hire car for a covid test

An 09:30 covid test at the gas plant whilste staying in lerwick with no personal transport except the daunder(I did consider cycling the 23mile cycle there plus 23 back) but! decided it would be better, or more worth my while getting a hire car then drive out to walls, to see if I could pay someone with a boat to take me to Vaila isle?

It was a miserable morning the rain was lashing down on lerwick town center, by the time I had walked from the town center out to bolts car hire, I was glad I had put on my waterproof jacket and trousers because I was dripping abig puddle onto the floor of the hire car shop, this was after only a twenty Minuit walk. The hire car was a wee blue Kia picano one liter thing not very macho, but hey I wasn’t heading out cruising the strip in Las Vegas! If that were the case, I would have hired a flash car, this wee thing would be fine I would just not take a pictures of me next to it!

I headed off for the covid test I’ve had loads of these now and they don’t bother me, the discomfort level of this test all depends on the medic taking the swab, I had one medic say to me that she would make me cry and make me gag, I thought at the time yeh yeh I’ve had a few of these I will be fine, but NO! she bloody did make me cry and gag. I told this new medic this story as she was a one off, I thought! we had never met before me and this medic, its normally craig the site medic that does this while im on Shetland, this was a new guy, bloody hell he was the same as that nurse shoving the big cotton bud swab thing so far down each of my nostrils the tears were streaming then having me wretch as he massaged my tonsils with it which all seems so unnecessary to me,

Once free of that ordeal, I drove to the town of Voe, I wanted a wee nostalgic poke around. To take photos of the millennium post and harbour, then also have a look through the windows of the sail loft camping Bod (I think that’s me visited all the bods from the outside now). The smell from the bakery was ace, as I peered through the windows of the pierhead inn also for nostalgia, fond memories flooded back of a night out in there when a party bus rolled in, then before I knew it I was on the dancefloor to wigfields Saturday night, these party buses are the stuff of legends, such a shame all these bars throughout the whole of Shetland’s have been closed so long now some will probably never open again I fear this bar may be one of those losses, but my biggest fear is the loss of community it represents

I then drove over what is known locally as the Aith alps, it’s a steep up then a very undulating single-track road through some desolate hills, more like the Scottish Highlands than the alps, but a barren mountainous landscape for sure, very nice it was on this day with the mist as I slowly drove over this mountain pass,

As soon as you come over this pass almost the first building you come to is the famous Shetland honesty cake fridge, this just grows and grows and grows, every time I pass it! this has expanded hugely (for this part of the world) and on this day the café was open, perfect! I pulled into the carpark and walked in to the café; the girl’s eyes were like saucepan lids as I entered! So much so I burst out laughing and said yes you have a customer, then she laughed as she knew she had been caught in shock! she had been mid conversation with two other girls and they have only been open days with hardly a visitor, the door had not long since been unlocked and they hadn’t heard me, it is a cracking wee T shop café country cake stop with loads of great local produce for sale, the gardens are filled with unusual animals like pigmy goats along with Shetland ponies and some unusual fowl! It reminds me of the alpacachino place I visited in the Hebrides, they also have a good vegan selection, my coffee and cake were wonderfuel

Once through Aith you drop down into bixter where I considered the shop, but as I sat at the crossroads I looked over to where DRS has a place firstly I was shocked to see the roof missing, then I noticed his van was there, I drove round to surprise him with a visit, I was hoping he wouldn’t see me until I was right at the gates, but his chocolate lab soba was there she heard me approach and alerted him with her excitement she burrowed her way under the fence, with her tale going like a hummingbirds wing I knew this was no attack dog! I was about to be loved to death, Duncan stopped his job, as I shouted over the fence is there any auld bulls in this farm he shouted back there fucking is now kenjo how the hell are you, he was surprised to see me which I liked and he showed me around his place and the work he has been doing and has yet to do, I spent the time chatting with him and chucking sobas tennis ball, when I left I was feeling guilty that I should have gave him a day’s labour in part repayment for his previous kindness`s

My agenda on heading in this direction was to get to the town of walls (pronounced waas) once there, I was hoping I could potentially find someone with a boat that I could pay to drop me at vaila isle, then I could make my way to the trig point there, I went to the pier harbour area where there was a couple of boats one of which was taking on board fuel from a tanker, speaking to some of the people milling around asking if they knew if there was a boat I could pay to get dropped off ?a deckhand said we are the Foula ferry pal we could drop you but we cant pick you back up. I knew he was having a laugh with me about vaila, but then he said we can take you to foula though have you got a tent we have a place you can camp, this time he was serious I had forgotten this was Tuesday this boat that was refueling was the weekly ferry to Foula, the very one I was supposed to take the previous week!

