Vaila at last

Vaila isle at last The foula crew met at fjara cafe for brunch to make last minut packing plans, the conversation flowed rapidly along with the time, we couldn’t get everything organized and discussed in the brief time we had at our table, But Hamish threw a wee gem of an adventure plan into the works? He knew I was planning a vaila trig point trip and reckoned we should give it a go the next day in the double kayak, the wind was to pick up at some point but the double was more stable in the water so would cope better in a slight swell, Duncan said no worries if we don’t do it by kayak his brother has a boat oot that way we could get to obtain my objectives later with a bit of notice perhaps the following weekend, Hamish said that’s a great option Dunc; what we will do is load the kayak drive oot have a look if its too choppy we will take you up on the very kind boat offer

Next morning, I was packed and ready to go as per Hamish`s instructions at 08:00, we firstly went to his house for toast and coffee and load the kayak and equipment on his car, although there was a very slight breeze the weather was actually very nice, we had even packed some sun screen! The islands are extremely braw on days like this the horizons look endless and the rugged coastlines look as strong as castle walls, it was a drive where you constantant`ly got distracted from the conversation to mention the view braw, Our original plan to launch from burrastowe B&B was scupper`ed as there was a film crew with all their trucks vans and cars milling around, there is a TV show called Shetland or something that seems to be reasonably popular, I wouldn’t know as I never watch TV but this show was getting filmed at our intended launch site this day, the security bloke said we could park up and launch down at the fish farm pier close by, Hamish already knew this and even better he actually knew one of the fish farm workers called Keith, we went round and spoke with him he was extremely helpful telling us where best to park and that he would watch our progress, if we needed any help they could rescue us with their boat, he even let us use the loo and offered us a coffee and said be sure to pop in when we got back!

We gave it a go! I couldn’t get my life jacket zipped up and Hamish had forgot to zip his dry suit we headed out to sea into a headwind, Hamish steered the kayak by his foot pedals I was at the front just concentrating on looking at the horizon and paddling with fury as we hit some swell and the water splashed over the bow onto my specs hat and gloves, Hamish was chatting from behind I had to tell him I was silent through nerves which gave him a chuckle, he was loving the stability of a double kayak with a rudder as opposed to his normal single with a sked, I was just a bit rusty having not exposed myselfnto much kayaking of late, but i did know from personal experience that I didn’t want to go in the water!

Once over the open water it was a pleasant fast paddle into the pebble beach near the big fancy hoose on vaila, we dragged the kayak well up above the tide mark and took of our dry suits while drinking a wee cup o green tea, I had only one objective then to get to the trig point, but Hamish was keen to walk around a bit of the shore line, of course I immediately changed my attitude this is a superb coastline the weather was perfect for a walk around some stunning cliffs, there is times for box ticking getting the task done and there is times for leisure strolls or runs or just a connection with the area you are passing through, Hamish was right lets live for the moment and take in this island for all its worth which is what we done

Firstly, we headed up to the tower OMG this is fantastic the millionaires that own this island are art collectors, this tower up on the hill is about as artistic as you can get, I peered in the windows slack jawed at the raw beauty of the surroundings inside these people have exquisite taste,

We then marched along the coast being careful to stay away from the edge of the big cliffs, where we came upon by accident a cool sea hole, I checked my map this one is called maamy`s hole! We stayed there to take photos and do a wee video before moving on along the coast to the high points, I didn’t truly need my map as we could clearly see each high point on the island the trig point came into view on the second wee peak after maamys hole

It was a vanessa again I was delighted to see it, psychologically for me this was a huge mile stone, as vaila is an island very close to the mainland like noss balta Bressay even Fetlar papa stoor and skerries all to a degree defo close enough to the mainland to not be stand alone! Foula and fair isle are so far out on their own they could really be classed as separate entities for my Shetland trig points challenge?! This made reaching this trig point almost feel like I have done it! Previous to putting my hand onto the top of this trig point I could not have said I have done all Shetland trig points, but now? Foula and fair isle are slightly different from mainland Shetland vaila is not,

