Welcome to part 3 of my Scotland road trip. This post is dedicated to my time in the Shetland Islands. I arrived on the ferry at 7.30am in Lerwick. My accommodation had offered for me to check in as soon as I arrive which was great so I headed straight there. I was given lots of info on things to see and places to find puffins and seals.
First up was to find puffins! They tend to nest in the cliffs on the most southern point of the Shetland mainland, a place called Sumburgh Head. It was another foggy drive down but could still see the countryside. It was extremely windy here, just like in the Orkney Islands. After a walk up to the lighthouse I finally found the puffins! They are actually really small, like a half size duck, and super duper cute! They just hang out for you to take lots of photos, then maybe go for a fly and come back. There are so many, maybe 30.
Driving around, I saw lots of Shetland ponies. Another animal on my Shetland bucket list! They are also very cute.
Next up was a drive to find the seals. My accommodation host said if I drive along a specific road, I can look down on them on a beach. Unfortunately you can’t get down to the beach though unless you have a boat or kayak and come from a different beach.
St Ninian’s Beach was next up. This is a wide strip of sand joining an island to the mainland. It is a stunning beach with soft white sand and calm, clear blue water.
It was lunch time so I headed back to Lerwick and had a walk around town. I had a wonderful peach, parma ham, rocket & mozzarella salad. It was exactly what I needed. I also had a glass of gin from the only gin distillery in the Shetland Islands. It is the northernmost distillery in the UK and uses local botanicals. I had a grapefruit flavoured one and it was good. I ended up buying 2 mini bottles of other flavours in the range: the original made with apple mint and an orange one.
It was time to go back to the south west coast and cross the bridges to Burra. From there, I could drive up one of the mountains and get a scenic view over the area. By now it was blue skies, sunshine and very little wind so the view was amazing.
On the way back I decided to stop at St Ninian’s beach again to just lay on the sand and relax. It was very calm, almost no wind, so the sunshine was glorious. It was only about 17oC but felt much warmer.
Last up for the day was dinner at a nice little seaside café. I had the slow cooked Shetland lamb and it was divine. There was so much lamb for the price and it was melt in your mouth tender.
This morning I woke up early and after a big breakfast I checked out and headed north. Today I didn’t really have any plans except to drive around and explore, stopping where I felt like it. Before leaving Lerwick I stopped by the Clinkin Broch. It was closed so could only get a view from the street but oh well.
The western parts were first up. A lot of the roads become 1 lane with passing places when you get right out of the towns. They also get super twisty and free range sheep become a hazard!
I saw a couple of ponies by the fence so I pulled over to say hi. The bigger one (white & brown) was a bit naughty and after sniffing my hand tried to bite me. They both consented for me to pat them on their heads though and pose for a selfie.
After a journey to the west, I made my way north to Brae. There is a famous fish & chip shop that is highly recommended to try so this was my goal. I had a table on the balcony and elected for the locally caught Haddock. Not an ounce of fishy taste so that was good.
After lunch I headed to the most northerly point on the mainland. The more north you go, the more the scenery changes. There is a lot less green grass and a lot more brown spiky shrub. It also became more very foggy and the temperature dropped a lot. I also saw some pretty coloured houses and beautiful scenery.
Any out of nowhere, I saw an aeroplane!
I noticed these weird piles of dirt along the way. It looks like they cut a chunk of dirt out of the ground and stacked that dirt on top of it in big shards & bricks. Very strange. Later, on the boat, I googled and it turns out this dirt is peat and they have dug it out of the bogs. Apparently, it is a very important fuel industry and they are trying to restore the peatlands.
I headed back towards Lerwick as it was mid afternoon and I knew they were opening vehicle check in and boarding early for social distancing. I had another walk around town and sat by the harbour in the sunshine for an hour. And I got myself 2 final souvenirs.
I booked an executive outside cabin for my ferry back to Scotland, as it was that or a recliner chair. For 12 hours. Pass. The room is lovely and I get free access to the Magnus Lounge. Think of it like the First or Business class lounges in the airport. I selected a table by the window, which is my table for the entire journey (covid safe) and you get complimentary tea, coffee, soft drinks, orange juice, water and shortbread biscuits. You also get table service for dinner (not included) and 2 drink vouchers for alcohol. For dinner I chose to have the Orkney steak pie with vegies and a glass of rose mixed with lemonade (choice of chardonnay, rose or shiraz). Tomorrow morning they serve a complimentary breakfast so we can fuel up before disembarking. The ship has been moving for just over 1 hour, and so far it has been exceptionally calm. Forecast is for a calm journey so fingers crossed & touch wood it stays that way.
Tomorrow morning, we dock at 7am and from there, it is an 8-10hr drive back to London. This depends on traffic and given the amount of delays I experienced coming up to Scotland, I assume it will be just as bad and will take the whole 10 hours. Then it will be early to bed and back to work on Monday. Scotland has been awesome and I will have to come back when flights are a much more reasonable price. I recommend everyone gets to Scotland at least once in their life. Definitely try to hit up the Orkney and Shetland Islands if time permits, and Shetland if time allows only 1.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about my Scotland Road Trip as much as I have enjoyed doing it. Not sure on any future holidays yet as covid keeps changing things, so stay tuned and be safe!