My mind was racing they were refueling the Foula ferry it was midday they didn’t leave for an hour and a half (13:30), this meant I could actually take this ferry I could pop into town buy food and beer and spend two nights in Foula returning Thursday? I asked the ferry fella how’s the weather forecast for Thursday? Will you defo be able to get me back on Thursday? Oh, there’s some snow coming but I think we should still be going! I was thinking snow wait I have no tent I shall ask him if there’s a B&B or something I could phone? then I was weighing up the chances of delay and not getting to work on Friday, all of this thinking was way too much longer than was necessary, I had even went into the ferry waiting area to check prices and see if there was any business cards, then Bing lightbulb moment! I’m in a bloody hire car that’s supposed to be returned that day I have bags at the hotel to move to sellaness before Thursday night, I had been fantasizing forgetting the obvious logistics, Foula shall wait but it was a fun dreamt of adventure in that brief time This auld saying sprung to mind - COULDA WOULDA SHOULDA are the last words of a fool

From the looks of my maps the people that live on Vaila (one couple live there they have an art shop in lerwick)probably don’t boat out from the harbour, I drove of looking to see the shortest crossing or maybe a wee boat somewhere along the shore? It was very scenic as I drove the single-track road while stopping regularly to check my OS map, eventually opting to drive out to a small hotel called burrastow house or maybe it’s a B&B? I am unsure where the boundary lies,

it looked shut this is where it would be the best place to cross if using a kayak or rowing boat to vaila isle, but that wouldn’t be happening this day it would just be another option for future planning I would drive further up the coast This area of burrastow near walls is very rural a mixture of croft like housing and farmsteads no villages, all along a single-track road to a distant headland, I drove past a phone booth! My eyes were attracted to it for some strange reason? I have seen loads of rural telephone boxes why should this attract my eyes? I stopped the car and walked back to it, what a cool wee visitors’ attraction with a fantastic story, a story of salvation from demolition crowdfunding restoration with a side line on a great tale about a message in a bottle, this was a great find I signed the visitors book and left my name on the chalk board, I was all the more enriched for my visit thank you burrastow community,

On my drive back I wanted to take a side drive up west Burrafirth, I had previously seen a wee whitewashed building there with a plaque and a poppy wreath that had peaked my curiosity, it was a very long drive away from my intended route, well to me anyway some peoples views on a long or short drive would be different from mine, I had went out my way to see this building due to me having passed it twice recently, my thinking was if I did not go back now I would be unlikely to ever investigate ever again, you my reader can judge for yourself if it was worth the visit,

Its up there as one of the most remote still functioning kirks I’ve visited in Scotland, perhaps that’s why it peaked my curiosity, I’m not a religious man but I think if I stayed this rural I would probably go here for a Sunday morning sermon just for the craic it would defo be better than Sunday morning TV! ?

at a loss for Noss

My objectives of getting to all the trig points was at this time starting to hit stumbling blocks? getting to islands without ferries along with getting to the ones with ferries was proving troublesome, some of this was due to it being winter some of it due to this ongoing pandemic, there was also the weather to consider, for example I had tried phoning to book myself on the ferry to out skerries and back, the best time for me to do this perhaps the only viable time to do it is on a Friday from vidlin, the ferry would leave at eleven and get back for eight giving me around three hours on skerries plenty time to get to the trig point and back, this ferry is bookings only I tried phoning but couldn’t get through, there is no option for booking as a foot passenger online, then I had a check at the weather forecast it was going to be fifty mile an hour winds! Skerries will have to wait now along with Foula and fair isle

This left the isles of vaila and Noss achievable in the time I had left? I had been messaging DRS (young Dunc) he reckoned it could be possible to get me to Noss on Saturday morning (the next day) but I would probably have to jump into waist deep water, no problem with that I got a second set of warm clothes all packed and a towel I would meet him at the marina at 08:00