After the trig we followed a land rover track over to another pier then came down by the impressive house to get back to our kayak mission accomplished, well it would be once we paddled back to the mainland, we had a sandwich and some tea and this time sorted all our equipment properly, which was back to front really because we now had the wind at our backs the return paddle was ten mins quicker and nowhere near as scary a bit of a high swell coming in from our side in the middle section briefly but mostly the wind helping us over with zero sea spray hitting my specs and hat this time

Keith had us in for a cup o tea and explained a bit about the salmon farm to my enquisative questions, I took a photo of the Shetland tv show film crew we loaded all the gear and kayak, we then stopped at the cool telephone box at burrastow as we drove past to sign the visitors’ book. Then we got the shop at walls I bought postcards and beer, then visited oor work mate mark work mate for me long time friend for Hamish, it s lambing season so he is busy, but he made us tea I drank beer and then we got to help him shift some lambs aboot, I learned a lot about lambing the spray painted numbers and the iodine on the back sack and crack stuff. Also, I was given a tour of the shed which has alexa and a web cam for the sheep’s mental health all fascinating stuff

Hamish dropped me at Tesco in town another wonderful day to be alive , hamish made a wee video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J294lq_qU1s&t=13s

Noss at last drone

Kayaking to Noss

Hamish had all the equipment ready and told me to be at the Bressay ferry terminal for nine AM, I walked along at ten to nine his car was in the ferry que, easily spotted it was the one with the kayaks on the roof! I opened the door and asked if this was the adventure wagon? And if so do they have space for a small one? Jump in kenjo said Hamish this is my mate Aaron (pronounced erin in these parts) and my daughter Tahlia,

The ferry journey to Bressay from lerwick is quick and easy, it was non stop chat about weather, swells, tides, kayaking experience, equipment and before we knew it we were at the normal car park for going down for the summer ferry to Noss which sounds posher than it really is, as this ferry is just a dingy with an outboard, this is still in the winter timetables so there would be no`one else around, we dropped the chain that was over the approach road, the legend Hamish then drove us down close to the shore this way we didn’t have far to portage (love a chance to use that word) our kayaks

Hamish had brought an inflatable kayak a double sea kayak and his own sea kayak there was four of us, so there was an option for us all to go at once! But due to experience levels the slight swell and skerries, Hamish correctly chose to use the double kayak to ferry his daughter and me over, with Aaron doing the steering of the double kayak, this turned out to be the very best way by far, three went over tahlia jumped out two came back, I jumped in and went over and then we all disembarked on Noss at a scenic secluded beach,

I hadn’t bothered bringing the map its truly straight forward you just head to the obvious high point was my thinking! this worked out totally fine for getting to the trig point at the high point of the isle, It’s a 592ft cliff right next to the trig point, which made for awesome footage on Aarons drone, we spent a bit of time around this area, BUT We shoulda looked at cradle holm while there, I am now gutted we never walked along the cliff top for a squint aboot, it wasn’t until I read the guide books the following day that I realized we had missed one of the should see spots of Shetland, it was once a major tourist attraction with even Walter Scott visiting,

I had my first incounter with the legendary bonxies these big sea birds are renowned for attacking folk, there was a dead lamd and a dead sheep which was likely due to them, its not nesting season yet another few weeks to go but they are here now on shetand, and showing their dominance in the sky, next month here i would have required a stick to walk around with

We did have a poke around the warden/ homestead pony pund area which was very interesting,In 1842 it became illegal for woman and children to work in coal mines. The marquise of Londonderry had to think of some other slave labour for his Irish coal mines? he bought the island of Noss to breed Shetland ponies to do the mine work previously done by woman and children, this would have been a huge expense for him as compared to the virtually free woman and children,

A remarkably intact survivor of this legacy for breeding the Shetland ponies for the pits, is the rare building type known as the pony pund, this one we visited on Noss is by far the best preserved, I have driven past another on the way to work countless times but never bothered to look around, there is another I’ve seen on the road to voe and after a bit of research found There is other comparable steadings to be found at Garth, Gungstie (Bressay) and Kirkabister (Yell)

