Shetland! Day 1: Lerwick, Bressay, Yell, Unst and Fetlar

A couple of months in the planning, with a strict itinerary but lots of fun to be had, Shetland was going to be our furthest trip and opportunity to visit some of the most remote islands of the UK. We'd set our sights on visiting at least nineteen islands, having trawled and pored over ferry timetables to fit in as many as we could in the seven days we would have up north. 

The first day and a half was something of a test of endurance, leaving Bristol late Friday evening and (Liam) driving through the night to arrive in Aberdeen at around eight Saturday morning. After dropping the car off and finding some breakfast, we waited around for the Northlink ferry which left at five, travelling north. Aberdeen was pretty grey.

At this point an introduction is probably in order. You will remember Fran from the trip to Wales, she came, and the dude in the sunglasses below, that's Mike. Top island bagging attributes: had good stove, made tasty food, proficient at lighting peat fires and excellent rock star pose. 

  

The Sand Dollar Cafe, Seafront, Aberdeen

 

Leaving Aberdeen Harbour

After another leg of the mammoth journey, 14 hours on the ferry to Lerwick via Orkney (which we slept through) and past Fair Isle, (which we did watch go past at four in the morning) we arrived into Lerwick (Shetland Mainland (1)) at seven. Leaving our bags for now, we headed straight for another ferry, this time taking only seven minutes over to the island of Bressay (2). The weather at this point was awful and it was raining heavily, and with breakfast on our minds we only managed a brisk mile or two up onto the hillside before heading back across into town and straight to the Co-op for a full Scottish fry-up (so no interesting facts about Bressay).

Shop in Lerwick

Bressay (didn't go to Noss)

Bleak

 After breakfast we headed to Bolt's to pick up the hire car, then heading straight north, first through the mainland, and caught two more ferries, first over to Yell (3), and then after driving straight across, onto Unst (4), the most northerly inhabited island of Great Britain (hold on, lots more superlatives to come!). With the population thinning to just sparsely dotted farms and houses along the roadside, the outlook got wilder as we came to the very end of the road at Hermaness nature reserve. 

Liam definitely did go to Yell

Still raining, we continued on foot through the moorland bogs up onto the headland, surrounded by ominous looking Great Skuas who were asserting their dominance overhead. Known as the "pirates of the bird world", over half the world's population live on Shetland, and the grey-brown, brooding beasts have certainly found a spot to match their own description. Undeterred by the threat of aerial bombardment (another theme of the week) we arrived at the end of the cliffs, with views out over Muckle Flugga lighthouse and Out Stack, the most northerly of northerly. It sort of feels like a shame that we've done the furthest south the the furthest north in the space of six weeks, and there's nowhere further to go, but then again, all of the rest of the islands we want to visit are in between, so we know what the boundaries are! 

Hermaness in the rain

More Hermaness in the rain

Liam, Fran and Muckle Flugga

Anyway it was still raining, and not very nice to be out in, so we retraced our steps back to the car, and after a quick stop at Skaw (most northerly populated place) and again to have some pictures in front of the famous Unst bus-stop and John Peel Memorial Traffic Island (not sure if it is actually that famous) we made it to the pier just in time for the ferry to Fetlar (5), our fifth island of the day and where we would be spending the night.

Fetlar is the fourth largest island of the archipelago, with a population of under 100, a haunted roundhouse, a campsite, and like many of the islands, an important historical link to Hanseatic trading routes from Germany and the Baltic States in the thirteenth century, long before this was even part of Scotland. It is also known as the 'Garden of Shetland' due to the fertile soil, I presume also in part due to it being on the eastern edge of the islands, protected somewhat from the worst extremes of the Atlantic winter. Still pretty drizzly when we were there.

Unst bus-stop

Island number five!

In terms of accommodation, for all of our nights in Shetland we stayed in Camping Böd's, mostly renovated fisherman's huts and cottages with a history all of their own, dotted around Shetland in some really picturesque spots, and at really good prices for basic amenities. Blatant plug but http://www.camping-bods.com/ will give you more info.

The first one, at Aithbank on Fetlar was our first chance of a proper bed since Thursday and even had a hot shower. The first day had been a bit frantic and a bit frazzled from the traveling, but we had managed five islands already, been to the top of the world and back, and we still had six more days to go. An Otter darting back and forth across the road right in front of the böd before bed rounded the day off nicely, if only he'd stuck around long enough for a photo...

Old boat pulled up high near Brough Lodge, Fetlar

Never really got the jeans dry