I got up at six AM the weather was ace as I marched through to the far side of town with hardly any other people or cars about, it’s a walk mostly along the shore so I could see the water along Bressay sound it looked reasonably flat I was thinking my luck was in, the previous days weather was bad with strong winds coming up from the south, how does that affect getting to Noss? Lerwick is on the mainland there is a reasonably short stretch of deep water between lerwick and Bressay which Is an island shaped like a sort of five mile long squished rugby ball with a north and south end, the wind generally comes from the north or south pushing the water into the ends and curling water around steep sea cliffs, each end of Bressay gets choppy with this large body of water swinging round each end, in general this makes the water in the sound at the middle is nearly always reasonably calm for boats, take the previous day I strolled around lerwick harbour thinking it was a wee bit windy and wet, I walked up the knab into the south mouth the difference was night and day I was drenched as the water hit me sideways as I put my hood up to turn from the wind, but I still loved watching the angry sea smash into the shore all around, there was an impressive swell in this area yesterday, the wind had whipped the sea into a frenzy the wind was huge the day before, it was to get a bit more blowy later, when I got to the marina at that time of the morning it looked perfect

Dunc arrived and said Kenneth we have a problem, he is about the only person on the planet that calls me Kenneth, I think he does it for fun I don’t mind he has a very informal way of saying it, whereas normally when I hear people call me Kenneth its in a formal situation, the problem was the key for the marina gate was in his brothers house who had perhaps had a guid Friday night out and could not be wakened, we would go for breakfast first untill the key could be obtained this was fine we went to the harbour café in town and had a traditional Scottish fair breakfast, well I had the vegan breakfast so only slightly traditional, strange to find the only place I could get a decent vegan breakfast in town was this traditional greasy spoon braw

We got the keys and back to the boat but the battery was completely flat, dunc changed it over with his van battery, then once the outboard was started an overheating alarm kicked in! DRS done some investigation for such a young man he never ceases to amaze me with his problem-solving skills at work and now wherever I meet him on Shetland, he had a look at the wiring and reckoned dampness had ruined a connection, he has tools everywhere and chopped the offending connector off and rewired a new connector, he was spot on with his diagnostic of the problem, we had a scoot round the harbour making sure all was well before we headed out to sea properly,

If you think of the isle of Bressay shaped like a squished rugby ball and lerwick in the mainland being somewhere in the middle of the ball, then directly over Bressay from lerwick being the island of Noss (our objective) Noss wasn’t an island a few thousand years ago, as the worlds water levels rise so the more of an island Noss becomes, it’s a narrow gap of shallow water between Noss and Bressay that we were aiming for, to get there we would need to head round Bressay`s northern tip where the sea gets a bit choppy! then on the way back round we would go round its southern tip where the sea gets even choppier! I am going to recall it in future as my circumnavigation of the horn of Bressay`s north wrath to the southern tip of the cape of Noss`s southern turbulence, I filmed this journey on the calmer bits but round the ends, I was white knuckle holding on while the wee boat slapped heavily with a judder at every big wave, big to me Dunc seemed unfazed and in control

When we got to the narrow gap between Noss and Bressay, I think the tide was high it was certainly a bit choppier than I expected but not as bad as it was going round the capes! Dunc slowed us to a stop and we had a look at the conditions, i had seen photos at low tide the gap is much narrower, jack morton reckoned i could wade over most of it at low tide with only a slight swim! tom moncrief had said i could borrow his inflatable kayak to do it should be alright for it he says! not in these conditions on this day it wouldnt, duncan reckoned he could potentially get me close enough to jump in waist deep to get ashore which I was alright about, but he was unsure how he could get me back on board in one to two hours’ time! I wasn’t game for being marooned I had a bag of dry clothes on the boat but no provisions for being stuck we opted to play safe there would be no Noss trig point this day

This island’s name comes from the Norse word for ‘nose’, possibly in the sense of a headland. The Norse who arrived in the 8th century were far from being the first on Noss though – perhaps 2000 years before then, Neolithic families had settled here. Islanders have worked this land and kept livestock on it continuously for thousands of years. In 1870 the Marquis of Londonderry leased the island for use as a stud farm. He bred Shetland ponies to work underground in his coal mines in northern England. I could easily see the restored pony pund, built to house the mares, next to the buildings near the landing spot that we couldn’t use

