I am a regular visitor of the Western Isles of Scotland but have never managed to get to Orkney before. A wedding booking changed that last weekend and I had the opportunity to photograph the wedding in the stunning St Magnus Cathedral. In 13 years of photographing weddings, this is most definitely the most beautiful cathedral I have been to. After the wedding day we had one free day to explore the island and with the weather on our side I decided to just pick 3 things to do so that we could really enjoy the day.
We started off with Skara Brae on the West of the island, a 20 min drive from the main town in Kirkwall. Nothing is really too far on the mainland of Orkney and it is easy to drive round. Skara Brae was not only fascinating but stunning as it sits on a cliff overlooking the most beautiful sandy beach. Just a handful of visitors in the early morning which is definitely my type of tourist attraction; a quiet one!
After a bite to eat at lunch, we headed down towards the Italian Chapel. The drive down to the chapel is interesting in itself as you pass over the Churchill barriers and half sunken war ships on either side. The chapel itself is a must see if you are visiting Orkney.
As the tiredness of the previous day set in, we wanted to camp on a quiet beach somewhere for the evening and enjoy the quiet and scenery of Orkney. We managed to find the perfect spot to park the van at the Sands of Wright. Some of my favourite things ever are: being able to open the van door and to eat dinner overlooking a beach, going to sleep at night to the sound of waves and waking up really early to photograph the sunrise just outside the door. The only part that didn’t happen was the sunrise, but you can’t have everything!
We took the North Link morning ferry home and started making plans to come back to Orkney.
