Yes, an emotional goodbye, because this is the first place I have truly felt at home since I left Markwood. When I drove onto Shetland from the airports git was like coming home. Normally if I can't get google maps working straight away I get a tad anxious, but this time I didn't even bother, I just knew I had to drive north towards Lerwick and follow the signs for Brae.
The island feels as if it's wrapping its arms around you, it's got a 'bigger' feeling than Orkney and the scenery is breathtaking, even the roads are the best I've driven on since I left home. Then there's the people, the Shetlander's are so friendly, they just embrace you, although many of them share my opinion of American tourists, but they put up with them for the $$$ they bring to the islands.
I met a couple and their beautiful husky shepherd x while having a coffee in Lerwick, we got talking and I showed them photos of the boys, they were really impressed with Barney, they had never heard of a Kelpie (in the Islands kelpies are sea creatures, seals that shed their skin and become human when on land) I showed them photos of real kelpies and then they could see both kelpie and heeler features in Barney. When they found out I was interested in the Shetland Bus, they gave me directions to the Scalloway museum which has a display about the Shetland Bus. They also gave me some ideas for walks around the Lerwick area. We spent about an hour just chatting about island life, the wife is from Shetland but her husband was originally from Liverpool, they married and returned to the Island in 1985, he said it was the best decision he'd made.
The hotel is at Brae and was built in the 1600's, it's all faded elegance and puts you in mind of travelling in a different era. HM and the duke of Edinburgh took tea there in the 1960's!!!
Having said that it's spotlessly clean, amazingly comfortable and the staff are the best I have met on my trip. The team leader Bradley, was just wonderful and nothing was too much trouble for anyone. The thing I really enjoyed was having a pre-dinner drink (the Gin collection is eye watering - I especially liked the seaweed Gin) While you're sipping your drink the wait staff bring you a menu and then come back when you're ready to order. Once your starter is ready, they come and take you through to your table, very reminiscent of the 19th Century!! The food was superb, best steak I've had since I got here and the seafood - I had gravlax followed by poached salmon last night - is just yummy.
So what about places visited and sights seen you ask, well Friday evening I went for a walk down to Busta Voe whch is the name of the Bay that the hotel sits on, there's an iron age broch perched on the hill above the beach, just a small one, but just sitting there for you to go in and look at, it's just the single room within the circular structure, but it gives you a sense of history to stand in the middle. There's a stone slipway and I suppose you could call it a dry dock because you can bring the boat right up to work on it, it show the islands boat building history. The water is so blue and clear, its just beautiful, the kelp and the different seaweeds, the colours are amazing.
The gardens at Busta House have been let go wild and naturalise, it's just like a magical meadow there's this beautiful tree with what looks like a fairy's glade around it. So I decided to sit in the garden, the sun was out and it was warm (for Shetland) and I sat and enjoyed the view and a pint from the local Lerwick brewery called a red ale.
After a very nice dinner and a glass of NZ Sav Blanq I headed off to bed in the daylight. Sun up in Shetland is 4am and sunset 11pm, with 5 hours of gloaming not darkness.
On Saturday, having partaken of a nourishing breakfast I headed into Lerwick for a morning of sightseeing and an afternoon trip on a boat to see birds and seals. I parked the car and walked down the steps of Burns Lane, that's the lane where the uniformed cop chases the bad guy on the last season of Shetland!! Those actors/stunt doubles must be fit buggas because those steps are steep!!!
I spent an interesting hour wandering around Fort Charlotte which was built about 400 years ago, it's built strategically above the town in a zig zag formation which allowed it to protect the entire harbour, the guns are still there and you can see how each one covers a section of the harbour. I walked around the powder magazine, its quite intriguing how its built, the internal walls are double brick with a space in between, so in effect there are 2 walls, then the building is surrounded by a brick wall that is the same height as the roofline of the powder magazine building. I suppose it was a safety feature in case the magazine blew up!!
I wandered around Lerwick really enjoying the old buildings and the ambiance before I walked along the sea wall and came across Jimmy Perez's house, its privately owned but you can stand outside and just imagine what it's like when the cast and crew are there filming. Yes I did gawk and take photos!!!!
After all this star worship I needed coffee, so took myself off to a little coffee shop where I met the couple with the beautiful dog. And so refreshed I headed off for a spot of retail therapy. Have I spent too much money on this trip - yes I have, but I don't care, I think Wazzy would approve of my saying this is my time and I'm going to enjoy it.
After my retail therapy I headed to the dock for my seals and seabird cruise. Once on board I struck up a conversation with a couple of women, one who was also travelling alone. We chatted about my work as a celebrant, she had been in the navy and was now pursuing a different career, we spoke about writing and telling stories and I said that was the one part of celebrancy I really enjoyed, especially telling the story of those that have passed on. Once we got under way with our guide pointing out places of interest along the waterfront, she said that house there is Jimmy Parez's house from the series Shetland, she also said she had had a couple of the cast members on the morning cruise as they were currently filming in Shetland. Well it turns out, the woman I had struck up a conversation with is one of the shows producers and also directs some episodes!!!!!
Of course I had to tell her I loved the show and I asked her if Jimmy Parez comes back in season 8, she laughed and said "keep watching" After some more conversation she asked me what I thought happened, I told her & she smiled and said "keep watching"
Then we turned our attention to the cruise, I have to say it was the best thing I have done in a long while, we cruised around Bressay and Nos went into the gannet colonies, saw seals, dolphins and so many seabirds. I learned so much about bird life and how important habitat is as well as learning about the Shetland coastline and geology. We sailed into a cave and the colours were just amazing. 3 hours of bliss!!!
When we got back to the dock, we said farewell to our companions and with a last "keep watching" my Shetland companion was gone.
After another walk around and a bit of window shopping, I headed back to the car and drove back to Brae for a drink and dinner.
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