Orkney and Shetland 2023

Am I that teuchter I sound like an islander? That's twice I've been asked if I'm a Shetlander now 😄. Wouldn't be so bad, but their dialects pretty thick!
I got on the road again and made my way to the ferry over the the island of Yell. I didn't spend too long here as my main goal on limited time was the next island Unst.
I stopped to take a photo of the most haunted house in Shetland. Well that's what the story says anyway. There's a ghost of a dog, a child, a tall man, a lady in silk, a tax man and more! I was too scared (lazy) to climb the hill and experience the ghosty atmosphere. It's quite a house on the horizon though, demanding attention.
Then I had a quick visit to Breckon Sands. What a bonnie beach it is! And I had it to myself for 20 minutes while I waited on the next ferry.
Over to Unst next, the most northern inhabited island. This was a wee ferry and they squeezed me in between 2 cars, where I had to sit on my bike as we went, like a sardine 😄. My panniers were resting on the left car, they must have been over the moon about that 😄.
On arrival I went up to the famous Bobby's shelter. Years ago now, this shelter was at risk of being removed. A young lad decided to try save it and he decorated the shelter with all kinds of ornaments. This became a yearly thing, where the bus shelter would get decorated. It never did get removed.
Norwick beach was an interesting stop. It lies where the continental earth's crust (left) collided with the oceanic earth's crust (right), and pushed everything up. The mound that splits the beach has a different type of rock on each side, from the different crusts. Mind boggling!
Nearby I made a stop to see the new Saxa Vord space port. I didn't know this was even a thing prior to researching the trip, but they're building a place to launch supply rockets up into space. I assume to the ISS but don't actually know. Kinda cool! The buildings well under construction, and what I assume is the rocket launchpad is there too.
A trip here wouldn't be complete without a visit to the UKs most northern house. They must get endless people taking photos of their home 😄
A unexpected delight was a visit to the Viking Unst Project, where they have built a replica Viking longhouse and Skidblander (longship). This was actually really cool, and I didn't expect to get all geeky love for it 😄.
Unst has the most Viking history uncovered in Europe.
I made a quick stop to the statue of the White Wife of Watlee. After a fight with her husband she drowned herself, and now she haunts the area! Often sitting in the passenger seat of red cars as they pass 😮😄
My last stop was to St Olaf's kirk and Lund. This area is full of remains from viking long houses and brochs.
The kirk itself is medieval 12th century and has evidence of viking history.
I set up camp in this area, my last night in Shetland.
Awwwwww.
It didn't feel like a busy day, but that's some list above!
Thank you if you stayed to read it all lol.Read more