Tumbling across the rough waters from the northern tip of Scotland to the remote Orkney Islands is no ordinary ferry ride. It is a journey that takes you from the 21st century back thousands of years.
Back to the prehistoric days of mystical stone circles, mysterious hilltop monuments and ultimately to the lost village of Skara Brae, a remarkable netherworld that offers an insight into the life of man as it was 5,000 years ago in this corner of the world long before the construction of the Egyptian pyramids.
Prosperous Island Life
While the southern Oracdian island of Hoy may boast the rugged, mountain-tossed scenery of the Scottish Highlands, the main island and the rest of the outlying islands are surprisingly flat with only rolling hills rather than bare granite crags. The land is generally smooth and fertile, one of the factors contributing to the prosperous life the islanders have lived, unruffled by the machinations of mainland Britain, for thousands of years. Here ‘southerners’ are not those from the London commuter belt, but any of the foreign folk from the north of Scotland.