24th
June
BRAE - HILLSWICK
- YELL - UNST
Well, it’s
been a massive day today. We’ve seen so much more of the Shetlands, and
travelled far and wide.
We met up
for breakfast at 7.30 as usual, and agreed to start out for the day at 9. The
weather forecast was for possible rain in the morning, then less likely for the
afternoon, so we crossed our fingers and set out, after a trip to the Co-op for
apples, snacks etc. Our first destination was the wildlife sanctuary at
Hillswick, which is in the top, western part of the main island. They take in
sick, injured and abandoned native animals and rehabilitate them. Wonderful
people. The sanctuary is just by the bay on the western side of the island so
they can utilise the seawater in their tanks.
Shetland loch and bay
Beach at Hillswick
At the moment, they only have two seals in their care: an adorable one week old baby harbour seal (he’s too young for visitors, but we saw photos) and Smudge, a 7-month-old grey seal, who was very weak and starving when he was found late last year near Sumburgh. They have nursed him back to health and it’s been a bit of a battle, as they believe that he may actually be a Downs Syndrome seal! He has the eye folds, trouble co-ordinating, and weakness in his left flipper. The university is doing chromosome tests, which has never been done before on a seal. Obviously he’d never survive in the wild, so the long-term plan is for him to stay at the centre in a purpose built tank. We were happy to give a donation towards it. We were lucky enough to arrive just as Smudge was being given his breakfast (herrings) and he had a wonderful play while we watched.
Smudge playing with his foodHe'll need a bigger tank as he grows
Once we’d said goodbye to Smudge and his carers, we headed back towards Brae with the aim of taking the ferry for the next island, Yell. We were on our way towards Toft where the terminal is, when it dawned on us after various internet searches that there was nowhere we could get lunch in the north. We stopped at a little café – closed. Of course. So we turned around, and came back to Brae! The hotel doesn’t do lunches at present, so we ended up going back to the Co-op here and getting sandwiches etc for lunch.
We had a
nice drive to the eastern part of the island, through a lot of very bleak
looking moorland. We were lucky at Toft, as the ferry was in the harbour and
within 5 minutes, we were on. The crossing apparently takes 20 minutes, so we
went upstairs to eat our lunch, but it was so fast that there was a bit of
gulping it down before we arrived on Yell! Our first destination here was the
Old Haa Museum and Tea Rooms at Brough on the east coast. A haa is a laird’s
house, or the house of the local landowner. This one dated back to 1672, and
has been turned into a little local museum. Also, they made us a lovely pot of
tea to share, which I really needed by that stage. It was nice to wander around
and look at the displays from the area’s history, and some of the gorgeous
flowers in their garden.
Yell sheep in urgent need of a haircut! The Old Haa Museum & Tea Rooms
Gorgeous flowers in the garden
Once we’d finished at the museum, we decided to ferry hop again to the most northern of the major Shetland islands, Unst. So we drove the whole length of Yell to the ferry terminal at Gutcher, enjoying the scenery as we went. There were sheep – lots of sheep, and lots of lambs too. Most of the road was single lane, so there was a lot of giving way to other cars, trucks, and slowing down for sheep! Again, we were very lucky as the ferry was sitting there, and we soon were off on the only ten-minute trip to Unst.
So many sheep!Another ferry ride
Viking longhouse remains
We think it's an iron age fort, though they call it Underhool Broch.
The scenery on Unst (pronounced 'oonst') is different to Shetland and Yell; it seems much more green (perhaps because by now the sun was actually shining quite a bit, occasionally.) There are a few historical items of interest there so we set out first for the Viking longhouse excavated a decade or so ago. It was definitely long, and would have been an impressive building. They think there are several more nearby as well. Slightly up the hill from it was either a broch or an iron age fort. It was huge, and very overgrown. It was certainly shaped like the broch we saw the other day, but we were all leaning towards it being an iron age fort. It had an excellent defensive position, right at the top of the hill overlooking the bay.
From here
we went to St Olaf’s Kirk, an abandoned ancient church dating back to the 12th
century in the cemetery yard on the east coast of the island. On the way, we
also stopped to look at the Lund standing stone, claimed to be the largest in
the Shetlands. It’s well over 2 metres high and is a very impressive monolith.
Lots of history, so we were all happy.
St Olaf's kirk (12th century)
As the day was getting on, we realised we’d have to be heading homewards, as none of the eateries in Brae are open past 7.45! (Annoying when the daylight just goes on and on….) So we took our two ferries in good time to be back for tea at the local fish and chip shop, which closes at 7. Except we walked in at 6.05 to discover that the café section closes at 6; the takeaway closes at 7! Glen and Carol decided to go and have tea in the hotel again, while Lex and I were happy enough to get takeaway and had a lovely meal in our room. Meals can definitely be a problem to find on Shetland; you really do have to think ahead.
Unst is really very prettyHere comes the ferry
Tomorrow is our last day on Shetland; tomorrow night at this time, we’ll be back on the ferry and bound for Aberdeen once more. We’ve been so lucky with the weather; it’s been very overcast at times but no rain other than the lightest drizzle. We’ve even frequently had our coats off and enjoyed the bits of sunshine!