Post by Creative on Jan 30, 2007 9:45:00 GMT -5
Around 12 years ago, we bought a house on a small island in the Orkneys. However, there were a few problems with it (needed work) and we left the island, came back within around 6 months then left again.
Around 11 years later, this January we finally returned.
Rousay - The Long Awaited Return
It was around 8pm on a Friday night when we had got everything packed into the car. We thought we'd get around 100 miles that night before settling down for the night. However, when we found a quiet place to park up (we were too late for B&B's by then), neither me, my brother or sister could get to sleep. None of us were tired. And so, we set off once again singing "We drove all night"!
There were a few signs for service stations, so we tried to stop at a few, following the directions on the signs closely. But there were no service stations!The A9 signosts must have been having a joke! We travelled higher and higher up hills. Finally we found a service station that actually existed! We stopped to get a sandwich.
Eventually we stopped again at a little car park that was just at the side of the road to get a cup of tea (we had flasks).
My brother, whom was driving, and my sister had an hour or two's rest. I couldn't get to sleep myself, knowing that because of the positioning of the car park, one wrong move from a lorry driver could send it ploughing into the back of the car!
Finally, we settled down for the night somehwere much safer!
Eventually, we got to the ferry port. It was day light by now. But the kiosk there wasn't open yet. So my sister 'phoned one of the directry enquiries numbers (there are now several in the UK, all charging too much!), and asked for the number of the Scrabster ferry office. She 'phoned the number only to be told that the ferry was in! Unless we had all gone blind, she was very much mistaken! We realised eventually that we must have been give the number for the Stromness ferry port, not the one we had requested. So we phoned a different directry number and got the correct number. We booked the tickets for the 7PM sailing (it was Saturday now).
Eventually, we paid and got our tickets and waited to board the ferry. Once safely inside, we parked the car, locked up and explored. Suddenly, the Captain's voice welcomed us aboard, and said "We HOPE to have a reasonably comfortbale voyage." He also announced that it would be rough after 20 minutes at sea and that as the seas were so rough, he was making a detour.. True to his word, after around 20 minutes, the ferry was tilting from side to side, which made us fall about, gripping onto any handrail that the ferry pushed us towards!
Finally, we arrived in Stromness on the Orkney Mainland. We made our way to the next ferry port, only to discover the last ferry left at 5.30 PM, so we had a look around for somewhere to stay, but due to the time of year, most B&Bs and Guest Houses were not open.
But, eventually, we found a Guest House that was open, Brekkness Guest House, near to the local Lidl (they seem to have taken over Scotland!) and Somerfield.
In the morning (Sunday), we left the Guest House after a cooked breakfast and shower and headed back to the second ferry port (Tingwall). But - the ferries didn't run on Sunday! So, another night in the car for us!
We found an off road track out of the way of other veichles and went to sleep (we had sleeping bags with us).
Finally, Monday morning came and we could finally board the ferry to Rousay ( a small island with around 259-80 inhabitants), which is a small ferry that only holds around 8 cars at the most. At one point I saw a bird in the distance and went "Oh look - a puffin. [pause] Oh my mistake, it's a seagull!" I said a few things which were funny that I didn't mean to be! We reversed onto the ferry gangway (as all veichles must do).The veichles stay parked on the parking spaces which is open air. The ferry began its' voyage, as the front of it was still being closed.
The sea was lashing in from the small holes at the side (holes that are meant to be there, in case you're wondering).
Alas, we could see the sign for Rousay. The ferry stopped and a crew member lowered the platform. After an absence of over 11 years, we were back on Rousay! It looked a little different from how we'd remembered. The roads were tamacked, and some new buildings were there (though they replaced ones that were already there, and there was actually less houses, I think).
The internet had become available a few years ago on the island and people now had mobiles (though you had to be high upo to get a signal).
We 'phoned Trumland Hostel and enquired about staying there. But the heating takes a day to warm up (there was noone else there). They told us to enquire back later on if we couldn't find anywhere else and they'd see what they could do. As it was still daytime, we went up to the house we own. A fence had been put up by the council, but one which we could open. We tried driving up the long path, but the grass was overgrown and the car couldn't make it, so we left it at the bottom of the path and raced up. The weather had taken its toll on the building, some windows had blown out and other damage. A dead sheep was in one of the bedrooms, which I presume had gone in there to escape the elements only for the door to slam shut (we didn't have a key for the house, and didn't need one as people don't burgle on Rousay), thus perishing in the dwelling. The covering had blown off 2 out of the 3 stables. We were in shock at the state of the house, but we later realised it could, with a lot of work and around £20,000 (cheap for a house in this day and age!), be fixed (The house had cost £14,000 when we bought it) .So we might go up again and do some repairs.