The Noss kayaking team then had tea and biscuits on the beach, all of which had dairy so not any good for me, Hamish had some water for me though what an absolute gem he is, the tide was defo higher with a bigger swell as we headed back to Bressay! But I was lucky Aaron took Tahlia first then came back for me, they all laughed as they set of paddling saying see you in a month kenny! as I stood on the beach alone taking pics, I knew they were joking but it is sad being left alone on an island, they didn’t even hang aboot, it was straight over and straight back for me, I am not used to kayaking in a swell it was exhilarating and fun a wee adrenaline buzz for me, but I was glad to be in the double kayak trusting aarons abilities

once we got over and carried the kayaks back to the car, it looked like we could make the one o’clock ferry Hamish put the foot down, only to watch the ferry leave the pier, I was ok with this as the next ferry was only half an hour later, I could buy a beer at the shop with snacks while we waited, an actual social gathering with people which is a bizarrely rare treat in these covid days, I was extremely happy just to sit around a picnic bench drinking beer and chatting -Braw times

hanish made an absolutely fantastic wee video of our day which i uploaded to my you tube channel https://youtu.be/JpbVT8ReGd8 What an absolutely wonderful day all in all

heading out east to skerries

The ferry time table is difficult to understand, well to me anyway the young islanders are good with it, young tug helped me to work out how I was going to manage to get to the trig point on skerries? it originally looked possible with a ferry from Lerwick and back in a day, but after a chat on the phone to the booking office (ferries to skerries must be booked), this turned out to be far too short a time in skerries to get the trig done, it became apparent that a Friday was the day to do this visit to bag the most easterly trig point in Scotland not the UK as that’s in England. Friday is changeover day at work, which makes getting out there harder for me logistically, during my previous time off I couldn’t get booked via the phoneline, which turned into a bit of a blessing in the end, as the weather turned that day!

Friday the 16th being my last day at work ever, I was heading to stay in Lerwick for two weeks, there was a window of opportunity in the afternoon so I phoned and booked myself on the ferry, The Out Skerries lie about four miles north east of Whalsay and Bound Skerry forms the easternmost part of Scotland, the islands have a (mothballed) primary school. The primary school in 2015 had just one pupil the previously open secondary school was the smallest in the UK; This secondary school was closed in 2014, In 2016 the school only had one student. The story of the loneliest schoolboy went viral and he received 10,000 Christmas cards that year from all around the world. The old schoolhouse found a reuse purpose as the smallest cinema in Scotland, called imaginatively Schoolhouse Cinema, which opened in 2017 and offers free admissions and free snacks There is now only Around 40 people living on the two main islands, Housay and Bruray, just east of the main Shetland Islands group. A third island, Grunay, is currently uninhabited. The two islands are linked by a bridge and boast a simple life with two shops, an airstrip, a church a police station, a fish processing factory and a community hall where dances are held (especially for the celebration for the annual Lerwick to Skerries Yacht Race held in August). Cal and magnus left me at the ferry pier at Vidlin, which was great i was by then free of work they may not ever see me again we reminisced about old times had a few laughs said our goodbyes in a pleasant way, all pleased to have crossed each other’s life’s, I was booked on the 11AM sailing but hadn’t paid, yet again I filled out a form that they said they would bill me, the card reader’s don’t take visa, and due to covid they are not taking cash, this is only an issue with council run ferries privately owned ferries manage to take card or cash, the ferry journey over was ace I loved it there was one car and three twitchers! These bird watching types weren’t the most social group each time I approached them their bino`s went up to the eyes! walk away bino`s down walk back bino`s up lol ok I take a hint! they were only heading over for the day like me, I cornered one of them on the return leg and they do this journey to check on the birds reasonably often, they take the ferry out go count birds and check for any rare ones then ferry back,

