Up early to get a ferry to Stronsay. Again took the bikes but this time managed to see a lot more of the island - 3 different beaches, all lovely, all slightly different and all to ourselves. Luckily the weather held off until the cycle home and the slightly bumpy ferry back before a hideous storm overnight - I thought we were going to blow away!

Hurrah, the weekend and the sun was shining - so why dd it take us so long to get outside and stop doing school, shopping and chores?! Eventually managed to get to the South Islands and drive across the barriers and just get to see the inside of this amazing building - constructed by Italian POWs during the Second World War from 2 Nissen huts..... definitely worth the trip.

Another busy day..... We cycled down to catch the 11.30 ferry to Shapinsay - the island closest to Mainland in the hope of seeing a little more of the Orkneys but the island was a lot bigger, hillier, wetter and windier than expected and so we didn't get nearly as far as we had hoped - it turns out Orkney is bigger than we thought! Headed back to the Bubble Show at the Orkney International Science Festival in the beautiful Kirkwall School theatre. After drying...

After school in the morning we headed to see the Ring of Brodgar which was fairly awesome and much easier to imagine being used as a place of worship than Stonehenge (set beside the A303). Then on to the Peatfire tales - Orkney history and folklore - where we were once again complimented on how well M&D behaved during a very late night.