Sunny Sunday in Lerwick

August 20, 2023August 20, 2023 / brisbanefrannie / 4 Comments

We woke up the sound of church bells. It’s Sunday and we are near two churches.

The sun is shining and the view from our little attic apartment windows is beautiful. Chimneys of different heights, and rooftops with angles and attics add interest to the skyline.

Steve was going on the boat to the island of Mousa We had missed it when we landed a few days ago so he was trying again. I decided not to ( I might regret it but reading about it, I’m not sure I want to walk on uneven ground or wet slippery paths as described. ) I tried to book on a bird watching tour from Lerwick Harbour but they were all booked out. Advice: no matter what you want to do these days you must book!

So I decided to walk and discover Lerwick in the sunlight. It’s been beautiful. I walked from our apartment to the church across the road and sat studying the stained glass windows.

I walked to Fort Charlotte, a wonderful fort that has never seen a shot fired in anger.

I passed at Lerwick police station and wondered if I would spy Jimmy Perez from the tv series Shetland.

Then I walked down hill through one of the many lanes from the higher part of the town to the waterfront. To cut the steep walk down they have added a series of steps.

I met a man with his goat Lucille. He told me she provided so much milk they had started their own goats milk soap company. I went into the shop and tried the various body butters and chatted to the lady who explained the process. Across the lane way was the Puffin Place where everything in the shop was somehow embellished with puffin pictures. I’m thinking the puffin is a little exploited.

See the goat outside his soap shop. And note the chimneys.

I continued along the road and met Jimmy , no, not Perez but a local who offered to show me around. We bought coffee and chatted but I assured him I was enjoying a stroll. He told me he was being picked up by boat soon to go to a bay nearby for a fishing competition. Now that would be interesting!

Sipping a coffee by the waterfront was peaceful and calming. Who could get stressed at this pace !

I walked the entire water front. Past Jimmy Perez’ house, the Lodeberrie. This is a house jutting in to the water where in years gone by boats would pull up to the house to unload their cargo. It’s now privately owned and the most photographed house here!

Lerwick like many other sea ports is host to the cruise ship! Not many……not enough to flood the town but to deliver some money to the locals. I hope so.

I walked towards the Museum of Shetland on the waterfront and passed the new theatre centre. They advertised a short film ‘ Welcome to Shetland’ ! I decided to see it and the 40 minute film showed a little of the history of this fascinating place. It also focused on the music. The violin or fiddle was a part of every Croft house. It provided the entertainment people needed to relax.

The Scottish music has great appeal – gets the feet tapping and the hands clapping. Traditionally played by men the violin is now favoured by Scottish women.

I was waiting for Steve and he arrived back full of stories about the boat trip to Mousa to see the broch. Perfect day for sailing.

It’s one of the best preserved broch probably because it’s so tall.

Climb it if you dare. Steve didn’t. Too dangerous.

I wasn’t unhappy with my decision not to go. Although he saw seals from a distance. He didn’t see a puffin but saw some shags. and there was a lot of time on the island after walking the islands shoreline.

The Shetland Museum is very well displayed. It shows a timeline of the islands development. The Norse arriving and taking the land. The eventual return of Shetland back to Scotland as part of a dowry paid by the Kings of Norway when his daughter Princess Margereth married King James 111 of Scotland.

Of course the afternoon finished with a G&T in the local pub. The Douglas Arms.

Fish n chippies tonight!

Heading North. Island hopping.

August 20, 2023August 20, 2023 / brisbanefrannie / 3 Comments

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.

The displays depict life for a Crofter – farmer.

Sleeping arrangements in the crofters house. Note the expandable cot.

The most exquisite lace work. Done by lamplight.

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.

Don’t miss the red shed. Shetland gallery halfway up Yell island

Shona Skinner’s workshop walk. Paintings , sketches and sewn

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 !

Shetland Islands. looking for ponies , otters, puffins and maybe Jimmy Perez

August 19, 2023August 19, 2023 / brisbanefrannie / 8 Comments

Our plane was an hour late arriving which put us behind. We hired a car from the airport and were sent to the car park to play ’ find the car’. Such a relaxed island way of hiring a car. Steve walked around clucking the car opener until we heard a beep.

