Wednesday
25th June
BRAE - SUMBURGH
HEAD - LERWICK
- HROSSEY FERRY
Robyn writes: As I write this, it’s 7pm, the sun is (mostly) shining, and the Shetlands are fading into the distance. It’s been a wonderful few days.
Even after
pretty much 9 hours of sleep, the alarm going off at 7 this morning was a nasty
shock. Having fun is very tiring! Anyway, we got ourselves off to breakfast by
7.30 and enjoyed our last tasty, cooked breakfast at the Brae Hotel. The
breakfasts have certainly been a highlight of our stay. After that, we went
back to our rooms to do a final pack before we checked out at 9.30. We’d woken
to a cloudy but fine morning, so had high hopes for the day ahead.
As we didn’t have to be at the ferry until 3.30/4pm, we had plenty of time to spare, so we decided to head back down to Sumburgh Head, where we were the other day. There were several interesting things we hadn’t had a chance to see then. It’s about an hour’s drive down, so we enjoyed the scenery (it was so foggy before we really didn’t see a lot!).
Our first destination was the old Victorian Croft House Museum. In 1960, a group of New Zealand emigrants and descendants came back to visit Shetland (lots of Shetlanders went to NZ as the climates were quite similar) and were saddened to see that the old crofting way of life they remembered or had been told about was disappearing, so they started the ball rolling on this museum, which opened in the early 70s. It’s fascinating to see what their way of life was like – a bit like a bark hut, only darker, colder and made of stone! We really enjoyed seeing the way the rooms were set up, and the cupboard beds particularly intrigued me. Anything to keep warm. The roof was sealed with peat and thatched with straw; which would have kept the heat in. A peat fire burned and was never put out. Down from the croft was an old, derelict water mill, so Lex, Glen and I walked down to see it, and to the edge of the beach.
From there, we drove just a few minutes to park at the Sumburgh hotel, where we’d had lunch the other day. We were planning lunch there again, but unfortunately a coach load of hungry visitors was expected, so that ruined that plan. Instead, Lex, Glen and I walked next door to the historic ruins of Jarlshof. (Carol has a sore knee so decided not to risk it on the bumpy ground.)
Jarlshof is
a fascinating site, with so many layers of history it’s hard to unravel it. As
it’s run by Scottish Heritage, we got in for half price, being English Heritage
members. we also got an audio guide each to tell us about it all. There are
prehistoric homes on one side which reminded us of Skara Brae and the broch we
saw earlier this week. There’s half a broch – the other half has sadly
disappeared into the waves, which happens to so much Scottish archaeology. The seawall
has been stabilised in hopes of not losing any more. There are also
prehistoric wheelhouses, which we’d never seen before – like a broch, but lower
and covered with turf. There’s a Viking longhouse and farmstead, which was used
for several centuries and they estimate at least 12 generations. Then there is
a medieval farmhouse, which is rectangular and a totally different style,
because by then the Normans had invaded and their architecture had taken over.
Finally, in the 1500s, the Stewarts built a grand laird’s house – 2 stories,
with the living upstairs and storage/servants downstairs. They and the Bruces
spent several centuries feuding with each other and their peasants, but in the
end it was a Bruce who found and began excavating the ruins after a huge storm
uncovered some of them in the 1800s. The Bruces gave it to the people
of Scotland. They still live locally. It was a wonderful site to explore on a
lovely warm day (we even had our jumpers off some of the time!) and we spent an
hour or so there before realising we had better get back.
The closest lunch, we realised, was in Lerwick, half an hour’s drive up the road, so off we went once more. We saw that there was another massive cruise ship in the harbour, so knew that the cafes in that area would all be packed. In the end, we went to Tesco’s, bought sandwiches, and there was a café in a van at the end of their parking area where we bought tea and coffee (and Glen just had to have a hot dog as well.) Cheap and filling!
Once we were fed, we found the parking area in the middle of Lerwick- the same one we used earlier
in the week, and managed a park there. We had an hour and a half to wander
around the shops again – this time, more of the shops were actually open, and
it wasn’t raining, which was nice. Quite a bit of souvenir shopping was done,
and I now have an adorable puffin scarf. I really didn’t need it, but puffins!
At half past three, we met at the car, and set off for the ferry. There were a few other cars in line, so we waited too. Happily, the whole process was so much quicker and easier than last Saturday, and we were on the ferry before 5 this time. Carol and I came upstairs in the lift while Lex and Glen parked the car in the bowels of the ship, and I had a hot chocolate while we waited to leave. By now, of course, the sun had come out and was shining over Lerwick, showing just how beautiful it can be. We went up on the top deck to look at the town and watch as we sailed out, somewhat dwarfed by the Celebrity Eclipse, the huge ship in the harbour. (Extremely bracing and windy, but glorious views.) Bressay Island was directly opposite, and two girls near us were jumping up and down waving at a car flashing its lights. It turned out that they live on the island, and were heading off on holiday, very excited. Once we were past the headlands, we had tea early, as all that sea air gives one an appetite, and the cafeteria had opened. We all had the specials – Glen and I the lamb curry, and Lex and Carol the vegetable ragu. All very nice.
