Day 22: Who's tired? We're tired!

Today began at 4am in the morning, that's 11pm Canadian time.  As we were coming back today, it's important to note the time difference.  It's now 8:20pm Canadian time as I am typing this and we've had practically no sleep since the ridiculous hour in the morning when our wake up call came.

Miraculously, and I do mean it must've been an act of some deity, Dad was functioning this morning.  We even made it downstairs as the breakfast was opening at 5am.  The first thing we did is caffeinate Dad.

That picture was taken at 5:45 in the morning.

Somehow, we were able to eat, go back upstairs, close up the suitcases, and checkout by 6:20am.  Mum and Dad were all ready for OCS when they arrived, and I turned into the pack horse I usually am on travel days, lugging the luggage all around the airport.

One of the security who greeted us this year actually remembered Mum from last year.  No one ever said Mum was forgettable.

OCS was their usually helpful self, lifting the luggage onto the belts, wheeling Mum and Dad everywhere, and being generally well-organized.  I've said this before and I'll say it again, Glasgow Airport needs to give lessons on how to deal with people with mobility issues.  This will be relevant to an airport later.

Kindly, the OCS gentlemen dropped us off at the cafe across from our gate, which meant we could indulge in more coffee.  It also meant we could watch our plane the entire time,
 

Boarding was smooth and we left within minutes of our scheduled departure time.  So long Scotland!  See you next year, hopefully!

No one tell on me that I had my phone out during takeoff!

Unlike when we left, there was no sudden call back to the gate, or a screaming toddler on board.  A little piece of luck was that the seat next to me was empty.  It allowed me to stretch out a little and not bother anyone.  It also meant that while I didn't sleep on the plane, I could relax.  I had podcasts to listen to!

Sadly, someone had a medical emergency onboard so the flight got a little hectic.  At one point, an attendant had to stand on Dad's seat to get some oxygen for the man.  It caused lots of disruptions to regular service, but the important part was that the man was able to walk off the plane under his own steam with the paramedics, when we landed in Toronto.

Speaking of Toronto, hello Canada!  Since I had my phone out during takeoff, what's having it out during landing?

Pearson was an unmitigated disaster in organization.  Is anyone surprised?  No?  I didn't think so.  At one point, Mum and Dad were left unattended because some bean-counter can't bother having enough attendants on duty.  Really, Pearson is a terrible introduction to Canada, though a pretty accurate introduction to Ontario's current government.

Dad would have more to say about Pearson.  None of it is appropriate to put here.

What was on time and organized?  Our ride home.  We had the same driver who took us to Pearson three weeks ago, so the ride home was both pleasant, and quick, with one stop off at Tim Horton's as we needed coffee and doughnuts.  Apparently, Dad needed two doughnuts to get through the day and considering how long the day has been, two doughnuts is fair.

Our driver helped us bring all our luggage (including the two bags labelled "heavy") into the house but we were anxious for something else.  As soon as our driver left, Mum and I went to collect the most important member of the family.

The one sad part about our trip is that Thora can't travel.  While she was perfectly safe with a neighbour who looks after dogs professionally (no fly-by-night care for our baby girl) and apparently a very good girl for the whole time we were gone, it's still hard to leave her for any period of time.  She's now all settled in the front bedroom for her usual evening snooze.  All is right in her world.

Stats:

Dogs: 1 (the most beautiful dog in the world!  Yes, I'm biased.)

 

Day 21: Dearth of Nothingness

Today's blog will be very short.  There's not much we can do when we have to be up at 4am in the morning for our flight tomorrow.  I have my alarm set on my phone and a wake up call scheduled.  Under no circumstances am I letting myself accidentally snooze for 10 more minutes only to wake up an hour later like I did in Orkney.

We got up for breakfast at 9.  Of course, we made sure Dad got caffeinated.

This will be more important to do tomorrow morning.  I think we might need to give him caffeine by IV in the morning just to get him moving.

After breakfast, we headed back upstairs about 10:30.  We wanted to be settled in our rooms before the scheduled power outage at noon. With the evidence from our floor, they're redoing some wiring, and I suspect it's to improve the wi-fi.  If this hotel lets down on any level it's that their wi-fi is a bit patchy.