We headed straight up the hill to Sumburgh lighthouse. It was super windy and the views were an indication of what as to follow as we explored this most northerly part of Great Britain.

The lighthouse museum explains the history of lighthouses. The hardship the early keepers endured and life for the families of the keeper. I loved the profile of a Lighthouse Keeper.

View from the lighthouse. Very windy but not that cold!

It had an excellent marine section showing the birds found here. The puffins are a favour and everywhere you go there are pictures and little stuffed toys depicting the puffin. I got to hear the noises of the birds and the little puffin has a growling type call.

We continued up the main road north and called into Sandwick with the idea of catching the little ferry across to Mousa a small island off the mainland. It is a bird life haven. Unfortunately we were running late because our plane was an hr behind and we missed the last ferry of the day. we’ll try again in Sunday.

We called into a jewellery shop on the arts and crafts trail. Karlin Anderson was born in the Shetlands but had spent a lot of her adult life in London. She does beautiful work which reflects life on the islands. Her lace work jewellery is exquisite.

If you can read this it tells the story behind her collection.

I might have ordered something from her!

We had a bowl of soup at the Hoswick craft cafe and chatted to the lady in the shop They are such warm friendly people so open to questions about their life on the island.

Excited to see some Shetland ponies on our way to the sunny west coast of the island.

Horses came over with the Norse settlers. They would have been bigger then but evolved with the conditions to be shorter study horses to cope with the conditions and the work load.

We detoured to visit St Ninians. It’s a spectacular beach which stretches from the mainland to a small island. The weather was perfect. Warm & sunny there were even people paddling in the crystal clear water.

Steve walked over to the island and I walked around the cove to explore the rocks. There are so few people around it makes it very special.

The road north is much better than I anticipated and there was little traffic so it was an easy drive

We passed through Brae and decided as the weather was so good to head out the peninsula to the cliffs of Eshaness. The drive gave us the most spectacular scenery possible. We got to the lighthouse and looked North. The afternoon light bathed the coast in sunlight. Truly beautiful.

Heading back to our accommodation we drive down to a little boat ramp used by local fishermen.

Arriving at Busta House was like stepping back in time. It’s old, steeped in history and had rooms refurbished. However, it has stayed. Big stone stairs down to an entrance then up two old staircases to our room named Papa Stour , one of the little islands nearby.

The room was comfortable, had a view out to a bay named Busta Voe. The new bathroom was tiny and definitely wasn’t for the feint hearted. The bath was so high it was like doing gymnastics to get get in! I counted at least 5 people staying at the house who used walking sticks so I don’t know how they managed. So it missed a 🛌🛌🛌 rating. Only a 🛌🛌. But a fairly high 2!

We had drinks in the sitting room before dinner. There were around 125 Gin and nearly 300 whiskey varieties to choose from. Dinner was nice fresh homely food- lamb for Steve , salmon for me with lovely fresh veggies.

A quiet 💤 night.

World Cup vs Walking. In Scotland

August 17, 2023August 18, 2023 / brisbanefrannie / 5 Comments

The Matildas Australia’s favourite women’s football team was playing England. Big moment.

I choose to explore Lauder ( it didn’t take long ) even though I was walking at a snails pace. Steve decided to walk. Turns out he covered 19 km.

The beautiful sign welcoming people to Lauder

Lauder is a lovely Border town and has a nice little High St with a great cafe gallery. I occupied myself there for a while with the other people using walking sticks. I’ve really noticed how many people need a walking stick perhaps more here in Scotland?

I then returned to the Black Bull and chatted to the wife of yesterday’s timber man the owner – Steve’s new best friend . They have owned this pub for 8 years and have turned it into a friendly place for locals and tourists. Turns out they travel to Sydney every second year to visit their daughter in Sydney. She & her husband run an event company and recently organised the opening event to the World Cup which involved closing the Sydney Harbour Bridge for an opening party.

So she was more than happy to chat and have the tv on the GAME I sat there mostly alone ( it was 11am) with a coffee. Not a gin!

It was a great game but unfortunately Australia lost to England. Remember, I’m in Scotland and they were mostly supporting Australia! No love lost between England Scotland.

Meanwhile, Steve is walking along the road then detouring through fields , forests & villages.