In 1633 a cradle was strung from ropes connecting Noss to the detached stack of the Holm of Noss. This gave islanders access to gulls’ eggs, but later a larger basket provided carriage for up to 12 sheep. The cradle operated for over 200 years and numerous sketches and narratives were made by visitors and passing mariners. Visitors attracted by the cradle notably included Sir Walter Scott in 1814. The same as every other island Sheep farming continues today on Noss. For most of the year the sheep are free to wander where they choose but during lambing they are brought onto the better land to the west of the dry stain hill dyke, hopefully I will see this next visit

I will investigate further once I actually get on the island, Duncan gave me a final wee boat tour along the front of lerwick, which I loved it looks great from the sea then we went back to the marina, we secured the boat to go for lunch it had only been a few hours but felt like a full day to me, what a wonderfull wee adventure I can’t thank young dunc enough for it.

trying to plan next moves from lerwick

I had left the daunder down the back of the hotel, unpacking everything I needed it would have been good to go out for a nice bar supper or have dinner in the hotel restaurant, but these options were out for now, I could have gone for a sit-down café dinner up until six PM, but they’re not allowed to serve you alcohol which boils ma heid! I opted for the dreamed of fish supper this time from the forge chippy (I mostly use da harbor) I like brown chippy sauce but the forge only has sachets of brown sauce and no breaded fish this night? It was tasty though I enjoyed it,

An appointment at the physio at midday the next day meant a walk to the far side of town, I chose to wear my vivobarefoot sockless zero drop shoes, partially due to not having any clean socks so was a bit embarrassed about that, but also because I was starting to think I would be as well starting off from scratch again with this left leg issue, I was starting to come to the conclusion that it is all facia related? If so, I would need to learn to walk correctly; correct my posture then I can move slowly forward to running in the barefoot style change my breathing and posture more slowly this time! My left calf didn’t like this walk at all it was all swollen up with the previous days cycling, it felt like a big cyst not a muscle, I could visibly see it like a big hard ball, it was painful to touch but enjoyable bruising style pain they call speggie muscle up here, when I mentioned this to Alyson (the physio) that my left calf muscle was sore from the cycling, so it will affect my movements slightly during the physio, she looked at me and said from the cycling kenny? Why just the left calf? Of course, she is correct! Yes, I had exerted myself the previous day and should have sore muscles, but sore on both legs even more so with a bike where my feet had been clipped in and the frame keeps my body in balance, why should one calf be in agony the other totally fine? The answer is my left sides muscles are not sharing the work load fairly across the lot, my mind is protecting something and not using it from my left lower back down to the left big toe? the muscular movements are out of sync. After the physio appointment I stopped at the co`op on the way back to get beer, it is a lot of hassle a big faff unpacking everything, then repacking it takes up far too much of my time on the road, I must get better at it, this day was even worse as it was next not going to be a cycling trip, I had to pack stuff to carry for what I would be needing for two nights three days of camping, along with food and cooking stuff as there is no shop on the isle of Foula, I had to ask the hotel owner Harvey if it were ok to leave stuff at the hotel including the daunder, he was fine with that and said we could potentially just lock it all up in the ladies toilet of the nightclub as that won’t be getting used anytime soon! It took me all night and the morning, sorting my stuff into bags, choosing exactly what was for staying and what was for going, two bags for going four for staying, you may well wonder how can he have six bags? I actually have seven! I had taken the tent out of the cycle front bar bag, put all the sleeping equipment into one large back pannier, the other stuff that I required went into the Patagonia black hole bag hold all, this hold all has straps so you can wear as a pack, I would be leaving my wee day pack, that was a long decision to make as I usually always wear it when cycling or hiking, All organized in the morning bags at the ready jacket on, pocket check phone wallet room key? my phone rang? I initially thought it was a junk call (I get loads), but It was a Shetland number so I answered it thankfully! It was the ferry company the ferry that I had booked from walls to Foula that day would have to be cancelled due to the weather! it would be next week before it went again. I thanked her for the info, let out a big sigh and sat down on the bed deflated, setting of on a mini adventure like this gets you on an emotional high I was hyped up ready to go when I got that call, as I sat down, I thought what will I do now?

