Exploring Shetland - West and Lerwick

All the locals that we have met are very welcoming and friendly and definitely think of themselves as Shetlanders and certainly not Scottish. In fact we feel more in a Scandinavian country with the language and buildings - it feels nothing like the rest of the UK. If you hear a couple of locals talking you can't understand them - the lady that runs the campsite told us they tone down when talking to tourists. The accent has strange twangs that sound like what I guess is Norwegian and sounds like Irish with bits of Scottish with old Norse words mixed in. Really interesting! A lot of names for things like buildings, wildlife and places sound either Norwegian or are old Norse.  

From our base at Skeld marina we have visited several areas of the mainland. We did some hiking around Eshaness and Hillswick which are in the north west of North Mavine.

This rock looks like a horse drinking!

"Honesty Boxes" are a big thing here, whether for eggs as seen below in an old microwave to lovely cakes in fridges in the middle of nowhere!

An old microwave to sell eggs from!

The scenery here is very striking with some of the coastline having huge cliffs and sea stacks, like these at Eshaness. 

The stiles are not dog friendly!

In fact Shetland is not very dog friendly. So much of the island is covered in sheep so there are not many places where Purdy can be let off lead, so the beaches are the best. We have also found a lovely walk nearby to a neolithic temple called Stanydale which has no sheep and is a lovely place to be. Purdy has enjoyed charging around on the soft, sandy beaches and the springy moss filled grass.

The plaque on this bench read
Dip De Erse, well why not!

There is a lot of peat digging but only for
local consumption, not on an industrial scale.

This is Stanydale Temple, no-one knows for sure
if it was a temple or a house, but it is a very peaceful place
and built about 2500 BC - crazy!

At Sandness we saw some old vertical watermills, built to a Viking design and only 700 or so years old.

An old vertical watermill

Can you spot Purdy!

Stunning scenery at Westerwick near Skeld

The weather has been so much better than we imagined it would be! Apart from Eshaness which is a bleak headland and was overcast when we went, the weather has been brilliant. It was 24 today! 

Relaxing in the grounds of Fort Charlotte
 in Lerwick on another miserable day!

This beach has often featured in Shetland (the drama)

Jimmy's house

An unusual garage roof!

We knew they were filming for a new series of Shetland while we are here and we bumped into them in Lerwick! Unfortunately, we were not early enough to get chosen as an extra - they said we would have been lucky if we had arrived 30 minutes earlier. We hung around and watched but discovered neither Sandy nor Tosh were on set at the moment - and as far as we know Jimmy Perez has left the police! They were filming at the end of this pier.

Shetland Seabird Tours run a trip to the island of Noss to some local sea bird colonies where we saw Fulmars, Arctic Turns, Skuas, Guillemots, Kittiwakes, Razorbills and loads of amazing Gannets!

Bressay Lighthouse

Scalloway harbour - the old capital of Shetland

The Landbridge to Shetland

We had booked a 'landbridge' ferry ticket to Shetland - this is a combined ticket for the short ferry from Scrabster on the mainland to Stromness in Orkney (2 hours), then you drive across to Kirkwall in Orkney where you get a different overnight ferry to Lerwick in Shetland (7 hours). 

It was a beautiful evening on the flat sea to Orkney which surprised us - we were expecting choppy seas! Purdy had a ticket for the dog lounge so we could sit indoors or be out on deck. On the second leg, we had a dog friendly cabin and went straight to bed as we didn't board until about 2330. We had a cup of tea onboard in the morning before disembarking.

The Old Man of Hoy on route to Stromness

We arrived in Lerwick on a lovely, still cloudless morning! After an early lunch in a church (a random find) we headed to Skeld where we were going to be based at a marina/campsite for a while.

Demounting Muy at Skeld

A few people mentioned there was a Gala on at nearby Aith so we headed over. We met loads of locals who were all really chatty and friendly - and didn't mind us quizzing them on life in Shetland. Apparently the weather was the best they ever get - and BBQs were all planned to make the most of it. It surprised us how warm it is - the sun is hot but the wind cools it down. So on days where there is no wind, it is really pleasant. We thought it would be all gale forced wind with rough seas! We have had no wind and flat seas so far!

Local Viking group

A pie eating competition - why not! Phil 
managed to blag a leftover!

The local lifeboat is a Type Severn
and it was access all areas for the day

A pair of powerful MTU V10 engines.

So far Shetland is treating us well - hardly any rain and very friendly people. It doesn't feel remotely Scottish or British here - just as a different country. The accent and words used are completely different and really interesting to listen to. 

Not many trees, although there are some surprising plantations dotted around and in people's gardens. There are dramatic cliffs, beautiful beaches and tons of sheep!