{"id":152,"date":"2026-09-18T20:21:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eskerhazy.ca\/?p=152"},"modified":"2026-09-18T20:21:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:21:39","slug":"rousay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eskerhazy.ca\/?p=152","title":{"rendered":"Orkney Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rousay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Today was a day for exploring Rousay – the island is bigger than I thought! But never mind – there were 3 neolithic sites just off the road within a 30 minute walk from my hostel!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blackhammer chambered cairn – literally beside the main road. I was astounded that you could just walk up to it, and climb in. It’s fenced, but just to keep the livestock out. Next was Yarso cairn:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On an absolutely stunning ridgeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Have I mentioned yet that I love heather?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I encountered this lovely (and humungous) Saturnia pavonia<\/em> (small emperor moth) caterpillar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One more neolithic site (Tavers\u00f6e Tuick) on the walk back – this one I actually went in because there was an older couple there – I’m a bit weirded out going inside them by myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was considering trying to hitch a ride to one of the other archaeological sites or walking trails after lunch, but decided to do a walk up into an RSPB reserve and up to the high point if the island, conveniently just near the hostel. This was my first big trek through thick heather – the track was one shoe-width and the heather was up to my waist in places. Very glad I brought my walking poles for hopping over boggy parts as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The bees, the heather…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The hill just seemed to go on and on across the moor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But I did, at last, make it to the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And what a view!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Little ponds, in old peat cuttings, I presume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More peat cuttings on the way down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Not pictured: stoat traps. My host at the hostel had just come back from a meeting of the stoat response brigade (not the official name), because they’ve confirmed one has made its way to Rousay. Likely swam from Mainland Orkney – it’s a male, but they’re taking no chances. Stoats (aka weasel\/ermine) are not native here, and could devastate the ecosystem, particularly the unique Orkney Vole and the ground\/coast nesting birds. This was the start of me seeing stoat traps EVERYWHERE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And to relax after a hike with an Orkney beer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rousay Today was a day for exploring Rousay – the island is bigger than I thought! But never mind – there were 3 neolithic sites just off the road within a 30 minute walk from my hostel! Blackhammer chambered cairn – literally beside the main road. I was astounded that you could just walk up to it, and climb in. It’s fenced, but just to keep the livestock out. Next was Yarso cairn: On an absolutely stunning ridgeline. Have I mentioned yet that I love heather? I encountered this lovely (and humungous) Saturnia pavonia (small emperor moth) caterpillar. One more neolithic site (Tavers\u00f6e Tuick) on the walk back – this one I actually went in because there was an older couple there – I’m a bit weirded out going inside them by myself. I was considering trying to hitch a ride to one of the other archaeological sites or walking trails after lunch, but decided to do a walk up into an RSPB reserve and up to the high point if the island, conveniently just near the hostel. This was my first big trek through thick heather – the track was one shoe-width and the heather was up to my waist in places. Very glad I brought my walking poles for hopping over boggy parts as well. The bees, the heather… The hill just seemed to go on and on across the moor. But I did, at last, make it to the top. And what a view! Little ponds, in old peat cuttings, I presume. More peat cuttings on the way down. Not pictured: stoat traps. My host at the hostel had just come back from a meeting of the stoat response brigade (not the official name), because they’ve confirmed one has made its way to Rousay. Likely swam from Mainland Orkney – it’s a male, but they’re taking no chances. Stoats (aka weasel\/ermine) are not native here, and could devastate the ecosystem, particularly the unique Orkney Vole and the ground\/coast nesting birds. This was the start of me seeing stoat traps EVERYWHERE. And to relax after a hike with an Orkney beer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-le-peregrinazioni-di-lis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eskerhazy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eskerhazy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eskerhazy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eskerhazy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eskerhazy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/eskerhazy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169,"href":"https:\/\/eskerhazy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions\/169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eskerhazy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eskerhazy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eskerhazy.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}