Pack up time in our very good apartment. It was perfect for a few days stay. We had decided to stay in last night and get some fish n chips. No. Sunday night and nothing much was open. Except Indian.

This morning was another lovely day so we headed to the little main street to see a big cruise ship coming for a day. The street that was so quiet yesterday was awash with people today.

I wanted to visit the bookshop to get a few picture books for my little grandsons so Steve bravely drove down the little Main Street.

We heard ‘Steve!’ We were moving so slowly Steve glanced up and saw a friend from Brisbane. He and his wife were on the cruise. Naturally we parked and had a catch up.

This led to a very late breakfast and a late start at Scalloway. This small community is on the western side of the island about 15 minutes from Lerwick on the east.

It has a lovely little harbour and lots of little boats tied up at marina bobbed and glistened in the sunlight.

The museum is next to the castle which is closed for repairs. Fortunately the museum was open as it had a great display on the Shetland Bus. For those who haven’t heard of the Shetland Bus it is a WW2 very moving story about the cooperation between the English, Shetland and Norway. During the war they needed to get fugitives and those trapped in an occupied Norway out. They started to use fishing boats.

Read about it here. It’s a fascinating story of incredible cooperation and bravery.

Read about it here:

https://www.scallowaymuseum.org/the-shetland-bus.html

We drove south through Trondra a series of small islands. You can see the influence of Norway here. Even the houses have a distinct Norwegian appearance. Very well kept, painted bright colours, even made from timber a material in very short supply here the Shetlands.

Next stop was the Quendale Water Mill which has been restored to working condition. It’s a water wheel that was used for milling grain.

The crofters house museum was our next call. We arrived after the lunch break as it said ‘closed for lunch’ 1-2pm. We arrived at around 2.30 and walked in – actually ducked down and in and all was quiet. Finally a man opened the little door to the main crofters room. Rubbing sleep from his eyes he admitted he’d had a wee nap.

He made himself a coffee and then chatted to us for ages about the crofters life. Not that he was one but he has a good knowledge of it. This house is a project taken up by a a New Zealand architect in 1960. He had connections to the Shetlands …… read about it here.

The Croft house was great to see. It wasn’t like a museum display. It was an original house as through someone had just walked out.

Our last stop today was Jarlshof. This is one of the most important archaeological sites in the UK. A whole village was found buried. it’s a wonderfully presented history of not only had one group of people lived here but several subsequent groups.

Neolithic people first settled at this site in Shetland around 2700 BC, and it remained in use until the AD 1600s. Discoveries made here include oval-shaped Bronze Age houses, an Iron Age broch and wheelhouses, Then Norse long houses, built by Vikings, a medieval farmstead, a large broch and a laird’s house dating from the 1500s.

I have learned such a lot in a few days. Shetland has been an eye opener.

We got to little Sumburgh airport quickly by crossing the runway after watching a plane takeoff and stopping at a little petrol station – run by ….. the car hire company. Five minutes later we got to the airport entrance, & parked the hire car when a man came up and said I’ll take the keys! He identified himself as the car hire man so after a laugh together we did hand over the keys.

‘Would you like to inspect it ‘ I asked helpfully. ‘Oh no – and I saw you filling up with petrol before‘ he replied. It’s all good. Obviously he thought we looked trustworthy of no one bumps their cars in the Shetland.

Then the down side of our trip.

The flight was delayed for 2.5 hrs. They gave us a voucher for the tiny cafe where the women who ran it said she was ‘ off home soon’ We’d better spend our money. The most nutritious offering was a ham & salad sandwich. Or perhaps a rather hard sausage roll ? We bought crisps, chocolate, a sandwich for me and sausage roll for Steve. Great dinner. We had to buy our own beer as the voucher didn’t cover alcohol. Wouldn’t want us sozzled on the flight.

We now get to Edinburgh-at 10pm. Poor Steven our host, who is meeting us at the apartment with our bag. Hope he’s at a good Fringe show tonight! He’s a saint.

Later: We made it. 10.15 pm. Our host was great delivering our bag and waiting for us. The apartment is just right for 19 days in this beautiful city.