My room continued to be very polite.

On a whim, I decided to take a picture out my window.  It's not as pretty a view as my hotel room in Sumburgh.

At least we don't have to go very far to get to the airport when we leave at a ridiculous hour in the morning.

The power outage came and went with no difficulty and Mum scoring a bag of Kit Kat from a kind cleaner.  For me, much of the afternoon was spent trying to catch up on the sleep I'm going to be missing tomorrow.  I'll probably be awake for 24 hours unless I magically get to sleep on the plane.  I should also comment that it looks like I'll have my row to myself tomorrow so that makes sleep more of a possibility.

Just in case I don't get to sleep, I downloaded a whole bunch of podcasts to keep me occupied.

Dinner was at 5pm today as we need to be in bed by 8 to guarantee I'll actually be asleep by 10.  Trust me, that sentence makes sense.

One last picture of Mum and Dad before I sign off to go get myself packed and ready for my very early bedtime for my even earlier wake up.

I would post stats but there were absolutely no animals in my part of Glasgow.

Day 20: Traffic Jam

Before I begin today's adventures, I have to share a photo I took of the Sumburgh Lighthouse from my hotel room.

I took that at 11pm on the dot.  This is why Shetlanders call it Simmer Dim: the light only dims, it doesn't get fully dark.

 We were people of leisure this morning, getting up at a reasonable hour.  I hadn't bothered closing the curtains in my room and woke up to bright sunshine.  Why was I not worried about privacy?  Well, who was going to see me, sheep?

I did catch a mother ewe teaching her lambs how to climb over the stone walls, so someone tell the farmer by the hotel that his sheep have watched Chicken Run too many times.

I went downstairs to pick up my parents, and we sauntered to the Sumburgh Hotel restaurant for breakfast. I still don't know who we were today.  We're panicky travellers always feeling like we're running late.  When did we step through the looking glass?

Breakfast was leisurely and when the kind server came over and offered Dad and me a third cup of coffee, who were we to refuse?  By the way, if we're refusing coffee in the morning, take us immediately to a doctor.  We live for coffee before noon.

Like yesterday's dinner, we sat overlooking Jarlshof, which I remembered to get a picture of today.

Shetland does many things well, including ruins.

We were out of the hotel and in the airport shuttle by 11, and that included writing three last minute postcards because we had them and it would be a shame not to send them.  The trip to the airport was maybe five minutes, and check-in took another 10 so all we had to do was sit around in departures and watch all the planes come in.  At one point, there were three planes lined up to load, which we presume is a lot for Sumburgh, though one of the workers told us we should've seen how busy it was during the heyday of oil and gas.  

We loaded a little late, but we weren't worried (again, what is with us? When did we turn into to Alfred E. Newman?) as it worked out even better for us because we'd be able to go straight to our rooms when we got to our hotel.

Finally, it was time to say goodbye to Shetland.  As we took off, I captured a few pictures.  One of the pictures was of the ruins where Mum's second-great grandfather was born, another of last night's hotel, and the final one was of the last bit of land I was going to see for the next hour and a half.

The flight was pretty smooth, which is all we can ask for, and the granny on the plane with her infant grandson took care to try and keep him occupied and quiet, which was a huge change from our original flight to Scotland at the start of this trip.

The clouds made it difficult to see anything until we were minutes from landing, and the landscape told us we were back in a city.  

There are more houses in that picture than there are in all of Lerwick.

The landing was smooth too, but we were delayed getting to the gate because of a very city-like problem: a traffic jam.  There were too many Loganair planes lining up for too few gates.  Oops.  I'm not sure it this is most representative of traffic in the city or the organization skills of Loganair.

Glasgow Airport continued to impress as the attendants were at the bottom of the ramp coming off the plane (when we finally got a gate) and they whisked Mum and Dad off to pick up the luggage.  While I didn't see any Shetland ponies today, I did act like one, being a pack horse for taking all the large luggage over to the hotel.  

