Traveling to the Top of the World

This trip, the top of the world is the most northernly point in the United Kingdom - Unst. 

Packing. Almost a month away from home, going to someplace cold (layers) and planning to play with robots takes a LOT of stuff. At least for me. But we got it all into one big suitcase and one small one, plus our "personal" items. 

A Perfect Time to Travel

The airport was SO quiet, which is not something I say about airports very often. Secruity was fast and the plane was almost empty! Apparently not many people vacation in February. The back section of our A330 was almost empty, so I got a whole row of 4 seats to myself. I actually slept for a few hours. 

Heathrow was not quiet. We had to go through customs, pick up our luggage, then take the tube to a different terminal, where we checked in with British Airways, went through security again, and then find our new gate. Mom was a trooper - it was a LOT of walking and transitions. We hoped to have our SIM cards working, but I couldn't get our sim compartments open with a paperclip, so we did all of that with no help from our phones. The last flight was also pretty quiet - mom and I shared a row of 3 seats. 

Aberdeen airport is small and easy. While mom got a paper book, I stopped in an electronics shop where a nice guy changed out my sim card. And voila - my phone worked again! Pokemon, maps, and another check of the ferry. The crossing still looked rough, but not cancelled. 

We took the bus from the airport into the town center. It was easy and cheap - and amusing. We sat next to two guys from Nigeria who had tons of luggage. They had no working sim card, so I used mine to help them figure out where to go next. They looked pretty tired and confused. We didn't get to sit on the second floor because our luggage was too heavy to pull up the stairs. 

We still had a couple hours to kill, so we stopped at Union Square for lunch. Mom watched the luggage for 1/2 hour and I did a quick walk around downtown Aberdeen. I passed Ship Row, which has been around since 1281. History has a different scale here! We also found perhaps the only Apple store in northern Scotland and another really nice guy installed mom's sim card and showed us pictures of his friends who were just in Up Helly Ah in Shetland. 

Last trip, in July, lots of people in Aberdeen (the customs guy, the cab driver, etc.) asked us why we were going to Shetland. This time - most people tell us about their trips to Shetland or their recommendations or their friends who live there. 

Next up - the NorthLink Overnight Ferry!

St. Ninians

St. Ninians Isle

On the southern end of the Shetland mainland is the tombolo of St. Ninian's Isle. A tombolo has beach on two sides. We got there on one of the warmest days of Shetland's summer. It was gorgeous. We walked down to the beach - and then I went swimming in the Atlantic! And yes - it was cold. 

Sumburgh Head

The most southern tip of the "mainland" of Shetland is called Sumburgh. It's a high point, so of course there's a lighthouse. And near the high point is a very flat area, which is used for both the airport and 

Lerwick

 The next morning we woke up to Shetland! An international flight, another flight, a long wait, then an overnight ferry and we made it. 

We walked the 1/2 mile to our Airbnb, and Sarah met us to show us the little house we'd be staying in - she lives next door. Most guests come on the ferry, so she arranges her rentals to start first thing in the morning. We were very grateful! We settled in and gratefully took a rest. 

Shetland!

COVID-19 has been challenging in many ways, and one of the hardest for me are the travel restrictions. We were supposed to take an Alaska cruise in the summer of 2020. The cruise eventually got fully cancelled and our money refunded so we could just accept that it wasn't happening and move on. 

But by the summer of 2021, I was really ready to resume travel. I worked crazy hours for over a year - I needed a break. 

My lifeline during the long summer of 2020 was the shetlandwebcams . I loved peering into the chilly, grey, wet days in Shetland during the long hot summer. With travel restrictions in place, I loved seeing residents walk dogs and babies and themselves along the waterfront and visit Sumburgh, the puffins, and Escheness. I was glad they got the space to enjoy their own island. 

Here are some of the screenshots I took that first summer:

And ... I wanted to visit. To see the views behind the cameras - and to see and feel Shetland for real. 

