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TRAVEL/TOURS ADVERTORIALwww.nadfas.org.uk NADFAS REVIEW / SUMMER 2016 53 Why not explore this fascinating region while enjoying the intimate home-from-home comfort of Hebridean Princess? Visit Oban, Inverewe Garden on Loch Ewe, the Scottish Lighthouse Museum in Fraserburgh, Stromness Museum, the Bird Observatory on Fair Isle, Sumburgh Head, North Ronaldsay and Sanday on the nine-night ‘Lighthouses of the Far North’ cruise from July 10–19, 2017. A guest speaker will help to unlock the secrets of the region. For more information contact Hebridean on 01756 704700 or seewww.hebridean.co.uk.Opposite: Neolithic Ring of Brodgar, Mainland, OrkneyAbove: Dunnet Head lighthouse with Orkney islands behindin prehistoric remains: Orkney’s principal island, Mainland, is home to the UNESCO-listed Heart of Neolithic Orkney cluster of sites which comprises a well-preserved village, a chambered cairn, standing stones and a stone circle. Shetland is similarly blessed with archaeological sites. On Mousa, just off the largest island (also called Mainland), there’s an almost intact Iron Age broch (a circular stone tower). At Jarlshof, meanwhile, revealed following a storm in the late 19th century, there is evidence of 4,000 years of human occupation, including late Neolithic houses, a Bronze Age village, an Iron Age broch and wheelhouses, a Norse longhouse, a medieval farmstead and a 16th-century laird’s house. Artefacts in the islands’ museums provide further information about the rich history and traditions of Shetland and Orkney. Among the items on display at the Orkney Museum in Kirkwall, for instance, are fi nds from a Viking boat burial excavated on the island of Sanday in 1991: a quiver with eight arrows, bone combs, gaming pieces, two spindle whorls and a whalebone plaque featuring two dragon heads, among other items. In Lerwick, the Shetland Museum & Archive is known for its archaeological collections, encompassing everything from pottery and ploughshares to more unusual objects such as Roman glass and a Viking silver brooch.Naturally, geography and geology have also played a part in creating the special character of the Northern Isles. Orkney, mainly sandstone and separated from the Scottish mainland by the 10mile-wide Pentland Firth with its terrifying currents, is noticeably less rugged and geologically complex than Shetland, which is another 100 miles further north. Both, however, offer striking scenery, from sea stacks to sand dunes, as well as safe havens for a huge variety of plants, animals and birds. Two things help to account for this: the fact that only around one-fi fth of the 170 or islands that make up the two archipelagos are inhabited, and the Gulf Stream, which means that the islands have a much milder climate than other places on the same latitude (such as Anchorage in Alaska and St Petersburg in Russia). In the relatively warm waters – rich feeding grounds for marine mammals – sightings of harbour porpoises and two species of seal are frequent, and there’s also a chance of seeing otters, orcas, white-sided dolphins, a minke whale or even rarer visitors. Shetland and Orkney are havens for seabirds, too, including gannets, storm petrels and puffi ns, whose breeding colony at Sumburgh Head on Shetland is one of Britain’s most accessible. Fair Isle – technically part of Shetland, though actually as close to Orkney as to Shetland – is particularly rich in birdlife, and even has species such as the Fair Isle wren which are found nowhere else and can sometimes be spotted at the Bird Observatory.Not surprisingly, the abundance of wildlife, and particularly fi sh, has long been a signifi cant part of human existence on the islands, too; Stromness Museum in Orkney is among several that shed light on the region’s maritime history. However, because of the strong winds that are such a feature of island life that trees struggle to grow, traditional fi shing boats such as Shetland’s oar-powered sixareen – a legacy of Norse rule – were frequently wrecked, and even more advanced sail- and steam-powered vessels suffered the same fate. From the late 18th century onwards, a new breed of engineers tried to tackle the problem with lighthouses at strategic points around Shetland and Orkney, including Sumburgh Head, North Ronaldsay and Sanday. The oldest, the Old Beacon at North Ronaldsay, dates back to 1789, but was superseded in 1854 by a more advanced design by the uncle of Robert Louis Stevenson. The Stevenson family was also responsible for Start Point on Sanday, the fi rst Scottish lighthouse to have a revolving light, and Sumburgh, the fi rst lighthouse in Shetland.Now automated and open to the public, they are ideal venues in which to appreciate the beautiful remoteness of the Northern Isles, with their spectacular scenery, unique history and way of life defi ned by the sea. ■ Images: Shutterstock.