Our hotel (the Holiday Inn across the road from the airport) checked us in easily, and even gave us free drink vouchers for each of us (and I promptly lost mine) and after a little reorganizing the luggage to fit into the elevator, we were settled into our rooms withing half an hour of our arrival.  By settling in I mean, at least for me, settling in for a nap.  Unlike last year, I didn't get rudely awakened by a fire alarm.

My room is very comfortable and very polite.  It kept saying hello to me.

Dinner tonight featured Mum finding out the hotel serves rhubarb gin, and Dad with his Bailey's.

I was more boring with my latte because my voucher has vanished into the ether.  Still, if the biggest problem we have for the day is me losing my voucher, I can hardly complain.  (Though I think Sumburgh Airport should have a couple of Shetland ponies there to say goodbye to all the tourists.  I only say this because I'm sad I didn't see any ponies.)

Tonight's blog is a little short, and expect an equally short one tomorrow as we have to be up at a stupid hour of the morning on Thursday in order to make our flight.

As for the moment, I'm watching more Bake Off, then I'll watch the Great British Sewing Bee (which my Gram could've won hands down while blindfolded if it had been around while she was still alive) and then it's off to bed.

Stats

Sheep: 100 (including 3 escapees)

Rabbits: 2

Day 19: I thought it was going to fly at my head

Today started on a sad note because we had to leave our extremely comfortable flat in Lerwick, our home for the last 11 days.  No one really wanted to go, but we did want to be welcomed back in the future so everything was tidied within an inch of its life.  Despite the tidying, we somehow wound up with an extra half hour to spare before our ride turned up.

I think the tidying wore out Dad.

Our landlord, James, arrived at 10:30 to pick us up and drive us down to the Sumburgh Hotel.  Mum has said for the past year that she really wanted to stay here an it is directly across from the airport, so I booked us rooms for our last night in Shetland.  Mum and Dad's room is on the ground floor and more accessible.  Mine is one the first floor with a great view.  Actually, we both have great views.  Here's Mum and Dad's:

And here's mine:

Our rooms are like the opposite of our rooms at The Albert Hotel in Orkney.  This time Mum and Dad have the two-sectioned room with two TVs, and I have the smaller but perfectly formed room.

Once Mum and Dad were settled in, we met Marina for lunch.  She must be magical because we were so busy talking, I forgot to take a picture!  It was a lovely lunch, with lovely company and we learned the restaurant at the hotel is extremely popular so we smartly booked for dinner.  When I say smartly, what I actually mean is we were told to do so by our server and I went dashing to the front desk to make our reservation.

The Sumburgh Hotel offers some interesting amenities.  One of them is a complementary shuttle to the airport which is just outside my parents' window, and the other is a ride up to Sumburgh Head for a very nominal fee.  We decided to take advantage of both and booked the morning shuttle for 11am and then headed up to the lighthouse to try and find more puffins for Dad.

Like our tour around Noss this year and last, our trip to Sumburgh Head was vastly different.  Last year, we had many, many puffins.  It was also very cold and very windy.  This year, we got different birds, particularly kittiwakes, razorbills, and one bonxie (skua).  I only got pictures of the razorbills, which I will share later.

Dad briefly reviewed the display about the lighthouse, because if this blog has taught anyone, anything, Dad likes lighthouses.

Unlike last year, there was another side room open where we found what was labeled as a Marconi, but what everyone in the family immediately recognized as a HAM radio.  My grandfather (Mum's dad) used to rebuild them and Mum and Dad are both licensed operators so we know what one looks like.  For the record, Mum's call is VE3DMN and Dad's is VE3BYZ.  They inherited their calls from Mum's parents.  

While out at one of the observation points, we saw a few planes take off, but all I could manage to take of them were blurs, so I won't inflict them on anyone.

Also unlike last year, the cafe was open and Dad found a caramel and mincemeat tray bake so we had to stop, get some coffees, and give them our money so we could have snacks.  The cafe is run entirely by donation so I was all take my money please.

Outside, I tried to take pictures of Mum and Dad with Fair Isle in the background, but like Brigadoon, it was slowly being eaten by the mist.

I swear, that slightly darker blur in the background is Fair Isle.  One day I will make it there.  One day I will also master the so-named knitting.

I had better luck, picture-wise, with other directions.

