a head and the other is more worn. It's well worth spending a couple of hours in the Centre, whatever the weather.
I then checked into my B&B and took shelter there for the rest of the afternoon until it was time to go to The Pierowall Hotal, half a mile up the road, for dinner. Starting with Deep Fried Brie, I then had Chicken, Leek, Bacon and Rice followed by Apple Crumble and Custard.
Hopefully, after the main business of the day, I will get a chance to explore Noltland Castle and Noup Head tomorrow.
Today the Minx and I paddled through 37 miles.
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