He found a beautiful old church and chatted for ages to the three ladies doing the weekly clean. The church only opens twice a week so he was lucky today was one of the days .

This church dates from 1242 it looks quite new but has recently celebrated their 781 year anniversary.

I left the pub and drove around the country side and arrived at the Juniperlea Pub to meet a very tired Steve for a late, late lunch.

We had a quiet afternoon as the afternoon ‘sludge’ had started. ( drizzly rain)

Dinner was at the Hotel pub and and early night. The food is good but it’s getting hard to select! I had the steak pie ! Steve the local cheddar Mac & Cheese. We’ve had the fish ‘n chips another favourite a few times. So time for a change.

Steve decided yesterday’s long walk was enough. It was cloudy and he didn’t want to walk in the rain, so we left together for an explore of the countryside. It’s so beautiful. Lush fields , stone fences where no one seems to be in a hurry. Lots of retirees in these little villages where there is nothing around. Most have few, if any shops at all so you have to get a bus or drive everywhere. oh it would be so cold in the long winters!

We found a laundrette in a supermarket car park. Such a great idea. Three big machines in a bus shelter type building. You pop your washing in, go into the Coop supermarket. Come out , change to the dryer and have a coffee in the adjacent coffee shop. So easy.

We drove up to the next village Dalkeith. It’s only about 30 mins from Edinburgh so would be a good place to live and commute to work in Edinburgh.

We visited the stunning Dalkeith Park. You can drive around it (a bit like Centennial Park in Sydney) and there is a Palace which is only open on weekends for tours and concerts. There’s a rotunda and nearby a part called Restoration. It’s a little piazza type area with restaurants, shops a great food hall and gallery. A lovely place to meet for lunch.

There’s also camping in the park next to an adventure playground. Free for children but £4 for adults! It’s got all sorts of tree houses, slides sand play and from the delighted screaming for the children a fun place to spend some time.

About 20 minutes away is Rosslyn Chapel. You may have heard of this chapel – mostly because of the book & movie The DaVinci Code. They filmed scenes here. The publicity was good for the chapel because visitors to it have increased . Before there was a little man sitting in a wooden box at the entrance where you entered for free. Now there’s parking , a visitor centre, lots of well planned & displayed information.

The chapel was started in 1442 and took 40 years to build. It was built by the wealthy St Clair family as a chapel on their land. It deteriorated over many years and was at one point used as a stable for horses.

The design is gothic style with the most beautiful stone carvings. All designed to reflect stories from the bible.

It’s small with a limited number of people entering in each 90 min time slot. There’s a free talk about the Chapel, when everyone sits in the pews and look ready for a church service. Our guide was a frustrated actress or maybe a vicar. Reminiscent of Dawn French she brought the history alive with a few well told stories including dramatic pause, lowered voice and a laser pointer to highlight the stone sculptures.

Note the kangaroo in the bottom left. A wife of the Earl was Australian.

From the Chapel it was off to Edinburgh for a night before flying to the Shetland Islands. I pre arranged for Steven ( the man I’ve been communicating with for our 10 day apartment stay after Shetland ) to store a bag. So kind of him. We have limited luggage for the small plane to the islands & were planning on playing storage costs at a local place but it got complicated so I emailed my friend Steven and he met us at the apartment and took our bag to his place until we arrive back. So kind of him.

Pub near our apartment in Edinburgh. Staying there after our Shetlands trip.

The apartment position is great. Just behind the castle, 4 minutes from a tram line & Steve measured 75 paces to our local pub. Can’t wait to settle for 10 days.m!

We had the night at The Royal Scots Club near Princes St after a tasty Japanese meal. Huge variety of food places here.

A 5.15 am taxi pick up for our 7.20 flight to the Shetlands. I’m sitting in the little plane with only about 20 passengers watching the propellers twirl waiting for take off.

Off to find Jimmy Perez. If you don’t know the tv series take a look (and put the captions on to help with the heavy Scottish accents)

Too good to be true. Not taking off. The Shetlands control tower radio was faulty and had to be checked – so back to the gate for an hour!

frans travel tales

come along with me

Shetland Islands

Sunny Sunday in Lerwick

Heading North. Island hopping.

Shetland Islands. looking for ponies , otters, puffins and maybe Jimmy Perez

World Cup vs Walking. In Scotland