Taking the Tablets

There are sufficient Apple iPads in this illustration to supply the eleven Health Board members of NHS Orkney. They have recently each been issued with an iPad - at a total cost of £7000 - to become the first public body in Scotland to do away with the use of paper. The intention is to be 'paper light' and so there's been more than the provision of these computers - printers have been removed, ink eliminated and stationery cupboards de-stocked. The intention is to improve performance and make savings by adopting new technologies. Here is a group of health officials being made to take their tablets.

Scottish Islands Explorer - always looking for new ways to communicate

On Not Missing the Boat

Northlink Ferries, the company that runs services to Shetland, presents those who like to plan well ahead with a problem. Bookings are not being taken after July 2012. The reason is that their contract expires then. However, the process of tendering is not underway yet. The Scottish Government's Finance Minister, John Swinney, insists that all will be in place within the next nine months. There are, naturally, concerns that someone will end up missing the boat - either the authorities or the islanders.

Scottish Islands Explorer - aware of deadlines

It's Free, not Animal-Free

There are 20 golf courses on the islands to the west of the Scottish mainland and a dozen of them are of the nine-hole variety. One of the 18-hole courses, on Iona, is very special in that its obstacles include wanderings around by a lone bull and a flock of sheep. However, its best feature, perhaps, is that it's free - no green fees and no charges ... unless by the bull.

Scottish Islands Explorer - free, of spirit

Comets to Watch

From the Northern Isles the Comet, C2009 P1Garradd, is clearly visible. It continues to brighten particularly in the late evening. Look to the southern skies as the Moon becomes less radiant over the coming nights. In the south of the UK, we will have to make to do with that electrical appliance retailer, Comet, where sales have fallen 22% in the past three months and a trading decision will be made by the end of the year. That does make two Comets to watch!

Scottish Islands Explorer - looking to the skies as well as the isles

Pleased to be Home?

The 90 Lewis Chessmen found on Ardroil Beach, Uig, in 1831 have been in care with museum authorities for quite some time. 29 of them came back from Edinburgh to be on display in Stornoway since last April. 21,000 visitors viewed them there. Then six of them were taken on a flying visit to Uig where the local historical society had brief custody. If you are feeling more cheerful than they would appear, then read about it in this week's Stornoway Gazette.

When even the Queen looks concerned about being at home again, then it's time to check-out and get back to the capital.

Scottish Islands Explorer - tries to make the right moves

From One Field to Another

This seagull was spotted on top of a buoy in Canadian waters. Perhaps it had heard that these devices, for warning shipping and collecting data, can go places. Last year a one-tonne buoy in a Newfoundland oil-field was dislodged by the fiercest tropical storm ever to penetrate those waters. The impact of Hurricane Igor was dramatic and the result, in this case, was that the buoy drifted and encountered the North Atlantic currents. It was found earlier this month in the oil-fields of ... Shetland. Read the account in The Shetland Times.

Scottish Islands Explorer - usually crosses the Atlantic in the other direction

Success or Excess?

This cruise liner off Hatston Pier, Orkney, symbolises something that's both remarkable and, in some ways, amusing. Around this time of year, bookings for about 20 cruise liners to visit Orkney have been made for the forthcoming year. The Council's Transport and Infrastructure Committee has just announced that with the new pier extension going ahead, some 62 cruise ships have made advanced booking for 2012. They will bring about 48,000 passengers, many of whom will come ashore. The total is expected to rise to 80 ships. So picture Kirkwall's Main Street, below, before the crowds of visitors arrive to explore the town.

 
On the other hand, the Christmas and New Year's Day scenes when Kirkwall's form of street football, the 'Ba' Game, is played will probably not be repeated. Unless, that is, inter-ship competitions are devised or cut-price sales introduced in the shops!

Scottish Islands Explorer - tries to draw crowds

From Colonsay to Coalition

Although Danny Alexander was born in Edinburgh (15 May 1972), his early years were spent on Colonsay. Now that he has become Chief Secretary to the Treasury and fully involved in the financial management of Britain, he must sometimes yearn for the simple pastimes of his childhood - such as playing on the sea-shore and seeing ferry-boats arrive and depart. How many eminent politicians have been influenced by the pleasures and pressures of living on a Scottish island during formative years? The image below of The Strand between Colonsay and Oronsay gives the impression of that-idyllic-place-in-which-to-grow-up.

Scottish Islands Explorer - getting on for 12 years-of-age
 

Human Energy Saving

There are some arduous ways of getting energy supplies and cutting peat by hand on the isolated isle of Foula is one of them. Then along comes solar-, wind- and hydro-electric power schemes and the current flows continuously. The days and nights when supplies regularly and suddenly cut out are over. The landscape and text featured here indicates the changing sources. The panels close to the island school indicate a far less strenuous method employed during daylight hours, although those are limited during the depths of winter.

  

Scottish Islands Explorer - aware of changes 

Stornoway to Stenny

A story in a recent issue of the Stornoway Gazette involved a young boy signing for Stenhousemuir Football Club. A feature of this Scottish League team is that they have a strong supporters' club in ... Norway. The reason is allegedly because there is a tradition for young footballers on remote Norwegian farms to have to practise their skills against posts painted on the walls of a barn - 'the stone-house-mural'. The Club's name obviously resonates far away. It's a connection that could pay dividends were the team to rise from the Second Division because, as a result of their interest, this group of fans was awarded 5% of the Club's shares.

Scottish Islands Explorer - sharing interests