We noticed a farmer in the next field looking towards our house. We left the house and headed to Marion's Shop, which is run by her [Marion] and her husband Chris. It had been expensive when we lived on Rousay all those years ago, so we couldn't wait to see what the prices were like now! Imagine our surprise when we discovered the prices were actualy cheap! Chris and Marion didn't seem to recognise us. We bought a few bits and pieces (choclate mainly!) and drove to the path of an old friend. My brother 'phoned her from his mobile. She was shocked to hear from us and enquired where we were. He told her we were on Rousay. "Where abouts?" she enquired. "At the top of your path!" he replied. "Oh my God!" she said, "Come on down, come on down!" So we did, and when her husband got back, she asked him if we could stay (she didn't want to say anything untill she was sure they were both happy). We ate sauges, mash and spaghetti. We all, in turns, played pool with her adopted son. he was nine years old and was quite funny! The pool table was in a large shed which held a tractor and other stuff, complete with electricity. The table was the size of the ones you find in pubs.
Whilst I was playing pool, my brother and sister went to try and get a signal on their mobiles. They eventually went to the Pier Resteraunt and pub.
After a chat, the farmer we saw said he thought we were spying on him at Pow (our house), until he discovered that was not the case and we owned the building.
The next day, Marion's wasn't open (Tuesdays she is shut). We stayed one more night on Rousay and went to Marion's again on the Wednesday. She was open from around 2PM. This time, we said we used to live at Pow, and Marion went "Oh, you're the Croad children". Chris asked me if I was still drawing (yes), as I used to get a lot of drawing paper there for free. We bought some lager and chocolates to say thanks to the people who had put us up for two nights, and eventually made our way to the pier to catch the ferry back to the Mainland. We took some photos, and eventually, we boarded the ferry and said goodbye to Rousay.
Around 11 years later, this January we finally returned.
Rousay - The Long Awaited Return
It was around 8pm on a Friday night when we had got everything packed into the car. We thought we'd get around 100 miles that night before settling down for the night. However, when we found a quiet place to park up (we were too late for B&B's by then), neither me, my brother or sister could get to sleep. None of us were tired. And so, we set off once again singing "We drove all night"!
There were a few signs for service stations, so we tried to stop at a few, following the directions on the signs closely. But there were no service stations!The A9 signosts must have been having a joke! We travelled higher and higher up hills. Finally we found a service station that actually existed! We stopped to get a sandwich.
Eventually we stopped again at a little car park that was just at the side of the road to get a cup of tea (we had flasks).
My brother, whom was driving, and my sister had an hour or two's rest. I couldn't get to sleep myself, knowing that because of the positioning of the car park, one wrong move from a lorry driver could send it ploughing into the back of the car!
Finally, we settled down for the night somehwere much safer!
Eventually, we got to the ferry port. It was day light by now. But the kiosk there wasn't open yet. So my sister 'phoned one of the directry enquiries numbers (there are now several in the UK, all charging too much!), and asked for the number of the Scrabster ferry office. She 'phoned the number only to be told that the ferry was in! Unless we had all gone blind, she was very much mistaken! We realised eventually that we must have been give the number for the Stromness ferry port, not the one we had requested. So we phoned a different directry number and got the correct number. We booked the tickets for the 7PM sailing (it was Saturday now).
Eventually, we paid and got our tickets and waited to board the ferry. Once safely inside, we parked the car, locked up and explored. Suddenly, the Captain's voice welcomed us aboard, and said "We HOPE to have a reasonably comfortbale voyage." He also announced that it would be rough after 20 minutes at sea and that as the seas were so rough, he was making a detour.. True to his word, after around 20 minutes, the ferry was tilting from side to side, which made us fall about, gripping onto any handrail that the ferry pushed us towards!
