Sandwick, South Ronaldsay

A 3-hour cliff-top walk from Burwick pier to Sandwick, encouraged by good company, a warm breeze and sherbert sweets, not to mention the prospect of a dip at the end of it.

There are jelly fish, and I can't overcome my startle reflex at the sight of each, even though darting and dodging in the water has a sleep-walking slowness and ineffectiveness to it. No stings to distract me from the trauma of having extracted a tick from my wrist earlier in the day.

Today, I have a towel hauder (rhymes with 'clod') and a towel hadder (Orcadian). Haud/had yer wheesht ('keep quiet') is a common expression, I'm told. Fortunately, we had no reason to turn down the volume, and the day was spent in laughter and happy chatter.

Here is some info on South Ronaldsay from Orkney's official website:
"South of ‘The Hope’ as far as you can go is Burwick Pier where you can take a foot ferry to John o’ Groats in the summer.  Here also is the Tomb of the Eagles, a Neolithic chambered tomb which was found on a farm.  The family-owned visitor centre offers a welcoming talk when you can handle artefacts before making your way on a stunning coastal path to the tomb, where eagle talons were found amongst the burial.  There is also a Bronze Age burnt mound. South Ronaldsay is one of the linked South Isles, which are connected to each other by the manmade causeways, the Churchill Barriers, built by Italian prisoners-of-war during World War Two."

Laura (my cousin-something-removed) and Mary towel-hadding and hauding on Sandwick beach.