Day: June 27, 2016

26 June

48 miles

Climbing 936m

Cumulative 1201 miles

Up through the Shetlands

We arrived in Lerwick on the ferry at 7.30am , wheeled our bikes ashore but then promptly went back aboard for a full breakfast. we were soon off heading up through the islands . The first part over the bigger island  was quite hilly , very different from Orkney, peat moorland very like the top of Kinder but with views over the sea lochs.

As we have moved North the houses have changed- no longer many stone houses , instead brightly painted houses more reminiscent of Norway. There are many cultural links between Scandinavia and Shetland stretching back to their Viking heritage- Shetland was part of Norway until 1468 when the Danish and Nowegian King needed money for his daughters dowry and pawned the islands on the condition that he could buy them back for 210 Kg of gold- probably it would have been worth redeeming them if he had known about the oil.

Nordic style houses

Small hamlet with its own quay

We stopped and chatted with an interesting lady running a tea van – the only sustenance we saw all day- she had moved from Lancashire to work as a social worker twenty years ago, she now does crofting and runs the refreshment van. She was very positive about the inclusiveness of the  Shetland community and had adjusted to the short winter days- Shetland is at the same lattitude as Southern Greenland.

The only coffee for miles

We passed the the Sullom Voe oil terminal – now much less active but still with a huge gas plume visible across the moors .

Hardy sheep

We arrived at the first ferry that we needed to catch over to Yell just in time to see it settling off , as it is Sunday we had two hours to wait but lunch made up for it- again oatcakes and cheese with dried apricots whilst watching an inquisitive seal nearby watching us .

Seal keeping an eye on us

Once over on Yell we had quite a lumpy ride over the tops until we dropped down to the ferry pier – again to see the ferry halfway across the sound to Unst. This time we only had a short wait for the next ferry and couldn’t even pay as the ticket machine was awaiting repair- here the ferries are run by the local council as an essential service and not by CalMac as in most of Scotland.

The map hinted that there may be a small hill to reach our campsite – in fact it was quite tough but luckily fairly short and we arrived at the amazing Gardiesfauld Hostel and campsite  we had read great reviews and they were right- fantastic views over a sheltered sound , very quiet and flat places for the tent but with a good kitchen and drying rooms so no  cooking on a meths stove tonight. Oh and local eggs with an honesty box.

Idyllic campsite on Unst

25 June

29.5 miles- sightseeing

Climbing 463m

We had a varied day , another slight aside from the main project. We had to be back in Kirkwall to catch the ferry to Shetland just before midnight so had a day to see more in Orkney. We were determined  to see Scara Brae the extraordinary neolithic village on Orkney, and as luck would have it our evening before catching the ferry would be well used as it is the annual St Magnus Music Festival started by Sir Peter Maxwell Davis and there were tickets left for the final concert with the BBC symphony orchestra.

We started out from the camping at Stromness in light drizzle but it eased after a while and we cruised gently round the quiet roads to the sight of Scara Brae- it was discovered in 1850 when a huge storm shifted a large sand dune revealing meticulously made dry stone walled houses. Luckily the local landlord who lived a feww hundred metres away recognized its importance and started to excavate in a careful way and recorded his finds.

The village is a fantasticaly preserved village from 5000 years ago- before Stonehenge , the rooms include hearths, stone box beds and even sideboards complete with families precious artefacts , bone needles, jewellery made from local materials and cooking pots. Stone age man was NOT primitive by any means , the houses are well made and show they must have had a well organised social structure. Interestingly there was no evidence of any weapons . 

Interior of one of the houses with stone furniture :dresser, box beds. Cupboards and hearth

We stopped off again at the Ring of Brodgar  as we cycled past and it seemed a good place for our lunch of oatcakes and cheese.

Ring of Brodgar

We set off back to Kirkwall and thought that we might need to pay the campsite for a nights lodging to be able to clean up and cook before going to the concert in the sports hall next door- in fact they are really welcoming and have a special arrangement for visitors- three pounds to use their excellent facilities for the evening. We also had a quick visit to Kirkwall cathedral- unusual as it is owned by the city not the church , it was built by Vikings  and then given to the city by James III of Scotland. It had some impressive old architecture including leaning pillars but also  a great collection of macabre headstones particularly from the 1600s keen to show everyone that death is inevitable- lots of skulls and bones in evidence.

Interior of the red sandstone cathedral

Cathedral in the evening light over Kirkwallk

To commemorate a tradesman

We set off for the concert venue clean but feeling potentialy under dressed in our camping outfits but it wasnt a problem – nothing too stuffy about people here. The BBC symphony orchestra was playing along with the local Orkney Community choir- no auditions needed. It was a great evening and some how it seemed fitting that the second half was Beethoven’s 9th, much appreciated by some German cycle tourers we have met several times and made friends with , they are completely bemused by the Brexit vote and it is good that they do not see the UK as completely anti-European.

Outside the concert, they made us laugh

We were pleased by the local touch at the end- instead of giving the lead musicians flowers they each got a bottle of local malt whisky.

We had to rush at the end of the concert and cycle a little way out of town to the Ferry terminal in thick mist that had come down suddenly. There we wheeled the bikes onto the ship and settled down for a sleep (we hoped). We had paid a bit extra for “sleeping pods”, sold as being like those in Business class on aeroplanes – in fact they were very uncomfortable and we had a bright light shining down all night (everyone else was in darkness- are we marked out in some way?)