Rust to Rust (EXPLORE)
Anyone who saw Neil Oliver's documentary on Orkney may recognise this location - a small abandoned island, last inhabited over 40 years ago. I was fortunate to be able to visit with a friend who is a relative of the owners.
Not the easiest of locations to get to, our trip turned into a bit of an adventure. The landing was awkward, due to swells of the waves, but we had an enjoyable time roaming the island for a couple of hours with one of the island's owners while the fishing boat went about its business. When it came time to get back onto the boat, the swells were much more severe. We tossed our rucksacks into the boat, but it was deemed too dangerous for us. The boat backed off, then one of the fishermen decided to throw the rucksack containing all our food and water back to us as they had no idea when they might be able to come back. Very sadly, that rucksack containing a camera, wallet and our food and drink, landed in the swells and was swept out to sea, no chance of recovering it - the owner of the rucksack was understandably very distraught! We were then faced with the very real possibility of having to spend the night on the island, with no food or even the most basic of comforts, only one of the old cottages still has a reasonable roof. Fortunately, after a couple of hours, the swells did subside a little and we were finally able to return to the boat with some difficulty. As the weather was forecast to worsen later that day, we might have been well and truly stuck...and very hungry!
Hopefully this image captures the haunting moodiness of the island. Other than seabirds, the only inhabitants now are a small herd of feral cattle that manage to survive the harsh conditions.
Explored April 7, 2017.
Rust to Rust (EXPLORE)
Anyone who saw Neil Oliver's documentary on Orkney may recognise this location - a small abandoned island, last inhabited over 40 years ago. I was fortunate to be able to visit with a friend who is a relative of the owners.
Not the easiest of locations to get to, our trip turned into a bit of an adventure. The landing was awkward, due to swells of the waves, but we had an enjoyable time roaming the island for a couple of hours with one of the island's owners while the fishing boat went about its business. When it came time to get back onto the boat, the swells were much more severe. We tossed our rucksacks into the boat, but it was deemed too dangerous for us. The boat backed off, then one of the fishermen decided to throw the rucksack containing all our food and water back to us as they had no idea when they might be able to come back. Very sadly, that rucksack containing a camera, wallet and our food and drink, landed in the swells and was swept out to sea, no chance of recovering it - the owner of the rucksack was understandably very distraught! We were then faced with the very real possibility of having to spend the night on the island, with no food or even the most basic of comforts, only one of the old cottages still has a reasonable roof. Fortunately, after a couple of hours, the swells did subside a little and we were finally able to return to the boat with some difficulty. As the weather was forecast to worsen later that day, we might have been well and truly stuck...and very hungry!
Hopefully this image captures the haunting moodiness of the island. Other than seabirds, the only inhabitants now are a small herd of feral cattle that manage to survive the harsh conditions.
Explored April 7, 2017.