Breakfast was held in the old world dining room and served by a friendly local girl. They are having a wedding at the hotel today so it as all busy busy!

We headed north to get the first ferry to Yell. A great name for an island. First stop was a teeny tiny Old Haa Museum. Its in a house belonging to one of the islands great characters I’d say. He was a crofter, fisherman , raconteur and part time dentist. There was a tray of teeth he had pulled over the years & there was a old recording of his voice ‘telling ‘ stories.

And right on time as predicted, the rain started. We drive the length of Yell island. It’s very barren. Hardly a tree to be seen.

Lots of hardy looking sheep grazing along the narrow roads with hardier looking people out on their properties mustering the sheep.

We got to the second ferry crossing. From Yell across to Unst. This is really getting northerly. It is the most northerly part of the United Kingdom. It has around 700 residents and is rugged , remote, open, wild and beautiful.

Each of the islands has a distinct personality. Unst is more settled and we spent more time on this island.

Unst is believed to be the first landing point of the Vikings in the North Atlantic. There are the remains of at least 60 longhouses, and the highest density of rural Viking sites anywhere, including Scandinavia.

We visited the small but informative Unst Heritage Centre. This is an ideal first stop for anyone visiting the island. Visitors can explore the unique history of Unst through a display of artefacts donated by residents both past and present. The exhibitions depict geology, archeology, crofting and there are unique examples of lacework & knitting.

For a small centre it is well worth the trip. We were there with a group of knitters & weavers from Scandinavia. They were in raptures.

We moved onto the Unst boat haven also in Haroldswick. And a haven it was. A well curated shed of boats outlining herring fishing from its earliest days until the present. Robert the guide on duty was keen to help and walked with us through the centre talking about the boats and the history of the area. He loved Steve’s enthusiasm for boats, so was a great companion.

We heard about herring fishing from its earliest days until the present.

I was fascinated by the section on the Herring industry. The women played a big part in keeping this going. In the 1800’s there were 3,000 people living in Unst and 28 registered boats. The fishermen were also crofters to supplement their poorly paid jobs. The landowners and boat owners made most of the money .

By the 1970’s the government banned herring fishing as the giant trawlers had depleted stocks so much. Now the main industry is drawn from its 1700 miles of coastline. The seafood industry and oil from the North Sea.

We took refuge from the drizzly rain in Victoria’s tea room in front of Boat Haven. It’s a gift farm shop and cake heaven. People were tucking into soup and sandwiches but as we’d had a big breakfast we enjoyed coffee and a slice of cake. Coffee walnut for Steve and lemon drizzle for me.

https://www.victoriasvintagetearooms.co.uk

We had read about the Norse people arriving in this not too dissimilar country and building longhouses and longboats.

The Scottish humour shines through the drizzle.

We stopped at the Shetlands Gallery. there is quite an arts crafts trail here in the Shetlands and this gallery was airy, calm with beautiful light filled spaces. It is owned by artist Shona Skinner a woman who taught art in London for many years before she and her husband moved here to her homeland and set up a gallery and studio. Shona had her own workroom attached to the gallery which is open and shows her beautiful work with textiles as well as painting.

I loved Shona’s work. Such beautiful colour combinations that reflect the colours of the island.

We met a young woman from New Zealand at the gallery. She’s a young doctor doing 6 months work at the hospital. She was telling us how much she was enjoying living in Lerwick. That it is a vibrant friendly place. After 6 months spent just out of London she is enjoying this so much more. I think Ísland life gets under the skin.

We now drive through quite heavy rain to catch the larger ferry back to the main island. We queued up in the unbooked lane and very nearly missed out. So my advice is get online and book your ferry crossings. It can be very busy and you might miss out.

We drove down to Lerwick and in light rain drove around the town.

My first impression is of an interesting town set by the sea ( always a winner for me). Lots of boats to look at. Recently they had the Festival of tall ships. It would have been so colourful to be here then.

We found our little apartment in the attic section of a three story house. Yes a few stairs but so worth it. The apartment is terrific. Clean, well organised and just so comfortable.

We ventured out for food to find the wind and rain had cleared to a beautiful night.

Planning tomorrow’s activities kept us busy over dinner and then we watched a little tv !