Jolene, our intrepid tour guide (and distant cousin through marriage) has returned to take us on another adventure. This time, we headed as far north as we could get in Scotland, to the islands of Yell and Unst. Laura bought a convenient post card showing the islands.
We began our day at a ridiculous hour in the morning (for us) and I only had one cup of coffee. We had to start early, as it's a long way north. We took the north route out of Lerwick, heading up to the first of two ferry rides. Jolene, being the organizational guru she is, had us booked on certain ferries so we couldn't be late!
The ferry terminal is just a parking lot and a place for a comfort break, very rustic, but the actual ferries are run like well-oiled machines. Fortunately for Denise, the water was very calm. It took about 20 minutes to get from Mainland Shetland to Yell.
We took the scenic route through Yell and learned something very important: Yell sheep are either stupid or suicidal. They spend a lot of time on the road, not the side of the road, where it's safe, but the middle of the road. Jolene warned us they were stupid, but we didn't believe it until we saw it with our own eyes. How could anyone believe something living could be that stupid? You know who was not in the middle of the road? Shetland ponies. The two ponies Laura saw were smart enough to stay behind the fences and stone walls.
The drive was very scenic, past small hamlets all along the way. The majority of Yell is one lane roadways, so there was a lot of asking ourselves who was closer to the nearest passing place: us, or Lewis Hamilton barrelling at us?
After traveling all around Yell, we headed up to the Ferry Terminal, to catch a very small Ferry over to Unst. As it was so scenic at the terminal, we had to take a few pictures.
Our trip over to Unst was equally as calm, which Denise was grateful for, and then we were off exploring the most northerly island in all of Scotland.
We did get to see Muckle Flugga (a lighthouse), which is the most northerly part of the UK, but at a distance. It would have been impossible to get to without a really small boat, and scaling some cliffs. I had seen the lighthouse keeper's house on the webcams, but had no idea just how far from the lighthouse. It looked like it was miles away. It must've been very hazardous to man the lighthouse. Did you know Robert Louis Stevenson's, the author of Treasure Island, father (and uncle) designed and built Muckle Flugga? It's an incredible feat of ingenuity all on its own. It's beyond my imagination as to how they did it, given the time period, which was 1854.
As you can tell by the pictures, it was raining. It rained on and off throughout our adventure.
Jolene had a reservation for us at the UK's most northerly tea house, Victoria's Vintage Tea Rooms.
It's a good thing she did as it was insanely busy. There wasn't a seat in the house about 20 minutes after we arrived. It was every bit as good as advertised by our guide. I had homemade soup and bread from a local bakery while the ladies had scones. When in a tea house, of course.
Laura picked up a couple of postcards, which some of you will receive, including the one of the map of Yell, Unst, and Fetlar, which started this post.
Before we started our journey back from Haroldswick, which is where Victoria's was, we posed for a family photo overlooking the water.
A fun fact about Haroldswick is the place where historians believe viking first landed in the Shetland Islands.
From this point, we started our return to Lerwick, but we still had a few side trips. The first was Bobby's Bus Shelter. As the story goes, a little boy didn't like waiting out in the rain for his school bus and petitioned the council, through many letters, for a shelter. When it was built, it became a tradition to decorate it. First with a comfy chair, then yearly themes, and finally a visitors' books, which I signed on behalf of everyone. Bobby's mother, to this day, still decorates it.
I was impressed with the efforts of one small boy, making what is a very reasonable request, in this barren landscape.
Next was a detour through Baltasound, which is the largest settlement on Unst. For the supposed largest settlement, it was really tiny, but their school was huge, and very modern. One thing I did notice driving through Unst is that the evidence of peat farming is everywhere. It was more there than anywhere else I've been on Shetland.
On Unst, Laura spotted four Shetland ponies, two before lunch, and two after.
The drive back to the ferry went rather quickly, and we made an earlier boat than the one we were originally booked on. Again, a smooth crossing, and Denise was happy.
Back on Yell, we cut through the middle of the island, which is their one two lane road. Despite this, there were still potential sheep speed bumps. The stupidity of Yell sheep cannot be overstated. On Unst, there wasn't one on the road. On Yell, there were many looking to take on vehicles.
Speeding back to the ferry, avoiding sheep, again we made the earlier one. The waters were with us, and we barely noticed any movement the entire trip back. Denise was still grateful.
The drive back to Lerwick was scenic as always, with Jolene pointing out the turn to head to Walls, which is where we're headed tomorrow. In a testament to Jolene's ability to organize and shepherd us about, she got us back to our flat in time to get a coffee from the shop below us, just before it closed.
Exhaustion was the state of being for us for the rest of the evening.
Just for the record, Laura saw a total of 10 Shetland ponies.
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