it was cold up top on the on the ferry I went up and down the stair to keep warm, I loved the sea level view through the porthole windows down in the passenger lounge but also loved the view on the open deck, where I got frozen then went back down for a heat at the porthole, the approach into skerries harbour is excellent in between rugged rocky outcrops and harsh cliffs, then round into a sheltered bay, the one car got off and the twitchers marched off there was no one to ask questions of, it was midday the shop was shut until two hours later. I never had the map for the islands but from what I had read online I should just easily head to the high ground from the harbour which is what I done

fresh water is a problem for skerries being so small with no loch they have built a dam to make a tiny reservoir which is fed from drainage channels dug into the hill, I walked up past this reservoir and stepped over the water collecting drainage on my march up to the high point trig, this was not a hard walk! I was there in no time but delighted to reach Scotland’s most eastern (vanessa style) trig point yet another mile stone accomplished for me, it felt great I took a photo using my mini tripod and timer with me holding my bespoke SGP trig point center piece the lads had made me, and smilingly took the panoramic view in the air smelled of fresh freedom, the horizons seemed much more distant remote endless! I was alone at the high point of Scotland’s most eastern area looking out over towards Norway feeling like an island, no`one around me, no work to go to not even a timetable of needing to be anywhere for any time, is this what freedom smelled like? My phone rang! Hello mum – waur ur yeh son? Skerries maw aye yeh dinny ken it! That’s great your heading home now son it will be guid to see yah its been a while, aye you too mum, mind I’m gonna cycle home though so a wee bitty longer yet! The signal died; I text maw to say I would call her later,

ok so I best head back then! I’ve Been up north and heading south and now been out east to head west, so I could technically now tell mammy I was heading home, am I a pensioner getting pulled in oot the street by the lug by his mammy for playing outside for too long lol, its not changed in over forty years, ok mammy um coming haim I walked back the other side of the wee reservoir doon over the catchment drain again, then down over a dry stain dyke, onto what I thought was an abandoned old run-down road! Which turned out to be skerries airfield, I found this out as I read the do not enter sign after I had walked its length and crossed over! I’m sure I would have heard a plane coming and it wasn’t like I was doing doughnuts on a quad in the snow as I had done wi dunc on the airfield at papa stoor

The wee shop still had an hour before opening, I knew there was another I had plenty time, I walked along the only road on the isle and went to the other shop over the wee bridge onto the other isle, this shop is also the post office, there was a hand written note sellotaped on to the door, due to me going to the mainland for my covid vaccination, the post office will be shut all day, oh well no postcards will be sent from skerries, I had a walk past the stone circle called the battle pund, then up the hill to an abandoned bird watchers hide (I think) then dropped back down the far side of the hill to walk back to the harbour and wait for the shop to open

Being 100% honest I only really wanted to buy beer from the shop, I had a look around the nik naks and grabbed some snacks, then at the till asked the fella where the beer is? I’m not licensed he said, ok what about the post office does that sell beer nope they aren’t licensed either! Irn Bru and crisps on the bench in the harbour it was then by way of celebration, the sun was out it was beautiful but as I sat doing nothing except write in my journal I got colder and colder from the slight breeze, spring is not warm this far into the north sea

The ferry journey back was slightly choppy to begin with in a fun way, it reminded me of the waves I had on a sailing ship journey around robin island off cape town except it wasn’t as warm there was no free champagne and no pod of porpoises, oh and no sails lol but the waves were similar, there was no car this time just me and the three twitchers huddled together, their bino`s trained on the coast line or cliffs or maybe so they didn’t have to engage in conversation,

Back at Vidlin for five I had an hour before the bus to lerwick arrived, I knew the shop in vidlin sold beer I had been here a couple of times before, the shop is at the bus stop I had time for a snack and a beer before the bus arrived which was a mini bus but posh for public transport cash only fare no change given, I had to put it in a jar covid rules, the shop like so many other island shops that are cash only also, but that’s to do with rip off visa charges for retailers,