Fate leads the willing and drags along the reluctant Seneca

There is no point in stressing or bothering about the things you cannot change, that’s all just negative energy, fate had dealt me some great cards up until this one, I had been reasonably lucky with the weather especially as far as logistics of getting to areas were concerned, this ferry is notorious for being canceled due to wind and fog, had I just bounced straight on it first time it would probably not be the norm from what I’ve read, most travelers have a few failed attempts to get to Foula or fair isle before they actually get there, I spoke to Harvey at the hotel and said I would be staying until Saturday now he was fine with that, due to the whole social distancing stuff the room doesn’t get serviced there is no breakfast options and masks and distancing are maintained outside of your room, I am in isolation here which is fine I went for a stroll around the shops buying a Shetland book called a town called toilet from the local bookstore, which I am now reading and enjoying, then I had a pleasant walk all along the knab to the Tesco and back it’s a stunning coastline walk, which now having been all around the area I can look out to sea and along the coast knowing what and where all the landmarks are, While in Tesco I bumped into mcschneibs then Duncan T stopped his car and got out for a brief conversation (he was heading out nightshift and had been visiting his unwell dad, time was at a premium), then I saw craig then a bloke from the stores I had forgot his name, lerwick seems to be the right size of town for getting to become part of the community yet still have your own individuality, Dropping of my shopping I opted for the noodle bar for dinner that night, while on my way to Everest noodle take away bosch I went down! left ankle far too easily turning on a tiny old style kerbing piece! It was a proper ankle turner and not just a get straight back up job that It would have been on my now normal fall in the heather, this time as I sat up I had a little whinge psyching myself to stand up on the recently bent ankle, a passerby who had seen me go down like a sniper had hit me, asked if I was ok he probably thought I was a drunk! I laughed and said I was fine yon bloody wee kerbs caught me oot, which was true and further explanation into left side weakness would be a waste of both our times, my left legs swelling now got worse, the noodles were ace though and I also had some spicy soup.

Next day felt psychologically strange in the morning I kept thinking I should be somewhere or planning something, which was to a certain extent true the ferry cancelation didn’t mean the adventure was over I had other stuff to get organized, my dad was always on the go and would moan if we stopped for anything saying come on you, we are burning daylight. That’s what it felt like I was wasting day hours when I shoulda been doing something, I need to learn to live in the moment and have chill days this became my mantra that day fate has gave you a day off enjoy it? In some ways I did in others I used it as a spring board for other things!

I love audiobooks I don’t listen to them when I am busy and need to concentrate on my purpose. for example I can’t listen while writing reading or emailing but can when stretching walking aimlessly cooking etc., I had finished my previous audiobook around the world in eighty trains, which was ok I enjoyed it even though the author was scathing of me well not me personally she doesnt know me but my types. I now had downloaded the wim hoff method to listen to specifically I was hoping to learn about his breathing technique not so much his cold-water therapy which I hoped one day I can embrace! Breathing first was my thought on this day to help with my posture correction for my injury, I like to embrace new thinking new things progression so cold water came before breathing in the audiobook, before I knew it I had my Vibram sockless shoes on along with my shorts I would immerse super slow, down to the beach wit loads of upper layers and a tammy on, I walked into the freezing cold water to just above my knees, three times that first time for around thirty seconds, I felt it was a success and had done some good, it wasn’t too hard I decided I would develop it, it certainly wont do any harm defo worth a go, was the thinking at present four days on from the first night I am at the time of typing doing two full minutes thigh deep each day The fish supper is a staple of the UK diet from Blackpool to Aberdeen and everywhere in between, how you have your supper is greatly different in each region, in my area for example the east coast and west coast are two different suppers red sauce or brown? vinegar or not with cheese or curry sauce? With most towns having a specialty of there are from battered pizza to deep fried mars bars, lerwick has battered crab sticks? Only 40p each so I had to give it a go very popular the man at the counter said which was true as they always had some ready and I heard a few folks asking for them which is how I discovered they done such a thing, I had tried a scallop supper at frankies it was ok, the crab sticks were alright a wee bit rubbery but aright, I ate it on the beach with a take away can of beer eat your heart out blackpool

yell to Lerwick

Back to lerwick

Another example of the warm bed making me want to stay in bed longer I do love a duvet, breakfast was at 08:45 I was mostly packed but just took my time getting organized loading the bike, it was a Sunday there was fewer ferry crossings I was aiming for the 11:30 ferry it was five or six miles to the ferry from quam B&B, I wont know the distance as I am sure I had pressed start on my G{S watch but when I got to the ferry terminal and went to press pause it hadn’t been tracking me? I had stopped to take a couple of photos the timing couldn’t have been better,