At another observation deck, I was reminded of the opening of Shetland, with the cliffs and waves.  Cue the music.

Finally, we went out to the best place to observe puffins.  Most of them must've been gone fishing, because we could only get the profiles of them far below.  (How do you tell a puffin from other birds so far away?  Look for the most awkward fliers.)  On the other hand, there were some razorbills being cute and giving us a show.  At on point, one scratched its head like my dog does, so that was adorable.

It was while watching the razorbills a lone puffin came flying right at us, literally.  I was absolutely certain it was going to collide with my head when at the last second it dropped into a burrow about two feet below where we were standing. I was so taken aback (as in, I actually stepped back) that I didn't get a picture but it was quite a show.

Moving about ten feet farther up, Dad was pleased to see there were still a few sea pinks hanging on this late in the year.

We were just about to give up on seeing another puffin when one landed in the same close spot one landed last year.  I would not swear in court that it wasn't the same puffin, since it was at the same spot.  Also like the one last year, this one gave us both profiles like he was showing off.

Happy with our two puffin sightings, we headed back to the hotel for a rest.  Luckily, the hotel transport had just brought up another set of visitors, so we were able to hitch a ride back 15 minutes earlier than we had originally scheduled.

Dinner tonight was overlooking Jarlshof, which is a little like Skara Brae, but covers all 5000 years of history.  Mum and Dad also looked refreshed, though Dad and I did indulge in more coffee.

Considering how busy the restaurant was, I am relieved we were told to make a reservation.  As one table left, another group walked in.  Sadly, as much as we wanted to try dessert, we were far too full, so we returned to Mum and Dad's room so I could do this blog.

We're up not so early, thank heavens, tomorrow, have our ride all booked, and are getting to bed at a reasonable hour.  What is this madness?  Where's the oh-my-god-we're-leaving panic?  We're settled in semi-watching a Bake Off, and watching rabbits cavorting outside. Who replaced us with calm and prepared people?  Who are we?

Stats:

Shetland Ponies: 18

Puffins: 2

Bonxie: 1

Kittiwakes: 20 (at least)

Razorbills: 14

Rabbits: 6

Day 18: Weren't you with us last year?

Our last full day in Lerwick started very leisurely.  In fact, nothing of note happened until about 2, when Elizabeth Angus asked if she could come by and say farewell.  She didn't arrive until shortly before 3 and it allowed me to rectify something I haven't done this whole trip: get a picture of Elizabeth, Mum, and Dad together.

Elizabeth had a secondary reason to come over and that was to keep Mum company while Dad and I went off on a Noss boat tour.  Mum, given that she turns green at the mere mention of a boat, was to be left behind.  Now Dad and I did this tour last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I wanted to take him again.  One quick cab ride down to Victoria Pier and instead of us being waited for by the boat, we were the ones waiting.  Given the swells and tides today, trips were taking a little longer than usual, but that's fine by us.

Our preferred choice of tour was Seabirds-and-Seals, firstly because the boat had a cover on it, because chasing birds without a some sort of covering is not the best idea.  Secondly, it has a cabin and bathroom in case we wanted to take cover or, well, to put it bluntly, pee.  We like our amenities.  Fortunately, this trip had been rescheduled from last week, which worked out for the best because Dad's now over his cold.  It's hard to enjoy pretty birds with a head cold.

We were able to get on the boat and our preferred seats.  They are the seats just under the cover to protect from bird bombs, and just far enough away from the edge of the boat that it keeps the spray to a minimum. 

 

It was a beautiful, bright sunny day, and we were told we were going to go along the north of Bressay, rather than the south, which we did last year.  Due to swells last year we didn't make it around the far side of Noss (which is a nature reserve) either, and we would this time.  It was like a whole new tour!

First, I got views of Bressay I have never seen before.

We also got to the seabirds (on the Seabird) faster and soon there were gannets and guillemots and great skuas galore. 

Dad and I kept commenting on how much the guillemots look like penguins, and thus a group looks like a flock of penguins all hanging out.  Penguins has a double-meaning in our family and all I have to say is Gerry, don't you agree about the penguins?  (Hopefully Gerry reads this blog.)