It wasn’t long before I was back in lerwick dropped right at the harbour mega close to the grand where I was already booked in my room wasn’t ready yet Harvey got it sorted while I had a brew in the very nice dining room texting friends one of them Hamish he had said that he was having a BBQ and firepit in his garden if I wanted to pop up once I was settled to discuss the next mornings kayaking, this is exactly what I done I dropped my bags in my excellent third floor room with the most amazing room view oot over the harbour I loved it, then I marched up to Hamish’s hoose via Tesco en route for beer and vegan sausages as Hamish doesn’t really have meat and dairy free options, I loved his nativity with all meat products as he offered me bacon then sausages also marshmallows to toast at the fire biscuits etc. this was to become a theme, but this night I was sorted and he done me well with some vegetables roasted on skewers over the BBQ on pitta breads with my vegan sausages braw, the town was like a ghost town hardly a noise or a light as I walked back to the grand at midnight, The end of perhaps one of the most memorable days of my life, leaving work with all those warm goodbyes, visiting skerries, the ferry journey in the sun, then garden beers retirement was going well – and aboot to get better

last day at work

Way back at least ten years ago I done a financial diary for three months plotting everything I spent and earned, this was an eye-opening experience! I started projecting how long I would need to work full time to become debt and mortgage free, the analysis showed that if I carried on living the way I was then I would be working shifts in a chemical factory until I was sixty five, this was if I stayed in the same job without taking on a second job to get the house paid for, I sure as hell didnt want a second job more work less play! big Dave McKinney calls his coveralls the suit of shame which is fair enough, his outlook is if you are wearing coveralls then you are doing a job, again he is right I have always had a job not a career, a worker for the man who has now worn the suit of shame for thirty five years, this is perfectly fine for some people of course, but I feel I have done my time, I don’t want to work all my life for a company, which due to my work hostory for me work is in the oil/gas-chemical industry, don’t get me wrong for a working class man this industry pays well, it pays a lot more money when working away from home, which I never wanted to do, I had promised myself that I wouldn’t work away from home until my son was old enough that he didn’t need me around, my boy was working full time when he was eighteen, this is now nearly eight year ago now, things had changed at the plant that I worked in at the time, for me then and for me now it was time for a change, an Italian that I once worked under called vito. Had once said to me that if you are in the same job longer than seven years then you will never change or develop, he was right, I wrote a cv at that time 2013 it was my first CV in twenty years! I applied for two jobs and got offered this one on Shetland, to me this job at that time was just too good an opportunity to not take, yes it was a big risk leaving a very safe reasonably well paid job close to home, to become a fly in fly out contractor on a yet to be built gas plant but I went for it, work can be an adventure also! my adventurous spirit had leapt at the risk, I have never regretted that choice and I consider myself lucky to have experienced the whole construction to commissioning then full on production of the gas plant,

in the begining I had this dream that if I worked away from home for five years it would be the financial equivalent of fifteen years at home, I could then pay of all my debts and be mortgage free in five years not fifteen, I could then live a life that I wouldn’t need to take a holiday from, that original plan of five years has now been extended by two and a half years, but that day has now arrived - I have now taken off the suit of shame for the last time, now my dream is realised I am free of the man and swiped out those security gates forever, the alarm clock is now switched off for work and like me will from now on it will be used for leisure purposes only, it’s now time to start living the life I wont need a holiday from, time for the slow daunder doon the road my working life behind me, or maybe I should say the years of working for the man complete! no longer a slave in bondage to bankers to pay for my shelter. I am now on the seven-day weekend as big geo would say

Is the timing, ever right? What is enough money? Yes, I could have worked a few more months, maybe even another year or two? if I really wanted to perhaps another ten years! Saving money for what? when would it have been enough money to pay for my freedom, that I suppose depends on what you need, I don’t need a lot, I do not have a lot of money especially when compared to many people I know, but I think I have saved enough to pay for at least a year or two as a cycle tourist, I don’t own any motorised transport this is also a saving or at least one (large) less outgoing, the time is right for me that time is now!