It was a bigger ferry than I took over I went upstairs this time the only passenger in a nice big lounge area, the weather was pleasant sunny a wee bit windy but I kept telling myself I had all day to do this roughly forty mile cycle with the fully laden daunder, I promised myself I would take my time and enjoy it for what it was not to look at it as a battle to get to the destination as quick as possible, not far from the ferry terminal at toft on the mainland is the wee shop for the town of mossbank, I have been visiting this shop on and off for over seven years, I stopped to buy snacks and a lunch time beer, the shop has had a refurb since my last visit it looked fair modern compared to what it was like the first time I went there when we used to go for ice lollies while visiting the beach! (long story)

From there it’s a long slog up a steep hill before a long steady decent down towards voe, ive cycled and ran this section plenty times previously this time I was slow and enjoying the downhill as the wind was in my face on the decent which was fine I had a chance to reminisce about the trig points I had done on this section or the time I ran the sixteen mile loop after a nightshift fantasizing about my breakfast when I got back to the Moorfield only to discover they had tidied away the breakfast stuff by the time I got back I got nothing lol, I stopped again at the loo outside voe I’ve gotten into a habit of using this loo every time I pass it but wondered if this would be my last? Then it was a long hard cycle through Tingwal interesting story of the one time parliament here during Norse times, the parliament was on an loch island that is now submerged, once I had passed the wee airstrip it was a steep slog uphill, I was knacked when I got to the top it’s a narrow road also, I hate being a nuisance to cars so cycled into the rough a few times to let cars pass,

I decided to stop and have that beer at the top, but as I laid the bike up and was about to get the beer out, a fella came down oot the hills with walking poles shouting a cheery hello, this is what I miss most about travelling and outdoor activities in these strange times, meeting other explorers to chat to and this fella`s chat was good! His name is Neil Fraser he has done an amazing amount of walking and hiking especially around his home island of Shetland turns out he is a bigger box ticker than me and has walked all the coast and was the first person to walk the Shetland divide! What’s that I asked? Basically when a rain drop falls at the top of a hill it will go one way or the other to the sea in most of Shetland this is cool as its Atlantic of north sea, I had heard of this before from America as there is a famous divide watershed walk, pacific one side Atlantic the other I knew about this watershed walking route in the states but hadn’t previously considered it was something that could be done in this area! Apparently, he is in talks with the tourist board to try and make a trail, I hope this succeeds, we further went on to discuss from this the continental divide which also passes up this way but strangely also from Galway up through a section of the west highland way from when Scotland and Europe were different continents. Neil also discussed a web page called Shetland by numbers by Walter Scott (different Walter Scott from Ivanhoe one) an awesome piece of free info on amazing Shetland facts and figures, https://www.shetlandbynumbers.com/ in his list of Shetland by numbers he names only 77 this does not count the two curry stools (fair enough he makes me look like an amateur I’m certainly not picking bones I would lose) this Walter has even had some plants named after him as he scrutinized every mile of his journeys logging everything he came across flora fauna Broch’s islands churches lighthouses (55!) etc.

I cycled off without my beer after a long chat with Neil, then once at the top end of the road into lerwick I decided this was the spot for a celebration (and a pee) I had only just drank my beer when Neil walked around the corner, he is a fast walker as it was a fast downhill then steep rise up to where I stopped, I walked the daunder into town chatting athletics among other stuff before we parted again, I cycled right back to the grand hotel and got a room for two nights my home from home now on my time here at work,

return to yell

Return to yell To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive R,L,Stevenson

I had three trig points and one curry stool left to do on yell, disembarking form the Fetlar ferry at gulcher yell there was a trig point near the harbour, it was only the back of three PM, even though I had been up early on Fetlar worked hard and achieved a lot that day already, I felt this had to be done while I was so close ( a wise decision it turned out to be) my reckoning that it would likely take me ninety minutes to two hours? Which Turned out to be correct

