Dreich and Domestic

Monday 29th May

At 06.15 it is bright and sunny. By breakfast time it looks like this out of our penthouse.
This is our last day in Lerwick before we head north, leaving the fleshpots behind. We put together a catering plan and then head to Tesco for supplies. In the entrance is a display of water shoes which we have neglected to pack and we treat ourselves. These fashionable accessories will be very handy if the opportunity to go plodging arises in the next few days.
After lunch the drizzle just about relents and we walk down to Commercial Street, the bustling retail hub of the town.
We browse a bit and call in at the Tourist Office where we find a couple of information leaflets about Unst, the most northerly island, where we are going tomorrow. We stop for a coffee in a cafe that offers Unicorn Poo ice cream. It looks disgusting.
There seems to be some kind of fixation with edible poo around here as many of the shops stock this.
As we sip our coffee D reads the leaflet about Unst which suggests that bookings are pretty much essential on the two ferries that we need to take on our journey. A quick phone call is made to the ferry office and we have our times for tomorrow morning.

Having maxed out the retail experiences on offer in Lerwick we head back to our apartment to cook supper and do a bit of Duolingo. If this sounds like it has been a bit a dull day you are right.

BUT there is real excitement to come later this evening. Watch out for the next blog episode.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Peerie Nuek

Image
Tuesday 30th May. The alarm goes at 0730 and getting up is quite difficult, although necessary as we have boats to catch. It is another overcast and breezy day with a forecast high of 12°C. We didn't come for the weather. We fill up with diesel which is not too expensive at 140.9p per litre. What is a surprise is that petrol is five pence a litre more . Our route takes us north along the main road from Lerwick, then north east to the ferry terminal at Toft. Here we discover the benefits of pre-booking as we take up access in a priority boarding lane.  We have a few minutes to wait until we are invited to board but are kept entertained by Arctic Terns fishing in the harbour beside us. These birds are known as Tirricks in the local dialect, which is a passable rendition of the noise that they make. The crossing takes around 20 minutes and delivers us to Ulsta, at the southern end of the island of Yell. The boat is big enough to have a passenger lou...
Read more

Sun in Unst

Image
Thursday 1st June Sometimes there is sun in Unst and not just in some kind of anagram answer. The start of the day was much like the last couple, overcast with a fresh breeze that is probably described as a flat calm by the locals. After breakfast we decide to start the day with a visit to nearby Nor Wick beach, home to a colony of nesting tirricks and a good bet for a plodge. The terns are about in good numbers and, even better, people are not. For a while we have this beautiful beach to ourselves. The beach shoes get a work out and prove to be comfortable and practical. Returning from the beach we see a lapwing chasing off a crow. The lapwing goes to ground in a small, rather soggy meadow and we walk up to investigate. The meadow hosts dunlin and whimbrel as well as the lapwing which moves off to the next field and poses beautifully. By now the sun is breaking through the clouds and we drive south to our next target. The Keen of Hamar i...
Read more