Blogging at 21:50 on Wednesday 10th April from intended overnighting spot N 55.14782°, W 02.14116° / http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:55.14782%2C-02.14116
Thankfully, the overnight sailing from Lerwick to Aberdeen was a reasonably smooth affair and we arrived in Aberdeen bang on time at around (sic) seven o'clock this morning (pic). The boat was again clean and well equipped, and the staff very attentive and cheery. A deserved nod, then, to North Link Ferries.
From Aberdeen we've basically just covered turf to reach the current spot, which is pretty unprepossessing but quiet and functional, and which should hopefully make the journey back home tomorrow morning a straightforward affair.
So, in a nutshell: huzzah for The Northern Isles. We've really enjoyed them. Some final ramblings - in no particular order:
Driving. Navigating the truck around the islands wasn't too troublesome. The main north-south road on Mainland Shetland around Lerwick was a little busy at times but drivers were patient and tolerant. Rather than hold people up in our slow old lorry we just took advantage of the numerous lay-byes to let people past. Some of the various islands' remaining roads are very narrow with deep dykes either side just waiting to swallow an entire vehicle: indeed, some had. To quantify, some were maybe only six inches wider than the track of the truck. That said, with due concentration and a suitably cautious speed there was nothing too difficult or worrying. Many of the roads are single track with (numerous) passing places and these work really well. The islanders are well in the groove and courtesy prevails. There are quite a few gravel tracks around-and-about and as long as these don't obviously simply serve a house or farm etc, islanders themselves seem to use at least some of them as extensions of public roads.
People. The islanders were - as reported on numerous occasions - seemingly genuinely incredibly friendly and welcoming. The pace of life is palpably slower and sense of community seemingly strong. There were many indications of community functions and churches seemed well attended on the Sunday we were there. 'Sunday Teas' is apparently a big weekly feature of island life where locals will take cakes etc to a communal hall or similar and catch up / sort stuff out at the community level. It's apparently a crime against humanity if you absent yourself without good cause. These interactions are the polar opposite of where developed-world society more generally seems to be and you'd have to think that if such preposterously simple structures were adopted more widely that they might actually help redress the fact that humanity is currently circling the plughole. The Northern Isles are, by current standards, an extremely civilised part of the world.
Trees. There are hardly any and the few that exist are mainly planted and tended. They have a tough life and are gnarled and stunted. There's probably a thesis in this for those studying arboriculture. For those not, it's one less thing to worry about when driving a larger vehicle in tight spaces.
Vikings. Clearly a big historical influence and many of the place names and cultural references betray this. It's kind of cool. We've thoroughly 'done' all of the Nordic countries and don't recall ever seeing so much of a historical embrace of the savage marauders. No offence...
Houses. A mixed bag but often well presented, often single storey, and often modestly sized. Some places, though - as seems to be fairly common on islands generally - were very dilapidated. Disturbingly frequently it seemed the case that in spite of some windows being boarded up and places looking totally uninhabitable, they nonetheless had the tell-tale puffs of peat smoke emanating from their chimney stacks; I would say chimney pots, but those were often long lost to the fearsome winds. In some such properties the associated garden / land was also a perplexing melee of decades-worth of junk ranging from domestic appliances and scrap cars to rotting boats and laboriously recovered random jetsam... plus some stuff that just looked unholy. No judgement here, just reporting what we saw.
Inter-Island Ferries. The services connecting the main islands were pretty frequent and reasonably priced. We never had to wait very long and never saw an entirely full boat, although one came very close. It is possible to pre-book and during the height of the holiday season that may be no bad idea, especially if you're in a larger vehicle. Ferries to outlying islands are far less frequent and need a bit more in the way of organisation.
North Link Ferries. As mentioned several times, the service is very good. It's possible to reschedule or cancel sailings without incurring any fees and some regular pedestrian (and even car) users apparently don't even bother to pre-book. The fleet is small and so are the boats. They're roughly about half the length of a 'normal' cross-channel ferry. As a result, they're pretty uncomfortable in big seas. Also, shackles and attachment points. The crew seemingly lash all larger vehicles down on every crossing. It you're in an overlanding truck you'd do well to have at least one suitable attachment point front and rear, plus four strong shackles. Crew might improvise if you don't have these things but you'd retain more control over the process if you do.
Overnighting off formal sites. A doddle... at this time of year, anyway. But, because of the sweeping vistas, lack of trees and widespread placement of dwellings it's not so easy to be totally invisible. We just tried to minimise visual intrusion as much as possible and always left enough room for other vehicles to maneuver uninhibited. No one seemed to raise even the slightest concern, indeed the entire opposite was true. There are a few formal campsites here and there but none - as with many visitor attractions - seemed to be open. It seems May is the time when the tourist trade kicks off in earnest.
Motor caravans. A few flimsies, three overlanding trucks (including ours) a slack handful of professional van conversions and two social-media vans: that's all we saw. Thank the Lord (or your currently preferred supernatural entity) that the Northern Isles (as of yet) have seemingly not been violated beyond tolerable levels.
Civic pride and infrastructure. Clean, hardly any litter, plenty of litter bins and many good, clean, well provisioned public toilets.
Natural world and cultural interests. Just brilliant!
Right, we're done.
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