Today we needed to travel back to Stormness to catch the ferry to Hoy. Hoy means ‘high island’ – and it does indeed look very mountainous compared with the other islands. We arrived at Moaness.
After a short drive we arrived near the Dwarfe Stane, which is a 5000 year old Neolithic stone cut tomb carved from a huge sandstone erratic boulder. This was the first part of today’s walk.
A short drive to Rackwick and then set off round the coast towards ‘The old man of Hoy’ which is a 137m high sea stack. This was a great path with an ascent across the side of a high hill whilst having views out to sea. Quite rocky so some careful footwork needed.
This was our only non circular walk as we had to return along the same path. Quite a busy highway and great to see so many families out and about. Having been unsure of the weather it turned out to be a warm sunny day.
On returning to the village it was time for a trip to the bay. With steep cliffs on both sides the stand out features were very soft fine sand and spectacular large, smooth, sandstone pebbles.
The walk today was about 13 km plus the short walk to the Neolithic tomb which added in another 2km.
Highlight – seeing the iconic ‘Old Man of Hoy’.
Marion's 50 Walk Challenge 