A brief cycle up from the ferry terminal then not so much a cycle down more a cycle along a typical undulating country road to its end, where I left the bike and headed over a damp hillock, then down to a beautiful beach it set me wondering how many idealist beautiful beaches are there on Shetland, I have visited and seen so many most completely empty, later on I passed an unofficial looking wooden sign pointing to a voe with lost sole beach written on it! I hope this wasn’t a spelling mistake I hope it’s an elaborate tale of a beach with loads of washed up shoes.

The sun was shining and only a slight cold breeze as I walked along this nice stretch of sand before a brief walk out to a low headland for the trig point glad, I had made the effort now thinking where should I stay? I briefly wondered if the ferry waiting room remained unlocked all night and I could just have bivvied down in there? I opted to cycle towards the main area of mid yell. Gary park had text me earlier when I found a signal and said he hadn’t read the blog for a few days, I explained I had been where there was no signal no power a few days now, when I told him where I was and what I was up to, he suggested I go back to my yell B&B and get some R&R and the blog updated, this was as I cycled away from gulcher the wind and drizzle had started soon it was misty, so misty I had to get off the bike and put all my back lights including my cycle helmet back light put on, to make sure cars could see me it was that dreich! The seed gary had planted was now a desired dream of a warm bed and hot shower, There is no signal in that area of the island of yell I had to wait until I had cycled to a high point, four or five mile up the road, my phone buzzed a message so I knew I had a signal, I stopped cycling and phoned the B&B, Anne remembered me and said yes I could stay again, I was very glad of that as by then the wind and rain had proper picked up, I was soaked and cold when I arrived glad to put my wet gear in their drying room including hanging up my damp smelly socks apologising as I did so, would you like me to make you dinner Anne asked? LIKE? I said I would be absolutely delighted thank you

Waking a wee bit later than normal as my breakfast was booked at 08:40, the weather was low dark overcast sky but it wasn’t meant to rain, there wasn’t much wind either a damp dark day but it could have been a lot worse, at this time I had two trig points and a curry stool left to visit on yell, the furthest away trig point was a bit back north at basta voe not to far from gulcher (the ferry to Unst place) it would also be a bit of a trek over some hillocks and what looked on the map as a boggy area, (I wasn’t wrong there)I decided to leave this until last thing do all the nearer stuff first then have a think about timing’s fitness and weather,

The first trig point rulkies hill was a cycle way along a dead-end country road, at the end there was a few houses it was mega steep getting up to It, I stopped along the way to visit peerie willie Johnson’s memorial (I must listen to his music!) out of all the Shetland words I hear the most peerie is number one I hear it countless times every day, it’s the Shetland word for small I had not previously realised how often the word small gets used until it is removed from the everyday language and replaced by something else, of course I personally never say small as I’m a central belter scot I say wee, which sometimes means big like a wee beer or a wee half(nip o whisky) these actually mean big! In general, though I use the word wee an awful lot or a muckle lot muckle being scots for big. The word peerie is unique to the Shetland dialect, or perhaps its Norn which is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken in the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland) off the north coast of mainland Scotland and in Caithness in the far north of the Scottish mainland. After Orkney and Shetland was gained back to Scotland from the Vikings in 1468–69, it was gradually replaced by Scots.

Anyway I would have called him wee willie, but if he was English it may have been small Johnston perhaps on Shetland it would have been peerie pilly for that, but I’m just being cheeky now, he was small in stature but a great self-taught musician When I left the daunder at the wee (peerie small) hamlet, a woman came out in her pyjama bottoms asking if I was lost? I was looking at a map so I wont say she was maybe just being nosy, I was glad of a chat and some local info anyway she knew where I was headed and said her friend prefers the coast approach it s less boggy and more scenic, her friend is right! but it wasn’t my only walk that day I chose this approach as I could cycle to roughly the correct height so more cycling less walking saved me time along with me needing to head back north for my next objectives, the coast would have taken me west then I would have to backtrack, I would have loved to have walked it from the B&B along to west sandwick beach (beautiful) then up the coast - past a broch and a Neolithic settlement, its just another example of doing what you can and accepting you cannot do everything my agenda had a timescale my objectives required sustained goals to chase, of course I would not want to miss everything hence stopping at memorials and sites of interest but I cannot stop and do everything

