Orkney, Day 4

We woke up this morning to winds and rain. Wonderful. But we were not going to spend the day at the hostel, so we bundled up, got out the rain pants (or water-proof trousers over here) and coats, and headed out for the day. We were going to the island of Rousay and had to be at the ferry by 10:45am. We some extra time - we got up early... again - so we stopped by Culwean Hill. At the top of the hill there is another cairn, and this one just has a box with a flashlight in it and you guide yourself through the VERY small corridor into the main chamber. I wasn't so excited about the small corridor, but I didn't want Mike to see something that I hadn't, so I was willing. We climbed up to the top, in the driving winds, and found out that the flashlight was not working. And its REALLY dark in there. No way I was going into some small, very dark hole in the ground. At least the views from the top were nice.
We drove to the town of Tingwall, which consists of the ferry dock and a house, to await our venture to Rousay. We overestimated our time and got there about 20 minutes too early, but we didn't want the boat to leave. Its the only one that leaves in the morning on a Sunday. We may have actually gotten on the ferry if we had not had the wonderful chance to see the waves slowly becoming larger. Then we saw some sort of white mass coming near and near to the dock... it was our boat. You could not see the big ferry because the waves were SO bad that they were encompassing the thing. Non-drowsy Dramamine knocks me out for hours, and I knew that I would be violently sick all day if I went on that boat. Even Mike, who has a stomach of steel, was doubtful of riding on the ferry. That was all it took for me to reverse and not look back. Above is proof that I was NOT a wuss. Later in the day we drove over to the cliffs of Yesnaby and the waves were coming over the cliffs. I cannot remember how tall they are, but they are quite high!
To continue with the Stone Age theme of yesterday, we decided to visit the Broch of Gurness. Its yet another village, but this one is built around a central defense building with outer buildings around it. And since the weather was so crappy, we again had it all to ourselves. Even the guy that was running the ticket booth stayed well inside. We may not have seen Puffins yesterday, but as we were walking up to enter the village, we saw a seal playing in the waves. We have no clue if it was a Gray Seal or a Common Seal, but the point is, we saw one. Not like the silly Puffins. The broch was really interesting, and the exhibit in the visitor center was really interesting. You even got to grind wheat into flour! And then in the broch, we saw the original flour grinder that was used all those years ago. Very cool place. We just stayed away from the edge since it was a slight drop off into the sea. There was no way I was getting blown out into that cold water. But the wind was SO strong that it stopped both Mike and I in our tracks. Then it started raining, and felt like little pelts hitting us. As we were leaving, another couple drove up. They took one look at us struggling to get the doors to the car open and launch ourselves in, and drove away. While we are ever willing for the weather to ruin our vacation, we decided to stay inland for the rest of the day.
We had a wonderful lunch at Julia's cafe in Stromness. The second biggest city in Orkney. It got us well out of the winds and rain that were battering us that morning. The food was wonderful, and the weather crap. We tried to do a few different things, but the driving winds were a real problem.
Surprisingly enough, this picture was taken inland... looks totally calm. Not surprisingly enough, we stayed inland the rest of the day.