Those two months flew by

These last two months have flown by. I thought I would do a new post at least once a month but internet fixes have been few and far between, and once the emails have been answered the blog gets left.

We have had a great time and met some wonderful people both on and off the water. The landscape has been dramatic and the walking good. This summer has been an especially warm and sunny one so far which always makes a difference....no grey, damp Scotland for us lucky Kiwis!

                                          Tobermory on the Isle of Mull

     We had a night anchored at Lunga Island where we got to hang out with the comical puffins.        Everywhere we have been there has been amazing birdlife, especially up in the Orkneys where birdwatcers come from all over at this time of the year. Other than birds we have seen very little wildlife except for a few dolphins and plenty of rabbits! No whales.

    The Ioana Abbey was closed but it was a lovely island and village to wander about. The anchorage wasn't too good so we were close by in Tinker's Hole with it's stunning rock, great walking.

     This was the big house on Rum Island (of course we had to go there), not the most tasteful architecture. It was interesting looking in the windows to see all the interior slowly decaying.

 Canna Island was a favorite spot for us and we enjoyed a week of walking, getting to know some locals, meeting other yachties (usually we are on our own). While we were there a Gaelic band called Diabh did a gig and about 60 people turned up.

      We had a month in the Outer Hebrides. Anchorages were close so we did a few miles most days, dropped the anchor and had a good walk. Most of the time we had the anchorages to ourselves so it was always nice when another boat turned up.

        The west coast of the Outer Hebrides was beautiful.

 We were lucky enough to be at the Callinish stone circle a day or two before the summer solstice and got to hang out with some people who gather there every year to celebrate with drums, pipes and even a didgeridoo. Windora was anchored just below the site and we watched the sun go down about midnight before we wandered home.

We have rushed through the Orkneys and Shetlands as we will be back this way next year on our way west, but what we have seen has us keen to return. The ancient sites, dating back 5,000 years are everywhere and some in really good condition. Today Phil was at a broch, a double-walled round house like the photo above which was built in the Iron Age. They may have been safe but would have been pretty dismal to live in.

In a day or two we will sail over to Norway and make our way north to the Lofoten Islands. It has been the first time we have been so undecided where to go....Norway or Iceland and west.... We feel like heading towards NZ but at the same time we know we won't be over in this side of the world on Windora again so it makes sense to have another summer here. It is such a beautiful part of the world and the history is our history too. NZ being such a young country, it is not many generations since our ancestors left this side of the world and sailed half way around the world to start a new life.