I was totally blown away on my final three hours on site on friday the sixteenth morning. firstly all the lads that had been nightshift had a gift for me! they had made me my very own trig point, this was absolutely amazing i was chuffed to bits this amazed and pleased me more than these friends will ever know, i think i can guess who was behind this little creative gift as there is a wee story behind this gift that i cannot make public,so if you rascals are reading this my heartfelt thanks i will miss you please keep in touch along with the bespoke big trig which was like a big bling medal, the boys also gave me a leaving card signed by lots of my work mates/friends/coleagues/buddys and an envelope with a considerable sum of cash, yet again my mind was blown by my workmates kindness and thoughtfullness, I have been blessed to know you all

The other thing about stopping working for an oil giant is that I wish to change who I am as a human being, I have done nothing but take from this planet and my species future generations, for me its time I stopped taking from the planet and at least try to give something back, I don’t think it would be possible for me to plant enough tree`s to ever be able to pay back the damage I have done in my fifty years, BUT; I now wish to be the change I want to see in the world, this is why I have pledged to be flight free, this is why I stopped eating all dairy products years ago, this is why I stopped eating beef and buying leather two years ago, this is why I have now pledged to stop eating mammals,

Woops sorry about that side issue this is a fun blog to read not a political rant. Cycling away from work to be forever free, is cause for a celebration of how lucky I am, the last paragraph makes it sound like I am unhappy about these things when I am not unhappy at all I am ecstatically happy, if you haven’t done it then trust me giving up meat and dairy can also be a fun adventure, cycling and public transport can also be way more fun than a car or flying, now i have no deadlines i can enjoy waiting on a bus/train/ferry

Strange how the vision and the reality works out, three years ago when I first thought, it was getting close enough to be able to start thinking of leaving my job on Shetland, I had a vision of me having a right good party on the bus -plane- train home, surrounded by my workmates all saying goodbye along the way as they left at their stops. this is what I had done with other colleagues that had left over the years great memories, on my leaving day i discovered that i was number 62 of operators that had been and went! the young team had talked of making an SGP operators top trump card set! I seriously burst out loud laughter when i heard this awsome idea, i may not want to seee my own trump card but would love to see the rest and have a game,

when covid came along and I started the trig point adventure, i realised there would be no train home party, then also my environmental conscience kicked in so my pledge to go flight free happened, Thats when I decided I would cycle away from work when my time was done no more flights i would cycle home, my leaving work vision then changed from the train party to one of me waving to the bus as it departed from the works car park, then I would put on my headphones with a play list of happy freedom songs locked and loaded, belting out into my ears as I cycled to Lerwick for a weekends partying before the ferry home.

Since then I have taken my bike on the bus to be dropped at Sumburgh to say goodbye to the lads for a few weeks, I’ve also cycled out the car park on a fully laden tour bike waving at the lads as their coach headed to the airport, whilst I cycled the opposite way to Unst for yet another few weeks cycle touring, to then yet again meet the lads back at work, as one of the boys said I had been having more final tours than the rolling stones and that I looked as old (cheeky sod) this time it’s a bit of an anti-climax, well physically anyway there was no fist pumping while cycling off full of energy and sounds in the lugs, I was walking out the gate for the last time then getting a lift from Cal in his car to Vidlin, for me to catch a ferry still chasing trig points in an attempt to finish that challenge before I left the island. But this time no return will be made to the gas plant