Just after this, a very interesting diversion occurred – a Coastguard helicopter appeared and hovered over us for at least ten minutes (being photographed and filmed by half the people on board.) A man appeared at the side of the helicopter, and was lowered down on a cable. He actually landed on the ferry, then he was hauled back up into the helicopter. It was obviously a training exercise, but I really don’t envy him doing that with an audience of hundreds!
Since then (it’s now 8.45) we’ve passed Fair Isle, so been out to view it (it was freezing cold, so my appreciation didn’t last long.) We are settling down for the night.
Thursday 26th June ABERDEEN - SPEY BAY - INVERNESS
Robyn writes: All in all, it was not too bad a night’s sleep
for a ferry trip. Carol couldn’t get a seat upstairs as they were all reserved
this time, so was in with us as well. The room was presumably a mirror image of
our last cabin, but somehow the ladder for the top bunks didn’t seem quite as
obstructive this time. Anyway, we were all awake at various times, especially
during the Orkney stop, and no-one was particularly happy when the light went
on at ten to six! We got ourselves organised and upstairs for breakfast, where
there was a long queue. But we were all through and fed before we berthed in
Aberdeen at 7am to a foggy, cold and rainy morning. Lex and Glen went down to
fetch the car, while Carol and I went out the passenger exit and waited for
them at the gate.
We drove to the airport parking where Carol’s car was parked, and dropped
them off. There was a family restaurant nearby with a nice big parking area, so
we pulled in there to swap bags over and say goodbye for the time being. They
have headed south towards England, and are in the Newcastle area tonight. We
set out west towards Inverness, our home for the next two nights.
Our first stop along the way was Keith, ancestral Scottish hometown
of my friend Sandy’s Grant family. We’d been here in 2014 on a grey, drizzly
day, and it seemed to want to replicate that. We found a very nice morning tea
at The Boat Café there; Lex had the Dundee slice and I had a lemon scone (which
I’d never even heard of before, but was delicious.)
Along the way as we continued on, we saw a sign to the Maiden Stone, so diverted off the A96 a little to check it out in Nikita’s honour. It was very interesting – a Pictish carved stone, over 1200 years old. They think it was erected as a place of prayer for travellers. It’s getting quite worn, but the plaque showed what the carvings were. Every winter, it is wrapped carefully to protect it from the elements!
After this, we saw a sign for the Scottish Dolphin Centre. The idea of seeing dolphins appealed, so we travelled up to Spey Bay on the Moray Firth. It was a very interesting beach – I’ve seen plenty of pebble beaches in the UK, but this was a rock beach! They were all worn smooth, and they crunched when you walked on them, which you had to be very careful doing, especially going down the rock dune (well, it certainly wasn’t a sand dune.) Sadly, there was not a dolphin in sight, but there were very dark, heavy clouds, and it started spitting so we headed inside the centre for a look before we left.
We followed the firth fairly closely around, and came into Inverness from the north a bit after midday. We were hungry by that stage, and looking for somewhere to have lunch before we could check in to our B&B. Howden’s Garden Centre was the answer – a huge building containing all sorts of lovely things, and more importantly, an excellent café with very reasonable prices. I had the leek and potato soup, and Lex the tuna and feta baked potato, so we felt much happier after that. Then we navigated ourselves to our accommodation, Tay Villa, and found a park right in front. It was still only ten past one, so we went for a walk into town – about 15 minutes, once we’d worked out which way to go! From the town centre bridge, it’s in the opposite direction to where we stayed in 2014. It was a bit hard getting our heads around it all, but I shall go back tomorrow and indulge my minor obsession for tartan shops!
We walked back and checked in – we have a comfy room, a private bathroom across the corridor and we are next to the dining room, which we can use any time. And it’s all on the ground floor, so no need to lug suitcases up the stairs! Then it was nap time – much needed after the ferry trip.
Since then, we’ve sorted our bags, put a huge laundry bag
full of washing together and handed it to our landlady who will take care of it
for ten pounds (cheaper than the laundrette I’d priced online, yay) and walked
up to the Aldi two blocks away, where we’ve bought food for dinner (heated in our
microwave and eaten in the dining room) and breakfast (we didn’t really want to
pay ten pounds each for breakfast – that’s over $40AUD!) Lex has gone for a
walk to the canal and I’m sorting photos and writing the blog. Tomorrow is our
only day in Inverness and we’re not really sure what we’re doing yet – I would
really like a bit of a ‘down day’ after the hectic adventure of the last week or
so, and at least now I don’t have to worry about doing the laundry. But it’s
lovely to be back here – Inverness is one of our favourite cities!
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