The Peerie Nuek

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 lounge up above the vehicle deck and a small area of open deck at the back of the boat. From Ulsta the main road heads north, as do we, on our way to Gutcher where we will catch our second ferry. We have no time to linger if we are to catch our booked boat so all we see of Yell is people cutting peat and various fish farms in the sea lochs.

Our diligence is rewarded when we take up pole position in the booked lane. There is a short wait and then a ferry docks, unloads and we are called forward. Not all of those in the Unbooked queue are able to board so they have at least an hour's wait to cross. Despite the boat's name this is definitely a smaller ferry and we give thanks to the Tourist Office leaflet that informed us about the need to book.

This ferry does not run to passenger facilities. One either stands on deck or sits in one's motor. D opts to stand for a while and just before we leave Gutcher spots this rather splendid sea urchin just above the waterline on the dock side.

We set sail dead on time and it is only about ten minutes until we are disembarking again.

Some may have wondered why this blog is called Radinunst. Now you know. Unst is the most northerly of the inhabited British Isles, and was added to our bucket list during last year's visit to Shetland when we didn't have time to come this far north. The immediate attraction is the birding. Our accommodation is towards the north end of the island in a village called Haroldswick.

 Before we drive up there it is time for lunch which we take at the end of a side road overlooking a rather windy bay. No lapwings today but there are diving gannets and another curlew to entertain us.

Haroldswick sprawls a bit and we can't get a data connection so after driving a couple of times around the village we have to resort to knocking on a door to ask directions. This tactic actually succeeds and the lady doesn't seem either surprised or put out. 

We pull up outside the Peerie Nuek (Little Place) and a chap appears from a nearby house to welcome us. The business is run by his daughter but she is away for a few days. He shows us the basics and we get settled in. 

The facilities provided cover most of what we need and there are a few nice touches. When we first started looking for accommodation on Unst we found this place on line and managed to book the only free three nights available before late August.

Cooking is no problem for R. Tonight is a delicious bacon, green bean and pasta salad with an improvised sauce to top it off.