Another slow start to the day, grotty weather and only three sausages each for brekky which prompted us to visit Tesco once more to ensure we had sufficient supplies to see us through the next twenty-four hours (how pathetic is that, we are so used to buying food as and when we need it, no forward planning at all!) but not before paying Jay a visit at Skeld Creamery. It was good to hear that business was booming with demand far exceeding current production, I bought some Carraway Truckle and set off for Lerwick. After a brief stop at the supermarket we were soon on our way to our first beach of the day, Burra Minn at the south end of West Burra. Once again reaching our destination looked far easier on Google Earth than it proved to be in reality. We reached the end of the road and sat in the car waiting for the rain to stop which it did after ten minutes, the dark clouds, however, remained. A short walk down a gravel path later and Burra Minn beach lay before us.
The narrow beach forms a causeway between the two larger land masses of West Burra, we walked the length of the sandy beach facing the bay and back along the rocky shore on the reverse of the causeway. With rain threatening we set off for one of the best beaches I have ever seen at Meal.
Meal was as beautiful and tranquil as I remembered from our visit earlier in the year when we travelled to Shetland to take part in Up Helly Aa. This time, however, we did not have the beach to ourselves, two women and a number of kids were enjoying themselves on the beach by turning hand-springs and somersaults by leaping on large gym balls half submerged in the white sands. Rather than disturb them Will and I clambered over the rocks along one side of the beach. Will declared some frustration at not seeing much wildlife on this visit so I suggested that we try Sandness as I had come across a couple of seals at quite close quarters.
It took the best part of an hour to reach Sandness, with a few stops along the way, thankfully the weather had brightened somewhat allowing us to spend some time in the sun among the rock-pools and sand of 'The Crook' at Sandness. The seals, alas, failed to make an appearance.
We had decided to have dinner out on our final night but I wanted to get changed before we did so, which meant a stop at the Bod. On the way back we passed the sign for 'Stanydale Temple' a neolithic village excavated a few years ago. I had attempted to reach this on my first visit but with daylight fading I opted not to continue, this time we had ample time. After following a rather soggy trail marked with black and white posts we arrived at the stone-age settlement. Not a lot to see but visible proof of human habitation on the Islands over four thousand years ago, and still no KFC, good going.
We stopped at the bod only long enough for me to get changed and then we were off for dinner. I did want to stop off and say hello to John Lines on the way past but, unfortunately he wasn't in, in retrospect I should have stopped off on Saturday, not to worry I will catch up later. I rang Emma and enlisted her help to Google for a decent restaurant in Lerwick, she cam up with the Queen's Hotel, I knew where that was, bonus. We parked up and scrutinised the harbour area for wildlife, no luck. The Queen's Hotel is a austere looking granite building at the end of Commercial Road, the menu looked interesting but in the words of Terry Pratchett, there was far too much 'avec' for Will, who likes his food simpler. In the end we had a burger in a pizzeria on the main drag, not bad as burgers go.
Before returning to Skeld, Will still wanted to see a seal so I parked within the reach of the free ferry-port Wi-Fi to blog and Will mooched about the docks, he's never have got away with that in Portsmouth, too many sailors if you know what I mean.
A few drinks and then to bed. Still no sign of the Northern lights, arse.
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