As you might have realised our blogs are getting less frequent. This is partly because we are so busy with all our visitors but also because it is not quite as exciting to write about visiting the St. Magnus Cathedral for the seventh time! Although, I must admit, Maleah’s tour guide abilities are getting better by the day!

Last week was “godfather week” as Nanouk and Maleah’s godfathers (Ben and Martin) came to visit along with Lenny, my godson! We had a marvellous time, and spent two nights on Westray, one of our favourite islands!
After long considerations about logistics, I was lucky to find someone who rents out “cars for seven people” on Westray so we decided to bring back Ben’s rental car and just have the (what we thought would be a ) minivan in Westray. When I phoned back to confirm the rental the owner said: “Ah, no, it’s just a big five-seater, but there’s no police on the island, so the kids can sit in the boot.
With no other options we agreed, thinking it would be fun for the kids to sit in the boot, as we had loved that when we were small!

Of course, the godfathers took the plane as they wanted to be on the shortest flight, and we went with Lenny by ferry.
We were picked up at in Westray by two not so happy godfathers and one small estate car. Nobody had picked them up at the airport so luckily a local lady (with a knowing smile at the mention of the name of the people who should have picked them up with the huge rental car...) had given them a lift to the house. There they found out that the car was not only very small for seven people and even more suitcases and rucksacks but it also had a flat tyre.
The owner (quote by his wife: “He likes taking reservations, but then he doesn’t take responsibility.”) had left with “the good car” and so they were stuck with this one.
Apparently there was an engineer in town “who might be able to pump the tyre”, so we set off to find him - at 20mph, and the tyre getting flatter by the minute!
With no idea where to find this person we looked at the tyre again and realised that there was a nail in it!
So off we went, back to the house of the owner, who had returned with “the good car”, which was even smaller and did not have an open boot.
We still decided to take that car and spent the rest of our trip with children on our laps, who thought this was great fun - and with hindsight it was!
On a more positive note the self-catering accommodation was fabulous, with fresh scones and eggs waiting for us and the most lovely and romantic rooms!


And, of course, the highlight of the trip were the puffins, who came soo close and filled us all with awe and happiness!


We also enjoyed a picnic and hide and seek in an old castle, finding shells and a message in a bottle on the beach, amazing dunes and, of course, the famous fish and chips.


Then it was time to return to Mainland, this time all seven of us on the ferry:

We came back a day earlier as it was not only Norwegian Constitution Day, which is a big celebration in Kirkwall (with a procession for which the ambassador of Norway especially came up for from London) but also a big netball tournament for which Nanouk had be training for months. Any doubts about cutting our stay short for the tournament were eradicated by Nanouk who scored 20 of his team’s 32 scores - and this considering that he was only allowed to score in three of the nine matches! We were proud and happy to watch him!


Summer is so much busier here! There is always so much going on with school events, concerts, tournaments, athletics, cycle training, ... and the days are getting longer by the ... well, by the day!
Yesterday I cycled home at 11pm with no lights, and it went ok! I still saw all the bumps - and the cows watching me - and the farmer, still working on his tractor! And then, when I woke at five this morning, the sun was back!

Another fun experience we had before the godfathers arrived was Matt’s football game for the parish cup. Not only was it amazing to watch him play so well, but we were also slightly amused to realise that the spectators all sat in their cars to watch!


So we will keep you updated, of course, but we’re also trying to make the most of our last two months (aarrrgh! Who would have thought that time can fly so fast??) and of course, of our visitors who we want to show the bonny places of our “second home”!



(Some photos of our trip on our link on your left: Mostly photos with birds and not so many with our family :o)

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