A Thursday

 In Minnesota, we often say "if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes". But usually it doesn't change as often as that. Last Thursday, Shetland did!

We started the day with a gorgeous sunny sky. 

Soon it started hailing. 

But not much later that passed. Mom and I took a walk toward Staney Hill, to find the Staney Hall where the Quaker meeting was to meet that Sunday. Along the way, we saw crocuses coming up!  

But as we got around the corner to start up Staney Hill, the wind really picked up. It's a little hard to tell, but mom couldn't stay upright without a railing or this wall or a hand from me. It was crazy strong wind! 

And then it started raining/sleeting/hailing. Horizontally. Driving into our faces. Mom and I took shelter in a bus stop. 

But then it stopped and the sun came out again. 

Later I walked into town - past the play park where they burned the Up Helly Aa galley. It started precipitating again - more rain/sleet/hail. 

Followed by more blue skies and wonderful light! 

Next up: Sumburgh and St. Ninian's Isle

Up Helly Aa

We missed the big annual fire festival (Up Helly Aa) in Lerwick this year - it happened just before we arrived. But the communities around Shetland have their own smaller festivals, and we got to see some of one yesterday. 

Nesting and Girlsta Up Helly Aa
On the day of the fire festival, the Guizer Jarl and his squad tour the area schools. Which is a good thing - they spend a whole year making elaborate costumes, shields, weapons and helmets for that year. They deserve to be seen and admired closely in the light. At Tingwall school, all 85 students and their teachers came into the hall. Then the musicians arrived. Finally, the squad pored in, sang the Up Helly Aa song and did their battle cry. Then they circulated to talk to the crowd. We got to talk to the Guizer Jarl, his wife, his son, his niece and several others in his squad. 

Afterwards, we went to Nesting Primary School and found the galley in the playground. Last night, after a big procession, the galley was burned. It feels sad to me - but it must feel really dramatic. And I can see the point of a fire festival when it's been so dark and gray for so many months. 

Next up: A Thursday

The Big City

On the way back to Lerwick, we took a detour to the island of Fetlar. The ferry charges a flat fee on the trip from the "mainland" to Yell, then everything else is included, so we could hardly skip visiting yet another island, right? And it was different. 

Fetlar
Often called the garden of Shetland, geologic differences mean that it has been easier to grow crops on Fetlar. At one time, almost 800 people lived on this 7-mile wide island. But in the 18th century, land barons "cleared" this land of people (more clearances) for sheep. Today the island has a population of 68. There are still a lot of sheep, but apparently you can't make a living on sheep alone - everyone has at least one other job. We had a lovely visit with the shop keeper in Houbie, who seemed to know everyone. It was a gorgeous sunny day on Fetlar, showing off the beautiful land. We visited the Kirk (now owned by the islanders) and walked along a pretty beach. 

Lerwick
Another 25 minute ferry took us back to Yell, a drive across Yell, the short ferry to the "mainland" and 45 minutes of drive to Lerwick. The sun sets at 4:30, but it was such a clear day that it was just getting dark as we swung into town at 5:15. 

The "city" was a shock after the outer island. So many cars! So many lights! So many buildings! Remember - this is a massive town of 7,000 people. But arriving at Sarah's place was like coming home. We settled right in, and have been taking long rambles around town. 

We missed the big Up Helly Aa - the big annual fire festival - in Lerwick at the end of last month. But we can still see signs, including the Shop Window Competition. Here are some of the windows we saw:

Next Up: Up Helly Ah

More about Unst

 For an island only 12 miles long, there's a lot to do here. There are beaches. Hikes. Sheep. And closed attractions. Mom and I took the big adventures and the little ones, driving just about every 'road' that we could find to see where it would go. Some adventures that stood out include:

Most Northerly ... in the UK
Unst is the most northerly inhabited island in the UK, lending itself to many more "most northerly". Kirk (which is a church), post office, shop, biking trail, and beach. And finally, we got to be the most northerly people in all of the UK at that moment!

Bobby's bus shelter is often much more decorated than this.

Skaw Beach

To get to the most northerly beach, we had to take a road up and over a hill. No problem - except that they were resurfacing it. By the time we had gotten a miles or two up the steep hill and along the crest and were waiting for the heavy machinery to pause to let us through - I was really regretting attempting this route! But we inched along at 5-10 miles an hour and our little yellow Kia Picanto made it through! At the very end of the road was a little parking area next to a footbridge to the beach, and a beaten track in the grass further north. We gingerly walked from dry spot to dryish spot, finally reaching some very strange ruins from WWII, when the RAF had a surveillance outpost. The Germans had taken Norway, so Britian was a bit worried about their coast. It was a fantastic hike and a beautiful day. 

Hermaness

The Hermaness reserve was one of the big reasons I wanted to visit Unst. In summer it's full of puffins, skua, gannets and more. In winter, it was still dramatic. The trailhead was right across the firth (inlet of water) from our airbnb, but the 3-5 hour hike was too much for mom, so I headed off alone one morning, my backpack packed with all sorts of "in case" supplies. After a Minnesota winter, it was a total delight to stride out up the steep hill, across the boardwalk and then along the steep marshy cliffs. OK - the last bit wasn't so delightful. My sneakers got soaked, and I slipped a couple times and was soaked from the waist down, but the cliffs were stunning, and after a couple hours I finally caught a glimpse of Muckle Flugga lighthouse! The most northerly structure in the UK. And since it has been automated since 1995, I was definitely the most northerly person in the UK at that moment. 

Later I did take mom back on the first part of the hike - she loved it too. 

