Monday 29 June 2009

Had a nice leisurely day visiting the sights around Lerwick. The museum is one of the best I have ever been to. It shows the history of fishing out of Shetland. They used to use open boats with no sails, relying on man power and oars to get them there. One particular summer many lives were lost and the practice was stopped. I also popped into the library and took my time packing my tent and relaxing.
The infrastructure in Shetland is very good. The roads are kept in good order and they can afford to build a beautiful museum among other things. This is because they have built up a fund from the oil money they receive (in the style of Norway) and only use the interest to invest in the infrastructure of the islands. This is contrasted to Orkney which apparently has spent a lot of its oil money! 
The main controversy that I came across was the proposal to build wind turbines down the middle of the Mainland. Shetland is narrow and so they would be a blot on the landscape from every direction. Seven years later this controversy may have played out... I will have to look it up or make another visit.
There was a sting in the tail of the trip because the relaxed day turned out to be a bit of a red herring. When I got to the ferry there was no one around but the ferry boat was still at anchor. I scratched my head and looked again at my ticket and it showed the boat would be leaving in an hour and I was there on the right date, then the penny dropped. I had somehow bought 2 tickets online leaving from Aberdeen, not a return. If I missed the ferry it would mean I would miss my train connection and miss seeing my daughter Zoe, who was leaving for an extended trip to Australia. I paced around the building which was all locked up until eventually a person came out and asked me what was up. After I explained my predicament she told me I was in luck because the ferry anchor had snagged on a chain and they were getting some divers out to fix it. In the meantime they took me and my bike over to the ferry and up a set of steps on the side of the boat. I was very relieved and pleased. Onboard it was party time. The passengers had taken the opportunity of the delay to have some drinks at the bar and I joined them :))


After all the drama we sailed on a mill pool sea towards Aberdeen and that allowed the captain to get up close to Fair Isle. A beautiful ending to the trip



This was the start of my love affair with the North Sea Cycle Route. I took in a lot more of Shetland than there is on the official route, and it was well worth it.
When I finished the route I contacted the official NSCR website and told them of my adventures. They sent me a certificate and some goodies including a buff and some shoe laces.... nice, as Jurgen would say.

Check out the route I took and the places I stopped on my Google Maps route record. Each tag is linked to my daily blog and photo posts.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=zXfe6fLbeC_o.kABmDJZ1A0Dg



Prequel Day - 7: 28 June 2009

I headed south from Brae until I met the A970 and instead of following it south to Lerwick, I cycled eastwards along the B9071 to Laxo and then south along  the A9075 along the coast to North and South Nesting. I continued south until I rejoined the A970 for Lerwick. Camped in the town camp site and made friends with a couple of seagulls who liked to visit outside my tent. There was a music festival on, so enjoyed going to that. My trip around the north sea cycle route is recorded on Google maps. Take a look at the tags at the places I camped en-route, they are all linked to the daily blog of my trip.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=zXfe6fLbeC_o.kABmDJZ1A0Dg

South Nesting

Hector my camping buddy



The Prequel day - 6: 27 June 2009

Not a very full entry this time. That might have had something to do with the party at Brae marina. I had camped there on the way north and had a nice welcome back. The party was amazing, loads of very fresh sea food and endless booze. There were a lot of people dressed up in their Viking gear and very impressive it was and I learned expensive. They had been to Lerwick for a parade and were well up for a party. I retired to my tent before I got totally out of it. This is the only place in the whole trip around the North Sea where I stayed twice.

Ma wee tent in the sheep field above Brae maina

Making friends with the locals

Brae Marina



Prequel; Day - 5 26 June 2009

 Standing stone on unst

 Muness castle Unst

 Most northerly post office in Britain

Viking ship near Haroldswick

Famous bus shelter near Haroldswick

Ferry to Yell from Unst

Prequel Day - 4: 25 June 2009

Brian mentioned above is Brian Tait who is a friend from Haddington. He comes from Shetland where his father was a teacher and a writer. I was able to discover his house in Mid Yell with the help of the men in the pub there. Mid Yell is mostly a peat island. |One of the three main islands of Shetland. Once again I stayed in a Bod on my own. This one was a nice cottage on a road to a farm.  When I arrived and went up the hill to find the key for the Bod, I was seen off by three dogs. I later met their owner in the pub. Before I got to the pub I had taken a big ride up towards the Island of Unst. I was in my cycling gear including tights so I got a few funny looks from the customers. However, when I asked about Brian's family house the whole pub got involved and eventually we tracked it down. The accents were thick and got thicker as the beer went down. My new best pal was talking to me like I was a local and I could make out about one in  three words. He told me about the Fray Bentos factory and local history. They wanted to make a night of it and even offered me and my bike a lift in the Land Rover. I had to decline because I was heading for Unst in the morning.



Met Steve again, half way across the moor on Yell



The Prequel Day -3: 24 June 2009

 Aith

 

Brae Marina

The Prequel - Shetland Day - 2: 23 June 2009

Tombola

St Ninians Isle

Walls West Shetland

Voe Bod at Walls

The Prequel - Shetland 2009 Day -1

In 2009 I travelled to Shetland by train from Edinburgh and ferry overnight from Aberdeen. I didn't realise it at the time but this was the beginning of my love affair with the North Sea Cycle Route. Between 2009 and 2012, I found out about the longest signed route in the world and got a map of it, which went on the wall in my kitchen and gave me hours of looking and planning. In the end I bought a ticket to fly to Bergen in Norway and  start the biggest adventure of my life have ever undertaken. The blog starts after the photos

The Brock at Mousa

Iron age recon

Jarlswick

Sunburgh Head

In 2009 I travelled to Shetland by train from Edinburgh and ferry overnight from Aberdeen. I didn't realise it at the time but this was the beginning of my love affair with the North Sea Cycle Route. Between 2009 and 2012, I found out about the longest signed route in the world and got a map of it, which went on the wall in my kitchen and gave me hours of looking and planning. In the end I bought a ticket to fly to Bergen in Norway and  start the biggest adventure of my life have ever undertaken.