I stopped and filmed a bit of the high bogland approach to this trig, I filmed it because it can be frustrating yet funny, you need to weave around big boggy tussocks hillocks puddles pools hags watching where you go all the time, my new trail shoes were getting ripped to shreds the amount of heather that had snagged to their mesh uppers had caused numerous growing rips, the sole was brand new as I was in bouncy wet squished vegetation mostly when not cycling,

The trig point was right at the coast the sun came out briefly I was extremely lucky and smiled at the view knowing that on a giod day this would be an unbeatable place for a rugged coastline view, if you have been following the blog you will know I am qualified to say that!

Flying downhill on the daunder was ace virtually all the way back to the main road, then past the Bod once at the junction for mid yell, I felt it was time to stop take some refuge in a bus shelter and plan/think?, bus shelters on Shetland are well looked after and I can understand why, it really felt great to get out of the wind there almost seemed to be a difference of air pressure in that wee shelter, of course there wasn’t and this wasn’t even that windy a day but shelter means so much more when you feel you are getting a rest from a battle, as I changed clothing layers I noticed a painted stone covered in wee love hearts it was fair braw I picked it up the girl guides had put it there, apparently I should put a # hashtag on my social media with a photo, it made me smile I know there’s a lot of negativity towards this sort of stuff is it just more rubbish or is it art is it part of the problem not part of the solution? I don’t know! Maybe that’s about quantity one wee stone are a muckle stain at every shelter, to me personally it’s a small issue that made me smile the fields full of sheep are a much bigger environmental issue than a couple o painted stones, so I’m not entering that bun fight

Having a break inside the bus shelter looking at the time and the map? the Curry stool would be easily done, the pillar trig difficult but doable? I could potentially leave the curry go for the far away trig, or do the curry go to the shop buy beer then go back to B&B then catch the last trig in the morning? Maybe I could even pay someone to drop me and the daunder of at the road bend before the trig point trek?I decided to go to the shop so I had a beer to celebrate. there is only nine curry stools in the UK, I had now been to two, in theory I didn’t have to visit them as technically they are not pillar style trig points which was my objective, not all and any of the other landmarks and tools the O/S people used for mapping, maybe I should have ignored them on this day it would have meant getting the other pillar and job done on yell. But now I was heading back early, in the knowledge that it would be a lot of work to do the last one and perhaps not finish before sundown, I had told Anne I would be back for dinner at 18;30 my work was done for the day

Up early the weather looked great I packed all the panniers the two front and back also the back over bag and laid all my stuff out on the porch, paid my bill signed the visitors book and said I would collect my bags on my way south after my mornings work was done, I was lucky with the weather and the trek out to the final trig point of O/S map number one my final one in yell actually in the northern isles was a pleasant trek, just like my map finnish out at aiwick, I shouted loudly into the wind yahhhh beaaauty! The sheep looked at me a wee bit funny but unfortunately the world never noticed,

I was back at the bike quick enough and changed my watch GPS from hike to bike, just as I swung my leg over the daunder, it started to drizzle then rain then wind! Then proper wind in ma face and proper rain, NOT NICE the bike wasn’t packed yet and I had no signal for a weather forecast, it was still midday but at that point I was 45 miles from my intended destination that day of lerwick? By the time I had cycled the hard six or seven mile back to the B&B, I was soaked to the skin, even the best of waterproofs eventually wet through, with 35-40MPH winds on and the forecast said to stay on now that I had signal, even when the bike was unladen the wind was affecting my ability to hold a straight line on a main road! the thought of trying another 35-40miles on a fully laden bike was not a pleasant thought! This would not only be heart-breaking hard work but unsafe you truly need to feel the effects of passing traffic on narrow roads on a heavy bike on a windy day to truly appreciate how little control (regardless how strong you are) you have over a bike. I asked Rob and Anne at the B&B if it would be an issue for me to stay another night Anne said I’ve just put your sheets in the wash! But no problem would you like dinner yes please! I wasn’t leaving yell quite yet my bags soaked on the porch went back to my room