That night was amazing. The sun dipped just below the horizon for a couple of hours and then rose again. The sunset was magical with the sky spectacular colours, which progressed into the pastel colours of a beautiful sunrise.

We walked from the Ring of Brodgar to Stennes about half a mile away and back again. Just amazing. We were all blown away with its beauty and magnificence. An amazing climax to our journey.

At the Summer Solstice sunrise there were only four of us there, holding the energies of the four directions in a simple and heart felt ceremony. We all felt deeply honoured to be there.

The summer Solstice Sunrise

The following day was Solstice and lots of people turned up to honour the Solstice at the stones. It was lovely to meet the people that had been drawn like us to The Ring of Brodgar. People from afar as Australia. Later that day, we visited Mae’s How which is an ancient pyramid that was built before the Egyptian pyramids. Another amazing place.

 

Leaving Orkney

The next day, Tina and I went to visit the sea and walked along the stunning cliffs.  The weather was gorgeous and the air so refreshingly clean and delicious.  We really felt like we were on top of the world.  It was here that I came to a realisation.  I saw the jagged layers of rock coming out of the sea at an angle and saw that it was here that the stones had been taken from to build the stone circle and it was the sea that had formed the swirling patterns not the wind.  That made much more sense.

Later, Linda and Mandy met us and we walked along a causeway to visit an island where the puffins lived.  We loved the puffins.  The moon was so large and glorious and as it set over the sea, we admired her beauty with our binoculars.  Then the sunset turned the sky onto an explosion of pinks and purples.  Again, the colours slowly changed from vibrant to soft pastels as the sun rose from the horizon greeting the new day.  We stayed up again all night.  It was very cold so we had the burner on and the back doors ajar whilst we marvelled in the glory of it all. 



After a little sleep, we arose and celebrated the pinnacle of our journey by eating the strawberries that Mandy had been growing on her dashboard!  This was a sad time as Linda, Tina and I were leaving the island to head back south to the realities of our lives.  Mandy was staying a couple more days before carrying on her journey to the West Scottish Isles.  I felt so full up and content.  So blown away by this very special island.  But like any high, it comes to an end and we had to gracefully let go.  We were saddened to leave on such a lovely day.  In hindsight, all three of us agreed we could have stayed another day.  Apparently, the weather changed two days later which would have been another experience all together as it’s very exposed up there.

 

 
We boarded the boat and watched the island go by and said goodbye to the Old Man of Hoy and the surrounding cliffs, which were alive with birds.  We camped on the mainland and spent the evening watching the sun set behind the Orkney Islands.  We’ll be back…….