Many years ago we first ventured to John o'Groats, the northern-most village in Britain, and gazed across the Pentland Firth to the hazy Orkneys. In those days the ferry crossing was beyond our financial capabilities and we had to come away, the image of those remote islands etched on our brains.
It was a thrill, therefore, to finally make the crossing in 2016 and set foot on terra nova. What a delightful place the Orkneys are - and how friendly the locals showed themselves. Museums where entrance is free, lonely roads where you can drive for miles without seeing another vehicle, ragged cliffs against which the Atlantic thuds in clouds of spray, air so fresh and clean that breathing is as good as a three-course meal anywhere else! And, of course, more megalithic monuments than you can shake a stick at - and more being discovered every day.
Of course there are places where entry is more circumscribed and expensive - Skara Brae, Maes Howe, even the gorgeous little Italian Chapel - but your entrance money is so obviously being put to good use in preservation and presentation that you pay up with a smile.
In short, if the Orkneys are not on your "bucket list", grab an eraser, rub out everything else and put The Orkneys in big bold letters. See Kirkwall and die!