Our Farewell Tour

It’s my last week here in Orkney; I leave Saturday evening. I haven’t started packing yet, but that shouldn’t take too long. I have begun our farewell tour: Scout & I are visiting a different walking trail each day this week, and so many of my friends have arranged meals out to say good-bye.

This is a good bye get together with the walking group – everyone was able to be there that day – and we had lunch at The Neuk. It’s the restaurant attached to the hotel my sister, nephew, and I stayed at the very first time we came to Orkney, so that was nice. My lunch was the worst, most overcooked fish & chips I’ve ever had, and completely inedible, so that wasn’t so nice. But the company was great. And there was wine.

And people are so kind. I had been thinking I should buy myself something Orkney-specific as a memento of my stay here, but I don’t want to be laden down with excess luggage when I fly home. You’d think they’d read my mind – they bought me a lovely (nice and small and easily packable for the plane) photo book of the islands. How thoughtful was that?

Still got a few dates set up for the rest of the week – it’s becoming very hard to say good bye to all these wonderful new friends. A few have promised to visit Canada. I have noticed everyone always wants to go to British Columbia – yeah, yeah, yeah, those mountains and ocean are stunning, but what about Ontario? Fortunately, all I have to do is say I live within an hour of Niagara Falls (only a peedie exaggeration there), and their eyes light up and the GTA is back on the itinerary.

I have mapped out a whole itinerary for my last two days in Orkney & my two-day drive south (of course you have, Lainey, of course you have), seeing some of my favourite spots one last time, but I’ll save that for later in the week.