United Kingdom Eshaness Lighthouse

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  • Day 17–26

    Shetland - trying to beat the rain

    August 21, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 13 °C

    82km, 12°c, wind in the back going North.
    Levenwick was a lovely community campsite and the two volunteers collecting the money and doing the cleaning were charming.
    As the forecast was for 40mph winds and heavy rain by 16.00 hrs we made a booking at the Brae Hotel and planned to get there by 14.00 hrs so we would have enough time to pop over to Sullom Voe to get the number 4 BCQ. The plan worked perfectly and we got back to the hotel just when the rain arrived. The receptionist offered to put our bike in the snooker room and there it went, right through reception!
    Dinner was a treat at Frankies Fish & chip shop, the most northerly fish & chips in Great Britain, and they tasted as well as they claimed!
    Total 597 km
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  • Day 13

    Day 13 - last day and ferry

    August 21, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    It was my last few hours on Shetland before the ferry at 5:30.
    I got myself packed and had a lovely breakfast at Braewick Café. The dad remembered me from last year which was nice. He told me to put something under my feet / calves to make the pods more comfortable... Nice tip! Lol.
    I got a woman going again today with my battery jumpstart. She was French and had a converted kangoo, but had clearly run her battery down. We got her bonnet open and plug it in... It started no bother. I was very happy! Actually pretty chuffed lol.
    I told her to not turn the car off if stopping to take a photo... And that it needs a good run to bring the battery back up. She headed left out of the campsite though, which takes you to dead ends lol, so I suspect she'll be needing another jump soon!
    I headed off, taking a quick run up to North Roe area, as I haven't been up there before. It's pretty hilly! It has Ronas Hill, shetlands tallest. Then I headed down to Brae for petrol and eventually on to Lerwick. I faffed a bit then went to the ferry. They were asking bikes to check in between 2 and 2:30. I didn't know why so wondered if it was because of the weather... But no, turns out there's a hike rally on in Orkney and 20 bikes were booked on for Kirkwall. That wasn't me. So I headed off for a wee run to West Burra and grabbed a cheesecake pudding from Scalloway Meat Co, before going back to the ferry again and finally checking in. The lad warned me it'd be a bit of a rough crossing... WONDERFUL lol.
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  • Day 12

    Day 12 - Roe Beach

    August 20, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 13 °C

    The rain from last night began to clear after 10am, and it turned into a nice day.
    I wasn't sure what to do today, so ended up trying to navigate the view from the wigwams. I headed down the path at the back of the campsite but once I reached the beach I couldn't get over a river the splits the beach in 2. All the rain recently has meant everything is a bit boggy and rivers are running full.
    So I had to double back to the campsite again. I had a good look at my phone to find a spot that would get me access to this area, and after another failed attempt, I finally found a pull in bit with access.
    The walk was fine. I had 4 or 5 fences to climb, but nothing bad. The cliff views were great! Roe Sand is a stunning beach too, with very red sand. I have no idea if you can get down to it or not. I didn't try. I walked out to the far point which looks onto Hillwick and ended up coming back the same way I came in. I walked 4 or 5 miles, which is more than I'd have expected. Probably all my faffing!

    I headed back to the wigwam and felt lethargic unfortunately. Struggling to muster energy to head out again after tea.
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  • Day 11

    Day 11 - rainy in Braewick

    August 19, 2024 in Scotland ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    This was a wasted day as I sat in the wigwam most of it, hiding from the rain.

    It dried up a bit around 5pm, so I popped to the co-op in Brae, then to Frankie's chip shop... Which is nice, but I don't think is that superior to warrant all the raving about it.

    I had a video call with the boys later that night which was a nice catch up.
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  • Day 7

    Day 7

    August 18, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Today was my day to explore Eshaness on Shetland. This meant quite a bit of walking and less riding the bike.
    I started with a visit to the Tangwick Haa Museum, which is a local museum about Shetland life, in a house built in the 17th century. It had such tiny windows and a lot of character! There was a lot of yapping in here! I enjoy a yap with interesting people.
    Next I headed along to Eshaness Lighthouse, and the starting point of a big walk. This is probably the most dramatic coastline I've ever seen. It was cloudy half the day too, so I got some dramatic skies with the massive cliffs and stacks.
    This location is home to uk's biggest cave.
    For some reason I got 2 messages here from EE. One saying I'd changed to maritime / aircraft / zone E network??? Then another saying I was abroad and needed roaming turned on 😄. I mean, I know Shetland's quite a journey, but c'mon!😂
    How are these insane cliffs created? 395 million years ago the Eshaness coast was on the flank of quite a violent volcano. Lots of spewing rocks, ash and lava. The cliffs show layer upon layer of lava. When the lava cooled and shrank, it caused these dramatic rocky inlets, stacks and blowholes. The volcano eroded away and left a small island just off the coast called Muckle Ossa, which you see in my photos.
    On the return walk I went to the remains of the iron age Broch of Houlland.
    After that it was a trip to Frankie's chip shop, then back to the wigwam to eat it.
    I've enjoyed my day!
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  • Day 6

    Day 6

    August 17, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    I got up and packed today then started my journey north to central west chunk of Shetland. It admittedly took longer than planned to adventure here, so I totally missed Deepdale.
    I finally found a Twatt sign! I looked around but I couldn't see anyone familiar here 😄.
    Both Shetland and Orkney have a village called Twatt... I only knew of 1 before this trip.
    I visited Raewick Beach which has unusually red sand. This was fine stone crumbled off the red cliffs and seabed in the area. Never seen such red beaches before.
    Then I headed on to Culswick and the cliff area of Wester Skeld. The coastlines are so dramatic on Shetland! There's a fair bit of walking involved though. I'm averaging around 8 miles walking per day 😮.
    Finally a rode up to Eshaness and my wigwam at Braewick. I have the best view from up here! The wigwam looks right onto the impressive stacks and cliffs of Eshaness. LOVE IT!
    Can't wait to explore this area over the next 2 days, it's amazing.
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