Today was a busy, busy day as we had to be up, ready, and out by 8:45 to meet our intrepid tour guide, Jolene. Not enough coffee was had according to Dad and me, but we still made it. We even made Dad take his cold medication so he'd be as comfy as possible.
It was one of our two tour days here in Shetland, this one to Yell and Unst, to see some sights we have seen before and some new places. Last year, we didn't start so early but the Shetland Council has been playing hide-the-pound with the ferries and sometimes they don't always run when they say they're going to run, or they don't have enough people to run, or, well, you get the picture. One councillor even told the people of Unst to only take "necessary trips." That's easy to say when the only thing you can't get in Lerwick is delivery from most of the restaurants. I'd like to see the councillor who said that to try living a year on Unst and take only "necessary trips."
Our first ferry of the morning, the one from the Mainland to Yell, left on time, and we were grateful. What we weren't grateful about is that the sheep on Yell haven't improved their road sense in the last year and we nearly had free lamb for dinner a few times.
Yell is sort of like Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, and Pickering, you only drive through them to get to Toronto, or in our case, drive through Yell to get to Unst.
Let me digress for a second and say I missed taking a picture of Windhouse on Yell. It's famous for being the most haunted house in Shetland. Dad would like to make it famous for being the nicest done-up house by a Canadian.
It's a pretty place but there really isn't any place to go, so off to Unst we went on the second on-time ferry. Really, the decades long discussion of a tunnel between the two could easily be solved by everyone who has ever taken the underground tunnel to the Island Airport in Toronto: do it. The very brief ferry ride isn't worth it, and I do mean very brief. We're ten minutes getting on to getting off the ferry. You can wave at Unst from Yell and be clearly seen. Just build a tunnel already.
Our first stop on Unst was Bobby's Bus Shelter. Last year, it was decorated in a tall ships theme. This year, the decorators took leap year literally.
Get it? Frogs? Leap Year? Punny? Very.
We signed the visitors' book and went travelling up to Baltasound, where I nearly had a job nine years ago, and yes, I'm still bitter over losing it. This trip though had nothing to do with potential employment and everything to do with tracking down Victoria, who runs Victoria's Vintage Tearoom. If you ever come to Unst and don't go there, you are missing something special. Unfortunately, it's not open on a Monday so Jolene, ever intrepid and ingenious, found out she would be catering at the Baltasound Community Hall to a group of tourists and got Victoria to agree to let us sit in and have lunch. It was just as good as if we'd been to the tearoom. Just look at the scones.
If possible, they tasted even better than they looked. We were very grateful to Jolene for finding Victoria, and Victoria for let us hone in on the other tour group.
After lunch, we headed up toward Muckle Flugga but that exact moment, fog descended from the heavens blocking the view. Dad was really anxious to see it, as Jolene remembered since Muckle Flugga was the theme of Dad's present from the morning. He likes lighthouses. He also likes the Shetland Webcams and Muckle Flugga's lighthouse keeper's house is on them, which is where Jolene took us while the fog was rolling in.
That is the view from where they launch the boats to head to Muckle Flugga and Dad was amused because the same red car was there that he sees almost every day on the webcams.
The fog still in the way we headed to the Unst Heritage Centre which has displays on everything from harvesting peat, to lace knitting, to crofting, to the wars and how they affected the island. Like the Stromness Museum, it is little but mighty and totally worth the visit. I think Dad's favourite part was going through the book of all the ruins on Unst as his dream job would be to rehabilitate one of them and turn it into a livable abode once again. We just need Mum to play the lottery right so he can do that.
Jolene decided we would make one last attempt to see Muckle Flugga and took us up another road where we might catch a glimpse between patches of fog. I secretly think Jolene controls the weather because this time, we could see it. Remember, I am not a professional photographer, so the lighthouse is the white blur in the picture below.
This made Dad very happy (as did further cold medication that he had at lunch) an we could turn around and head back to the ferry. We would likely make it on time except...
Our drive back through Yell gave us even more opportunities for free lamb and one very terrifying chance at a free pony, but not the way I would want it. If anyone on Yell is reading this, someone's ponies have escaped their enclosures.
The ferry from Yell to the Mainland fortunately was on time and when we hit the Mainland, Jolene was kind enough to stop for a moment so I could phone in dinner for takeaway. Since it would take about 45 minutes to make, the amount of time it would take to go from the ferry terminal back to Lerwick, we didn't rush.
I wish I had taken pictures of the wind farm they're building. It the biggest one on land in Europe and Jolene has a brilliant idea to let local artists decorate the bases, and I think it's brilliant. That councillor earlier who only wanted "necessary trips" could redeem themselves by setting something like that up.
On a side note, once the wind farm is finished, Shetland will be connected to the Scottish National Grid for the first time, and will likely be sending energy to the mainland, rather than taking it. If only my provincial government could take some lessons from Shetland in this case.
The timing for dinner pick up was perfect and Jolene got us home a little after 6pm, with presents, souvenirs, and a hot meal. I swear, there is nothing that woman can't do.
We are now tired but contented people, and if I was really mean, I'd snap a picture of my father asleep in the chair right now and post it. I admit, I almost reached for my phone to take a picture but I shall resist and let him sleep in peace.
Stats:
Shetland Ponies: 28
Horses: 1
Sheep: 30000
Sheep on the Road on Yell: 8
No comments:
Post a Comment