Museums

There are some lovely museums and attractions on Unst - most of which were closed. Unst Heritage Center. Unst Boat Haven. Victoria's Tea Room. Shetland Reel distillery.  Valhalla Brewery. Saxavord Space Center, which wasn't exactly closed, but doesn't seem to have much of a presence for the public. 

Then back to our incredibly comfy and scenic airbnb. 

Next up: The Big City

Unst!

 Are we there yet? Nope. We'd been traveling for 2 nights and one day, but now we needed to drive most of the length of Shetland to get to the northernmost isle - Unst. That's where we planned to spend our first four nights. The ferry arrived at 7:30 am, but we couldn't check in until 4 pm, so we decided to explore our way north. 

Lerwick is on the "mainland" - the largest island. It's about a 45 minute drive from Lerwick to the first ferry crossing, so we stopped in Laxo and Vidlin, ports for the ferries to Wallsey and Out Skerries, to walk around a bit. We got cold. It had been so hot on the planes and bus and ferry that I'd gotten cocky. Here, the wind whipped away any warmth, and I regretted just one layer of pants, and only two thin layers on top. But the car was warm, and the voes and cliffs and open peat lands are stark and beautiful. 

I'd booked the 11:15 ferry, and I'd had to rush the last bit to pull in right at 11:10 (they board five minutes before time). Whew! We hopped in the pre-booked line, and drove right onto the ferry. The maw closed, we were stuck in our car, and we couldn't see out. And it was still windy. It was a very weird feeling, and a bit queasy, but 15 minutes later we docked on Yell. 

We meandered across Yell, stopping at the Burravoe caravan park. I never would have guessed it was a caravan park without the signs. With so few trees on Shetland, a Caravan park is just a small parking lot with room for a few campers. It is adjacent to a pretty little harbor and a walking path - which I also wouldn't have identified if not for the sign. 

We also stopped at the Old Haa historic museum and tearoom, which was closed. That is the downside of February in Shetland. A lot of things are closed. 

Another much shorter ferry ride, and finally, Welcome to Unst! 

We stopped in Uyeasound at another caravan park, also by a cute little harbor. This time - we saw otters! They're very shy, so that was really special. We thought there were several of them, but looking at the pictures now - there were also seals! How luck can we get? 

The Unst Weather Rock gave us a few chuckles. 

Our last stop was a full-sized replica of a Viking longship. They were big! It's just sitting out, next to a replica longhouse, so we got to climb aboard and marvel at the size of their boats. 

And finally, our cute house on Burrafirth. That night, I crashed out in my ultra cute bedroom in the eves of the old croft part of the house. 

Continue to More about Unst....

NorthLink Overnight Ferry

When I say "ferry", you may picture a fairly small vessel that takes a few cars and a dozen or two passengers on a route from 5 minutes to 3 hours. This ferry is a bit bigger. The Northlink ferry takes 13 hours to travel from Aberdeen to Shetland via the Orkney island. It holds maybe a hundred cars plus up to 600 passengers. The basic fare of around $30 gets you passage - and extra $100 gets you a cabin, which hold 2-4 beds. As a cruise ship - it's rock bottom. As a ferry, it's top of the line. We had a cozy outer cabin with two beds, our own bathroom with tiny shower, and a big window. 

We boarded right at 3 pm. After 18 hours in transit, we were grateful to settle into our space, unpack a bit, and then roam the ship. Like the plane, there were very few passengers compared to summer. The ferry is a lifeline for the islands. When storms kept it for operating for five days last month, the shelves at the big grocery store, Tesco, got really bare. So there was probably plenty of cargo even if there weren't as many human passengers. But for us, the extra space was a bonus. 

As I mentioned earlier, we'd been watching the wave forecast on windy.com. We'd been concerned that they'd cancel the crossing, as they'd done twice the previous week. Nope. But they did give us a special handout on rough crossings, which noted that we could rebook, and that we'd have to be especially careful to hang on when walking. They were right. 

The first part was lovely. There were boats to see in the Aberdeen harbor, and sailors to watch with the ropes. We shared a "jacket potato" for dinner in the restaurant - a fairly small and mild meal. We fell asleep to the noticable rocking of the ship. 

After the stop in the Orkneys around midnight, the rocking got more pronouced as the winds came from the west at up to 35 knots (we were traveling north) and we were pelted by heavy rain. By the time we were apporaching Fair Isle, the boat was merily pitching and rolling to and fro. It was exciting. I could hear sloshing, only to realize it was the toilet. Walking turned into lunging from one handhold to another. No way were we planning to leave our cabin. Out the window we could see the surf as the boat crashed up and down and sideways. The safety briefing told us that if we heard signal - seven short blasts followed by one long one - we should dress warmly and go to the meeting place (the restaurant). I thought a lot about what I'd wear. I sometimes get seasick but I was doing fine - until I wasn't. Good thing they keep seasick bags in every cabin. We watched some TV (I watched the reflection in the window so I could keep the horizon in sight) and finally were able to get back to sleep. When we woke up, we were almost to Lerwick and the sea was calm. 

We arrived to a gorgeous morning. Overcast, windy and dry, and so familiar. A lovely woman from Bolts met us with our car - and remembered us from last summer. Last week, during Up Helly Ah, they ran out of cars, but this week they had plenty for crazy tourists who wanted a car for 21 days in February. They issued us a cute bright yellow Kia Picanto. I'd chosen a manual transmission this time, partly because it's cheaper than automatic, but mostly because I wanted more control of the transmission on the hills. But that meant both driving AND shifting on the left. I was right about the power - but it's taking a long time to not reach down with my right hand for the stick shift!

We headed straight for Tesco and loaded up on a few days worth of groceries, and then headed north.... Next up - crossing Shetland to Unst!

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!