Arrived in Shetland this morning at 7.30 in true Shetland weather – sheet rain and blustery wind, it’s 7.30 in the evening and the rain has just stopped but not the wind yet. As all the cabins were taken I slept, quite well, in my sleeping bag on the floor of the ship’s cinema (no films being shown) along with several others. Gosh, the vessel used for the crossing has changed a bit since 1975, when I first came to Shetland – then the only place to sit/sleep was the bar and drink was taken.
I crossed to Orkney on 20th May, spent some time in Kirkwall, then a night on the ness at Stromness in another gale – in the evening I had difficulty shutting my door because the wind was so strong, in the morning it had not dropped but shifted – I struggled to open my door. I crossed to Westray as a foot passenger on 23rd and spent 3 days staying with my cousin, Jim and his wife, Helen in the north of the Island near Noup Head (pronounced Nowp Heed) and Pierowall. Lots of wind and rain and volcanic ash. We went over by ferry to Papa Westray for the day.
Back to Kirkwall on 26th and had a brush with the police. On the advice of a nice woman in the Tourist Information Centre, I parked the Van up on headland, in front of some housing (but not too near) and the Kirkwall police left a card on my windscreen to contact them. Defensively I did only to find they were checking to see if I was alright, to the extent that they had been in touch with my father in Lymington (the registration address) so I will have to let the police know in future if I am going to leave the Van in future.
Lots of photos to sort through and write up but will not “publish” till I find a decent wifi.
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