British Isles Explorer Ocean Cruise

Day 14: Monday, April 20, 2026 - Stenness and Kirkwall, Scotland

The day's statistics:
⛅ Weather: rainy to partly cloudy, low 50s
👟 Steps: Linda 5,323; Steve 13,171

This morning's excursion began at 8:45, so we arose 15 minutes early to start the day.

Our morning routine was typical, though this morning from the World Café I got a shot of the sun just a little after sunrise near the horizon.

Group 3 - ours... - was guided by Karen, and driven by Alan.
Orkney is the largest of the 70 Scottish islands (only 20 are populated), and Kirkwall is its largest town.
We had over an hour-and-a-half drive to our first destination, admiring different aspects of the countryside and landscape along the way, seeing a lot of sheep too - a large contribution to the economy.







As we passed the peat fields, Karen told us about the harvest of it and how it is used - such as fertilizer and heating.


This is the largest natural harbor in Europe.
The oil rig in the one shot is (or was) actually for sale.





The tall hill / short mountain shrouded in the clouds is the highest peak in Orkney at 481 meters (1,578 feet). They even call it Ward Hill, so they don't even think it qualifies as a mountain.

We drove through the town of Stennes.








At the end of town, we turned left.


A bit further on, we slowly passed the Standing Stones of Stennes. They are a Neolithic monument and are considered one of the oldest henge sites in the British Isles, dating back to around 3100 BC, and were originally part of a larger stone circle.

After the Standing Stones, we passed by a waterway and proceeded over a small bridge that had a swan nest on the far side.


The next major destination was the Ring of Brodgar.

Similar to the Standing Stones, this was another ring of stones, this one dating back to around 2500 BC - 2000 BC.
There are 27 of the original 60 stones still standing. The site has an inner ring and an outer ring, with a deep moat (it was deeper then it is now) separating the two. The ring is 103 meters (339 feet) across. Raised walkways assured that entering the inner ring was purposeful.
Just beyond the ring, on the right was a large parking lot to accommodate a half dozen buses and a number of cars. Alan parked, we debussed, and headed across the street to the site. The first is a stitched panorama, and the rest are various shots from the walk I took completely around the ring. Some of the stones had begun to split as they were cut from slate.








On the way back to the bus, I captured most of the information boards.



After everyone was back on the bus by 11:00, we returned toward Stenness and saw some seals basking in the sun.

At the T-intersection, turning right would have taken us to Stenness. We turned left and went in the other direction, passing some interesting sights.


This unseeming mount in the middle of a field turned out to be a chamber. Based on the writings found on the wall, it was visited by Vikings.
An interesting fact about this chamber is that at sunset on the Winter Solstice, light shines into the chamber to illuminate the rear wall.

A little further on, we drove past the Orkney Islands largest forest. Yes. Apparently, trees are few on the islands due to the comparable harsh environment - but they are abundant in this location as it is more protected than most.
Karen joked that typically trees are planted to protect houses - but here the house are built to protect the trees.

Orkney Island generated so much electric through renewable energy that it generated 130% of its need. This has caused the government to want to install a power line from the island to the mainland to pass on future excess energy, while also allowing them to draw energy from the mainland. Ultimately, this will allow the coal fired plant on the island to be able to be shut down.
We continued on toward the port and the ship.



Salmon farming is a big industry here.

After embarking but before going inside, we grabbed a quick selfie.

Right inside the entry was an electronic signboard that showed more information than any paper document could.

After returning to the cabin and shedding our excursion items, we headed to lunch at the World Café.
It was the usual light buffet.

We preplanned to go to Saint Magnus Cathedral in the afternoon if we wanted, and if we had time.
There was plenty of time. As Linda wasn't up to it, I headed off into Kirkwall, taking the shuttle to the Travel Center. After debussing in the parking lot, I bypassed the building itself, crossed the street, and walked the block-and-a-half to St. Magnus Cathedral, built almost 900 years ago.

Around the church was an old cemetery that held what were called the Commonwealth War Graves.



After entering, I essentially took a loop around the perimeter, seeing a LOT of stained glass windows, and some memorials.













































There were more gravestones on the other side of the cathedral.

I crossed the street and headed toward the Bishop's Palace and the Earl's Palace.
The lack of leaves made the crows' nests really stand out. And I probably wouldn't have even looked up if it weren't for the racket the crows were making.

After passing by the palaces, I took the alley behind the church - which let me see more headstones, but also a completely different angle on the cathedral as well.



There were some other interesting sights on the way back to the Travel Center.



The "Welcome" sign was behind where the bus parked and therefore I only noticed it when I was leaving.

A little after 2:00 I was back onboard.

We frequently viewed the port talk on the TV. This afternoon, due to having the time, we visited the Star Theater to watch the port talk in person at 4:30 - it was regarding Edinbourgh.

Following the port talk, we headed to the atrium. The ladies were playing.

Just off the atrium - though it isn't on the deck plan - is a little museum-like area.


There was also a high-top table that turned out to be a great height for Pinocle.

Pinocle only last about 20 minutes because then it was time for dinner.
Tonight we headed to The Restaurant.

Linda had Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup, Braised Lamb Shank, and New York Cheesecake.



I had a double-order of Tiger Prawns, Seared Scallops, and .

We returned to the atrium for a couple songs before retiring to the cabin for the evening.

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