Orkneyfinella Saga 5 - Westray's northern Noup

[denfinella]

7am on our Orkney holiday and somehow we'd already dragged ourselves down to Kirkwall harbour for the 7.20am sailing to Westray. One of the northernmost outlying islands, the painful start at least allowed a decent day on the island. The weather was looking promising as we left Kirkwall:

...but not for long:

90 minutes of mostly rain and no views later, we were on firm soil again, a little later than timetabled. We scooted up to the northern end of Westray first with the idea of exploring the island from top down.

noup-head.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

The parking area at the designated start of the walk looked a little iffy, so we drove on with the intention of parking at the lighthouse instead. However, the road soon deteriorated into an uneven track littered with sharp stones - we didn't fancy the car's chances of four miles (return) on this, so we ended up parking on grass by the side of the track soon after Noup Farm. Heading back down to Backarass (there's an information board here and in hindsight, we should just have parked here after all), we followed the path down to the cliffs, meeting the sea at an attractive inlet.

We soon saw our first black guillemots:

The northern end of the cliffs near Noup Head is the most dramatic end, but the whole section of coastline was lovely, with plenty of different birds in low numbers:

Cormorant:

Rabbits getting in on the action (not much grass there!):

Fat fulmar chick:

Defiant sheep:

Over the slabs towards the lighthouse:

Impressive coastal architecture:

Loch of the Stack:

The highest part of the cliffs, near the trig point, were the busiest too - plenty of gannets here still, along with a few chicks:

A solitary puffin eyeing up a chick:

Seals basking on the rocks below Noup Head:

LIghthouse:

Arriving at the lighthouse car park and leaving the interesting coast behind, a car turned up, stopped for about 30 seconds, then turned round and drove back along the long, stony track. Can't help but think they hadn't quite made the most of their trip...

We set off back to the car along the track. Looking back to the lighthouse:

The track's mostly downhill, and there was plenty to look at on the way back to the car.

An interesting walk - apart from the car and a couple of tractors, we didn't see anyone else for the whole walk. In early summer, it would be even better...

A few photos from Pierowall afterwards:

Orkney 2015
Previous day: Wideford Hill: http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=55752
Afternoon: Castle O' Burrian: http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=55877

[weaselmaster]

A really nice walk this. Was the first place I ever saw ravens close up - a pair followed me for about 3 miles of this route just tumbling and jooking about in the sky - fair made my day. Then had a snack down by the water and was scrutinised by about six big seals with their doggy faces
marvelous islands

[denfinella]

Yes, we enjoyed it despite the weather - sign of a good walk would have preferred ravens close up than those terns!