I tried to take the best pictures I could, but, as has been established, I don't do photography for a living.  This is evidenced by the lousy pictures of seals I'm about to include.

Doesn't that second seal look like "paint me like one of your French Girls," or, likewise, Marat, in the painting about his death?  What I'm trying to say here is that this seal has some serious drama vibes going for it.

After we went around Noss, our captain, Brian, took us out farther to see so that our host, Marie, could feed the birds.  Watching gannets dive is an amazing sight, but they are much too quick doing it for my photographic abilities.  The gannets are obviously used to getting fed this way as about a hundred of them were following the Seabird hoping for a free snack.

For the longest time, one great skua did keep following us with the never-ending hope of a snack. It was rewarded with a cookie.  I have to say, that was a lot of effort for one cookie.

I think only that great skua and Cookie Monster would've held on that long for one cookie.

We paused in the Sound of Noss for a coffee and cookie break.  I'm surprised the great skua didn't turn up for it.  It was at this point, Marie asked me if we took the tour with them last year.  Considering how many people she deals with a summer, she has a really good memory.

We got told how to take a walk on Noss (never on Monday or Thursday) and saw the house of the wardens who live there throughout the summer.  No one else lives on Noss throughout the year.

Personally, it sounds like a sweet job: monitor the birds, make sure the island stays environmentally friendly, and hopefully pick up the one not so well seal we saw to make sure it gets care.  (I didn't take a picture of that seal as it didn't feel right.  I don't want my picture taken when I'm feeling poorly either.)  Our host, Marie, assured us she'd report the poor thing.

As a tour group, we were polled if we wanted to deal with the slightly rougher swells and go around the south side of Noss, or head back on the calmer north route.  We were unanimous about going the south way, which I have so say is the calmest and most agreeable vote the world is going to see this year.

This part of the trip was more familiar to Dad and me, as this was the route we took last year.  Still, I had to take a picture of Giant's Leg.

Unlike last year, it was too rough to sail through.  

Finally, on this part of the trip, I got to see a shag.  They're such funny-looking birds, like someone brought a Dr. Seuss drawing to life.  I would include a picture, but all the ones I took turned out blurry so I won't force them upon you.  Instead, I'll include this link so you can see how silly they look.

After the south end of Bressay, we sailed past the lighthouse, which was built by the same people who build Muckle Flugga.  To be honest, I think Dad like Muckle Flugga better though the one on Bressay is still a very nice lighthouse.

Finally, we came into sight of Lerwick, and I got to take a picture of Bain's Beach from the opposite way.

Sadly, on this trip I didn't get any pictures of arctic terns or puffins, though we did briefly see them.  

We pulled into Victoria Pier within about 10 minutes of the Seabird needing to head out on it's last tour of the day.  

As it was such a beautiful day, Dad and I decided to try walking home, so, of course, I had to document it.  For instance, here's Dad in Market Cross:

Next, here is Dad on the side of Bain's Beach which is far more familiar.  Those black blurs in the background are arctic terns.

I also managed to catch the Seabird heading back out to Noss.  I hope Brian and Marie had as good a tour that time as we did.

Just before we made it home, the cat that greeted Mum and me in the windowsill yesterday, greeted Dad and me in the street.  We knew it was there long before we saw it because every bird in the area was screaming a warning of danger, danger Will Robinson.  Plus, yesterday's cat brought a pal this evening.

Of course, we had a quiet evening of dinner and packing, and you could be forgiven for presuming that, not only because I just typed it, but also, because that's what we usually do after a busy afternoon.  Nope.  Not at all.  Elizabeth had left some of her mother's knitting from the 1920s for me to look over (her mother knitted for competitions) and came back with even more this evening after dinner.

If I could knit like that, I'd enter every competition ever and have the level of confidence of the gull that pooped on the inside of the taxi door from Friday. 

She only stayed for an a couple of hours, but still, it was sad to see her go as it really wraps up our trip to Lerwick.  It started with Elizabeth, and ended with Elizabeth, how appropriate.

Stats:

Dogs: 1

Guillemots: 2000

Gannets: 3000

Great Skuas: 4

Puffins: 12

European Shags: 10

Seals: 4

Cats: 3