Finally, we arrived in Stromness on the Orkney Mainland. We made our way to the next ferry port, only to discover the last ferry left at 5.30 PM, so we had a look around for somewhere to stay, but due to the time of year, most B&Bs and Guest Houses were not open.
But, eventually, we found a Guest House that was open, Brekkness Guest House, near to the local Lidl (they seem to have taken over Scotland!) and Somerfield.
In the morning (Sunday), we left the Guest House after a cooked breakfast and shower and headed back to the second ferry port (Tingwall). But - the ferries didn't run on Sunday! So, another night in the car for us!
We found an off road track out of the way of other veichles and went to sleep (we had sleeping bags with us).
Finally, Monday morning came and we could finally board the ferry to Rousay ( a small island with around 259-80 inhabitants), which is a small ferry that only holds around 8 cars at the most. At one point I saw a bird in the distance and went "Oh look - a puffin. [pause] Oh my mistake, it's a seagull!" I said a few things which were funny that I didn't mean to be! We reversed onto the ferry gangway (as all veichles must do).The veichles stay parked on the parking spaces which is open air. The ferry began its' voyage, as the front of it was still being closed.
The sea was lashing in from the small holes at the side (holes that are meant to be there, in case you're wondering).
Alas, we could see the sign for Rousay. The ferry stopped and a crew member lowered the platform. After an absence of over 11 years, we were back on Rousay! It looked a little different from how we'd remembered. The roads were tamacked, and some new buildings were there (though they replaced ones that were already there, and there was actually less houses, I think).
The internet had become available a few years ago on the island and people now had mobiles (though you had to be high upo to get a signal).
We 'phoned Trumland Hostel and enquired about staying there. But the heating takes a day to warm up (there was noone else there). They told us to enquire back later on if we couldn't find anywhere else and they'd see what they could do. As it was still daytime, we went up to the house we own. A fence had been put up by the council, but one which we could open. We tried driving up the long path, but the grass was overgrown and the car couldn't make it, so we left it at the bottom of the path and raced up. The weather had taken its toll on the building, some windows had blown out and other damage. A dead sheep was in one of the bedrooms, which I presume had gone in there to escape the elements only for the door to slam shut (we didn't have a key for the house, and didn't need one as people don't burgle on Rousay), thus perishing in the dwelling. The covering had blown off 2 out of the 3 stables. We were in shock at the state of the house, but we later realised it could, with a lot of work and around £20,000 (cheap for a house in this day and age!), be fixed (The house had cost £14,000 when we bought it) .So we might go up again and do some repairs.
We noticed a farmer in the next field looking towards our house. We left the house and headed to Marion's Shop, which is run by her [Marion] and her husband Chris. It had been expensive when we lived on Rousay all those years ago, so we couldn't wait to see what the prices were like now! Imagine our surprise when we discovered the prices were actualy cheap! Chris and Marion didn't seem to recognise us. We bought a few bits and pieces (choclate mainly!) and drove to the path of an old friend. My brother 'phoned her from his mobile. She was shocked to hear from us and enquired where we were. He told her we were on Rousay. "Where abouts?" she enquired. "At the top of your path!" he replied. "Oh my God!" she said, "Come on down, come on down!" So we did, and when her husband got back, she asked him if we could stay (she didn't want to say anything untill she was sure they were both happy). We ate sauges, mash and spaghetti. We all, in turns, played pool with her adopted son. he was nine years old and was quite funny! The pool table was in a large shed which held a tractor and other stuff, complete with electricity. The table was the size of the ones you find in pubs.
Whilst I was playing pool, my brother and sister went to try and get a signal on their mobiles. They eventually went to the Pier Resteraunt and pub.
After a chat, the farmer we saw said he thought we were spying on him at Pow (our house), until he discovered that was not the case and we owned the building.
The next day, Marion's wasn't open (Tuesdays she is shut). We stayed one more night on Rousay and went to Marion's again on the Wednesday. She was open from around 2PM. This time, we said we used to live at Pow, and Marion went "Oh, you're the Croad children". Chris asked me if I was still drawing (yes), as I used to get a lot of drawing paper there for free. We bought some lager and chocolates to say thanks to the people who had put us up for two nights, and eventually made our way to the pier to catch the ferry back to the Mainland. We took some photos, and eventually, we boarded the ferry and said goodbye to Rousay.