I had spent my final morning in a flurry of handshakes! handshakes? in these times of covid! what is the ruling? what is the guidlines? what is our culture? what should change if anything? i have no set answer for those questions yet some people have stopped shaking hands, which im ok with, BUT and its a huge BUT if a good friend puts out a hand for me to shake for potentially the last time that we will ever meet! then what? do i shake? for me yep i will i think its worth the risk for that final piece of human contact between brothers, its not like the black spot in the book treasure island, death will follow its a risk of death yes but i am not afraid to die i just dont want to cause anyone elses premature death so if they put out the hand i will take it as off my next blog i will be a full time adventurer a gentleman of the road Kenny - or is it perhaps his alter ego the great phylospher don kenjo alejandro lol

bagging trigs on final week

Robbo is on a high it`s his last trip, I’ve never seen the grumpy auld bugger so happy, well actually that’s not true, he was always happy while at whisky club especially when the Burra had won. I’m not sure if that was perhaps due to plenty sausages to snack on at the Moorfield! as then he was happy as the proverbial pig. Over Seven years now we have been working together at the Shetland gas plant, here we were sharing our last trip together, we were both A shift during the commissioning faze of the plant, then I moved to D shift, these days there isn’t really a shift the rota doesn’t work like that anymore, Robbo has one week longer than me to do as I am on a two week trip, this is due to a bump in my rota to accommodate people not having to work too many Christmas and new years in a row, it’s very complicated to explain a five year working rota, so you my reader will just have to accept that fate had gave me a good hand, I was getting a lucky break in the rota at the best time for me, my final two weeks at work were shared with Robbo`s final three weeks of work, robbo is retiring I am? Well what am I doing? Too young to retire as under fifty-five not so sure I will ever retire in the true sense of the word anyway! What now for me? An explorer? An adventurer? A traveller? A vagabond? A writer? Perhaps all of these

Robbo has been in on the trig point adventure with me also right from the start, not walking to them obviously not wi those knees, but driving and taking photos his photography is getting better all the time, this is what he hopes to do with his retirement time practice his photography, today the ninth of April I put in my official resignation, then me and robbo went for a walk round site to catch our last photo together In the previous blog where I had written there was six construction trig points on the gas plant, I was wrong! While conducting a gas test for a confined space work scope, I noticed a trig point in a very prominent position! How I had previously missed this I have absolutely no idea? it’s a classic example of how most of us walk around not noticing our surroundings, but now I am certain there is seven SGP trig points, I’m reasonably confident I am the only person ever or ever will be likely to be photographed next to them all, which makes me happy in a fun way to add these to my Shetland trig point adventure I’ve yet again been lucky to be at my final two weeks at work during some bad weather there was high winds and heavy sleet over the past week. I hope this will last until next Friday when I shall walk out those work gates for the final time

Bagging

I thought I was bad for bagging trig points, but I am not in the same league as some? take for example rob Woodall the first man to bag all 6190 trig points! it took him 13years! - 

 

https://www.ukhillwalking.com/news/2016/04/rob_woodall_is_first_to_bag_all_6000+_trig_points-70404

 

he not only out shines me at trig point bagging, but also ticking of Humps and Marilyn’s, I don’t yet bother counting these or to count my Graeme’s corbets humps Marilyn’s or my mainland trig points! at present I am on around 130 Munros, I have no idea how many of those have trig points? that is my Munro bagging which is separate from this project/adventure/goal why do it? maybe because I like to add things to a list of cool things I’ve done I suppose, the reason is probably less important than the fact it keeps me going out and doing stuff, this adventure for example is a combination of lots of different interests – cycle touring – hill walking -  running – camping – testing of me and my equipment before a much bigger expedition -  sightseeing – learning cultural and historical facts and info while touring one of the most beautiful places in the world, plus ticking of a box to say I’ve done this cool thing what’s not to like?

but am i a box ticker an adventurer an explorer a tourist or a travellor? A tourist experiences disconnected sights and sounds and enjoys them without drawing meaning. A traveler roams the earth, digests what he sees and hears, and collects them in a framework of understanding, which he both brings to his travels and deepens with travels. The former is a pleasant interlude in your life. The latter is about life itself.