So I planned a trip for summer 2021. Surely that was long enough! We were vaccinated - we just needed countries to lift the quarantine period for visitors. But they delayed and delayed, and I had to cancel. 

So I planned again for 2022. Summer was the most expensive time - but that's what we really wanted - so that's what we scheduled. Wendy, mom and I got tickets for 2 1/2 weeks in Shetland!

Aberdeen

It's not easy to get to Shetland - and there's no fast way to get there. We flew to overnight Amsterdam:

We then took another flight back from Amsterdam to Aberdeen:

On that flight - I talked almost the whole time with Jennifer, who I discovered was from Shetland! We had lots to talk about. But in Aberdeen, we parted ways - she took the plane to Shetland. 

We took a taxi from the airport to the ferry. Here's our first view of the NorthLink ferry: 

We were absolutely knackered from overnight flights and no sleep, but it was only 11 am. So we checked our luggage at the ferry terminal, and walked into town. The NorthLink staff directed us to the Maritime museum. I parked Wendy and mom at a table in their cafe, and walked over to the Iceland store for snacks for the boat. On our way back, we walked down SHIPROW, decorated with the Umbrella Project, highlighting neurodiversity in the UK.  

At 3 pm, we were allowed to board. I think we were first in line! We were given little paper keycards to our two outer cabins. Those beds felt SO good! 

We took a quick rest, then explored the ship - and the other boats we could see in the Aberdeen harbor. I'd seen the Jura (and her sister ship the Hirta) on the webcams in Shetland - they're Marine Protection Vessels. Whatever that means. 

I'd also see the VOS Faithful, a supply ship.

A nap later, and it was still light out when the Hrossey turned around and eased out of the Aberdeen harbor. It's a long way to the shore, and all of the passenger areas are on the back of the ship - so we watched the Aberdeen harbor recede behind us. 

Orkney

The Hrossey stopped in Kirkwall at 11:30 pm. I woke up and wandered out to see the ship dock and unload some passengers. Look at that sky - that is NOT dark! 

 

Scottish Highlands

 We were supposed to take the train from Fort William back to Glasgow, but the tracks were still flooded out and closed. Too bad - the train route is different from the road and I would have liked to see that scenery. Instead, we waited at the Morrisons for the bus. We didn't realize that the bus route started way up in the Isle of Skye - so most of the seats were taken. But we found some, and still got some great views of the highlands:

Loch Lomand:

The puddle jumper from Glascow back to Dublin:

And some spectacular photos of Greenland!

Mallaig - Isle of Skye

 After watching the Jacobite steam train, we were ready to take the journey ourselves. For a mere 30£ each, Wendy, Mom and I got tickets on Scotrail - the regular train - compared to around 100£ each on the Jacobite. Same four seats around a table, just not as iconic. Actually, the regular train also has better emissions than the steam train, which fills the air with those billows of smoky steam. 

It was a rainy day, so our views (and pictures) out the window were a bit murky. But we did get to see the famous viaduct. 

And passed Glenfinnan:

Mallaig

Mallaig is a cute little coastal town with a big port. 

We watched them loading huge bags onto boats - later finding out that the bags contained salmon pellet food, so they were destined for offshore salmon farms. 

Finally it was time to board our ferry for the short trip north to the Isle of Skye:

We landed at Armadale with only a few hours and no car, so we walked down the road to Armadale Castle (we just went to the visitor center) and then found a lovely nature trail. The island wasn't all that exciting - we kind of wondered what all the fuss was about. 

Visitor center, where we bought some quite nice gifts to bring home. 

Nature trail:

Our return ferry was smaller and we sat outside. 

This poodle was absolutely adorable - he entertained everyone around for much of the crossing. 

We stopped for a late lunch, wandered around the cute town with a Diagon Alley, and headed back on the train.

One of the best parts of the trip was meeting a lovely young woman on the train back. We chatted almost all the way back.