For some strange reason I awoke with no confusion. Normally, the first time I wake up in a new location, even when I am visiting friends or family and the location is well known to me, I have a few memory issues upon the morning reboot. Not so today, I awoke before the students and before the multitude of mobile phone alarms played their 8AM chorus. I decided that this visit to the Shetlands should be sub-titled the 'no alarms tour' and that Will and I should wake and move as we see fit. I knew Will would sleep through this so I lay silently, listening to the hushed early morning banter, I assume they all felt a little guilty as their board game playing had been noisy the previous evening. They cycled through the bathroom and began their breakfast rituals. I stirred when the final of their party attended to their morning ablutions. Will began to stir, after some encouragement,we were both ready to hit the trail shortly after our erstwhile co-bodders had vacated the premises to continue their island bagging activities. Incidentally I Googled this whilst having the largest, cheapest full breakfast I have ever experienced, even in the days of the Full English Master; Prof. Andrew Briggs (Bp, Hb, HP and double bacon, no eggs though) and the results were surprising. Island bagging seems to be more popular than I had thought with many websites chronicling the exploits of similar groups.
The day began so gloomy and overcast that I wrote it off as a mooching about day with little prospect of getting any time in the sea. However, as we finally exited the low cloud cover on the road into Kalliness we were greeted with blue skies. Behind us the grey misty hills of Western Shetland seemed a memory as we climbed the road in our tiny vehicle high above the stunning vista of Whiteness. Lerwick was as bright as Skeld had been gloomy and it was with brighter moods Will and I ordered our full breakfast at a small greasy spoon in the shopping centre. The Tower Shopping centre in Lerwick is unique in many ways, not least because it is housed within three large, barn-like buildings, constructed from corrugated iron and painted red. Inside, however it resembles malls and shopping centres found anywhere in the UK. Conspicuous by their absence are the big names that populate those malls on the mainland UK. Large franchises; Starbucks, Costa, KFC, MacDonald’s, etc. After breakfast and posting the daily blog we were more than ready for our first day on the beaches of the Shetland Islands, I did, however need to pay a visit to the toilet. On my first visit to the Shetlands I posted regarding 'The Bards in the Bog' where poems were displayed on the backs of the doors within public toilets all over the Islands. I was pleased to see that this was still the case. Impressed I decided to take a photo. Not such a good idea. As the flash triggered I heard a shuffle then;
'Is everything all right in there?'
I grunted a reply and sat very, very still. God knows what he thought I was doing.
The plan for the remainder of the day was to visit a number of beaches in roughly the same area before selecting the best for snorkelling. With this aim in mind we found our way to St. Ninians Isle, Spiggie and Scousburgh. There was a small beach opposite the main beach in the bay of Scousburgh which was the best for snorkelling but as it was difficult to access we opted for the tombolo to Saint Ninians Isle.
Beach opposite Scousburgh Sands
Near St. Ninians Isle
Scousburgh
Spiggie
Will had difficulty with his mask and I found it difficult to dive with the added buoyancy of the wet-suit so we very soon abandoned the idea of snorkelling, deciding instead to use the growing swell to body-surf. This shortly led to a conversation with the father of a family of four, who had established themselves on the beach next to us. They had tried to cover all options bringing, kayaks, surf-boards, snorkelling equipment and body-boards. He suggested that there were a number of beaches on Yell that were perfect for body-boarding. The purpose of the visit had now changed.
In Lerwick we found a sports shop that sold body-boards, but, as the cheapest was £40 and considering we would have to leave them behind, we abandoned that idea and notionally decided to teach Will to body-surf.
On the way back to the bod we visited three more beaches, walking and photographing beaches seems to have become the prime activity by now, Sand, Redayre and Raewick, the latter was the most impressive. Calm, clear waters lapped soundlessly onto a smooth red sand, as tranquil as any Caribbean equivalent.
Sand
Redayre
Raewick
Back in Skeld, Will and I sat for some time in the nature hide next to the marina until hunger got the better of us and we retired to the bod for dinner and a few beers.
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