— George Friedman,

the auld water bottle

The water Bottle

Mark Williams had been awesome taking me to see some of the local sites and taking me out on his hovercraft, also making me lunch on the beach, showing me smugglers cave and joining me for drams in my wee self-catered place in Scalloway, I wanted to show him some small token of appreciation for all that he had done for me, as it was truly above and beyond the pals call of duty, he had dropped me at the shop in scalloway before taking me back to my chalet, while in the shop I got him a good bottle of whisky and tried to leave it in his car as he dropped me off. He said no way can I take that kenny, I told him he had to as I had no way to carry it now that I was cycling of the next day, he said he would walk by at night and we would drink it together, ok good plan I said see you later, but he never turned up

While packing to go next day My panniers were full and the back packs, I had a half-finished bottle of whisky that I had carried all week in the front pannier, this full bootle that I had bought mark took the slot from the half empty one, I could not carry two whisky bottles? I had a brain wave I would just pour that half finished bottle into my water bottle that sits in the bike frame bottle cage, this worked fine I had my platypus for drinking water in my wee backpack anyway, sorted I cycled of to Lerwick to continue the trig point adventure This water bottle was a wee bit sentimental to me, although its just a plastic water bottle, its the old classic blue and yellow Lucozade water bottle, I had owned it for nearing twenty years, back then I helped out with Cameron’s football team and sourced them loads of equipment including these bottles, my mate marks wife at that time worked for Lucozade and sourced the whole team two baskets of water bottles for our boys football team which was great, this one bottle was the last of these crates that I once owned, I have no idea if the team still use the others that we left, sadly no idea if the team still exists, Cameron hasn’t played for that football team in nearing fifteen years, brings back happy memories for me though. I’ve had this water bottle up here on Shetland for seven years getting daily use while here, it has served me well and now it was serving me well containing whisky for me braw The whisky was in there for nearly two weeks before I finally went back to work, I finished off the whisky in order to get the water bottle back to drinking water duties in the office, I brought the water bottle into work by then it was empty of the whisky rinsed but not washed. It was absolutely reeking of whisky! Which was pleasant to me, but I didn’t want people to talk, whisky at work has a stigma to it! The sink we use is in the hall of the offices, this sink coffee/tea area has notoriously hot water, you have to watch and not get fingers burned from the taps, there is industrial strength washing detergent at the sink which I put in the water bottle with the mega hot water for a good suds wash, it lathered up and the smell was glorious, then I thought bloody hell this whole area was smelling of whisky, so much so that I heard from the supervisors office which is near the sink, one of the gaffers said to another can you smell whisky? OMG thinks I and gave it another scour with a scotchbrite pad, then another super-hot soapy wash then another, it still smelled but not the whole area! I put my cold drinking water in it smiling at the background whisky smell and taste as I drank my water,

I was laughingly letting the lads smell my water bottle, while telling them the story of the whisky, and stinking the offices hall out like a secret alky, but after a day or two of this I got to thinking about my knowledge of how whisky is made, it’s a two way street distilled alcohol blends in with the wood of the barrels to swap flavours the alcohol and wood co mingle, wood into whisky whisky into wood! If my plastic was smelling and tasting of whisky was my whisky now filled with micro plastics? I went on to tell my supervisor scott about this thought, he also likes a whisky and I had started to think I would never drink from plastic cups again, especially not whisky, he said that his wife who works in a lab where they had done experiments on plastic bottle lifespans, he said the older the bottle or plastic container is the more micro plastics it breaks down into what it contains! This information although on reflection I should have realised previously but hadn’t, this turned everything I thought about storage in plastics on its head, I thought all the VOC`s and harmfull vapours left the plastic reasonably quickly then once something was a couple of years old it would be less toxic, turns out I was now wrong on something else, always learning!

What to do about it? I would love to never buy plastic water or juice containers ever again but! I will not pledge to do that due to the sad fact that sometimes in some places it’s just too difficult not to use plastic containers, I have now replaced my old faithful with a metal bike water bottle flask style bottle, which I can also put tea in, I still use my platypus for drinking water if I need to, that is perhaps something else I will try to phase out, plastic in all its forms is now something I am going to actively try to move further away from, I now think there should be a ban or large tax on single use plastic, the present packaging etc for my community is unsustainable and killing the planet, I am going to try and no longer be part of that problem,