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Curiosity sent my partner and I to North Ronaldsay, the most northerly of the Orkney Islands last August. Travel from Kirkwall on the main island was simple - £21 return for the 15 minute flight in a 6 seater plane. The view over other islands and transparent, jade coloured sea was stunning. After a smooth landing at the 'airport' (a wooden hut and a field), we were immediately offered a lift to our accommodation, our first example of the island’s hospitable ‘make do and mend’ culture. With twice weekly, weather dependent ferries, no garage or MOTs, the small number of local vehicles are literally driven into the ground. The interior of North Ronaldsay is grassy fields surrounded by dry stone walls – no hills, no trees, no hedges. It is a flat, 3 mile long windswept paradise for watching migrating birds, seals or dolphins. There are two large sandy beaches and wild rocky shores. Flocks of diminutive North Ronaldsay sheep grazing on kelp alongside basking seals is an unexpected and amusing site. The lack of light pollution at night produces a stunning display of stars and seasonal aurora borealis. We accidentally arrived in the midst of the annual two week ‘Sheep Festival’ when volunteers, from around the world, come to rebuild the grade A listed, 12 mile long, 6 feet high dry stone wall, or sheep dyke, surrounding the island to keep the famous seaweed-eating sheep on the beach and off the grass. This extreme measure is to avoid copper toxicity - the seaweed is deficient in copper so the sheep have evolved a very efficient method of absorbing the element from their food. Today there are around 50 permanent residents, a tenth of the 19th century population which sustained the dyke, and it is a struggle to complete storm damage repairs. An eclectic mix of volunteers, warmly welcomed by locals, join the sheep festival to repair sections of the wall because of an interest in sheep or dry stone walling, family origins, curiosity or simply by accident. Traditional crofting and sheep farming continue today. There is a small post office/shop, a café at the lighthouse, a small restaurant/bar/shop at the bird observatory and a community centre. Many of the services we take for granted don’t exist and locals need to be multiskilled to sustain their way of life – the airport traffic controller is also the light house keeper, the fireman, car mechanic and farmer. The school currently has no pupils, but there is a nurse and the GP visits once a week, weather permitting. We stayed in the Bird Observatory (£58 a night, full board) situated on the southern tip of the island, with spectacular views of sandy South Bay. After a day exploring the coast, a serving of delicious, local mutton stew was much appreciated and an evening in the bar with the volunteers was delightful. A couple from Canada had been married that day at the Stones of Stenness on the main island and celebrations continued the following evening with a ceilidh, involving everyone on the island. The invitation to join their celebrations was a fantastic surprise, but the dilemma of what to wear was tricky. Having flown hand luggage only, our jeans were getting ripe and the T shirts had already been turned inside out. We were taught some basic steps by patient children, shared the wedding cake and speeches, downed the whiskey and finally accepted a lift home from the strangers who became friends for the evening. The hospitality on North Ronaldsay is like nothing we had experienced before.