Warm Orkney welcome as Island Games arrivals begin

The first of the 23 visiting islands competing at the International Island Games are beginning to arrive in Orkney.

Kirkwall Airport and ferry ports at Stromness, Kirkwall and St Margaret’s Hope will be a hive of activity over the next two days, as islanders from across the world arrive, most having travelled thousands of miles.

Over 1,600 athletes are competing in the Orkney Island Games, with many more officials, VIPs, spectators and more joining them.

A raft of volunteers are on hand to greet islanders and provide a warm Orkney welcome.

Laying claim to being the furthest travelled island is the Falkland Islands, who arrived this morning at Kirkwall Airport, following a 8,200-mile journey (as the crow flies) to Orkney from the archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Falklands assistant team manager, Sally Ellis, told The Orcadian that it was amazing to be somewhere so welcoming, so far away from home.

“It’s always nice coming from a small island to another small island” she said.

“I think there’s always a sense of safety, and of feeling at home instantly.

“The Island Games is known as the friendly games, and it is — everyone’s been so welcoming already.

“We’re looking forward to the opening ceremony and then getting underway.

Over the remainder of Thursday and Friday, they will be joined by compatriots from islanders from across the globe — from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic to the Caribbean.