I can recommend the sleeping pods on the Northlink Ferry. I slept pretty well, my watch says 4.5 hours of deep sleep! I got up before the alarm call and the ship seemed deserted. It soon got busy after the 6:30 alarm, and by the time I got to breakfast it was slightly chaos. It was the same self service breakfast on the Orkney Ferry. The key disfunction was, if you wanted a breakfast roll, the rolls were after the bacon (and sausage), so you had to push back into the queue, load up with bacon then rejoin. Plus, the coffee machines are really slow. As you may be able to tell, I had a bacon roll and a coffee.

I think as the last two bikes on, we were the first two bikes off, and pretty much cycling into town ahead of everybody. That said it was 8 am, and not much happening! All the cafes were still shut. I visited the Lodberrie’s , where the lead character in “Shetland”, Jimmy Perez lived. I didn’t really recognise it, but the properties built along the wharf here have a unique feel to them.

I couldn’t really decide what to with my time on Shetland. In my pre-planning, I’d identified three rides, generally heading, North, West and South. The problem is, there aren’t any campsites near Lerwick. Add to the mix, that I fancied doing the Shetland Parkrun tomorrow, and it all seemed too complex. I decided to cycle towards the nearest campsite (where it may be possible to get a bus into Lerwick for the run). But first I needed food, and I’d already passed a Coop. I went for tortellini again. I also tried to buy a bottle of beer (one about Munro’s so nothing Shetlandy). I was told I couldn’t buy it before 10:30. I’m pretty sure the cashier saw my cycling gear, the pasta, tomatoes, and bananas as a cover for my drinking problem.

I headed out of Lerwick, up a big hill. I’d sort of feared that Shetland would be like this. It continued up and down. I climbed everything, but the granny ring too a beating. To be fair I was crossing fro one side of the island to the other. I passed the turning to the campsite, which if I was to get the bus, I would need to leave my bike here. I was hoping for a bike hub, but there was nothing to lock a bike to, which sort of discounted my bus proposal.

I cycled into Scalloway, which professes to be the original capital of Shetland. It has a Castle, which is still under construction, and a Museum with Shetland ponies around the back.

I headed into town firstly to get a coffee, and stop investigate the “Shetland Bus Memorial” on the seafront. I had images of a terrible incident of a bus plunging into the sea. The coffee was easy, but it was harder to resist a small Scottish breakfast. I was tucked into a corner, making me feel like the wild touring cyclist doesn’t really fit into the town. This helped cement my plan. The weather was too nice to stick around Lerwick until tomorrow, and if I did it, might stop me from heading north.

The Shetland Bus, was a story really well explained on a few plaques, and was the life line into occupied Norway during the second World War. I’m writing too much Wikipedia can explain.

I’d earmarked a campsite on the island of Yell and headed off. Into a (according to my phone a 22 km/h N) head wind. The first part was following a nice valley past the campsite I had spied early – it didn’t seem too bad.

Interestingly, this area is Tingwall which is the ancient Þingvǫllr parliament. It is exactly the same as in Iceland and their parliament at Þingvellir. The vikings got around a bit!

On this road, I also came across a roadside monument to a  air ambulance pilot who died in a crash around here. While on this subject, I met Graeme at tonight’s site who shares my fascination with roadside tributes. Graeme, here is the link to the very sad story of a Lancaster on a training flight.

At the end of this road the story changes. I joined the A970 main road. I couldn’t tell if it was going up or downhill, it just required constant pedalling against the headwind. I couldn’t hear if vehicles were coming up behind, it was brutal continuous pedalling. The views were good.

The cycle route turned of east on a loop to avoid the main road. There was no respite from the wind. I stopped at a shop for some refreshments, and a woman taxi driver asked which way I was going, and when I told her, she exclaimed, “Have you seen the hill!”. The head wind, the hills, and the views continued.

I rejoined the main road, and the direct road to the Yell ferry was closed so I had to take the longer diversion route. On a positive, at a shop I stopped at I nearly bought a bottle of Doom Bar, until I noticed a Man O’Hoy hidden behind the counter.

It was much the same story all the way to the ferry, although seeing another ferry earlier in the journey confused me. This water going to the Outer Skerries – names I have heard but no idea where they are.

The road passes Sullom Voe North Sea Oil Terminal. The largest in Europe. The plaque said yhat the UK uses 3 whole tanks every day. I wondered whether since the dignagd had been made whether there had been z reduction in this, or not, this would be the proof of Net Zero. Incidentally, cycling through the wind farms today, there was definitely plenty of wind, but many of the turbines were not turning. Talking to Graeme, who I met at tonight’s site, when it’s windy, power is cheap so there is an over supply, therefore it is not worth running the turbines to save wear and tear. We clearly need energy storage, and better ways to distribute the abundance of wind energy up here!

The Yell ferry is pretty much every 30 minutes, so when I saw one coming in I wasn’t too alarmed. There was one other cyclist waiting, and it was good to chat to Billy after a brutal ride and buffetting of the headwind. He lives on Shetland and was heading off on Friday night up to a beach on Yell with some friends. It must be so nice to have this sort of scenery on your doorstep.

It was only a 7km ride to the Burravoe campsite. There were two tents already up, but plenty of room for mine. I met Graeme, who had cycled up from the same ferry I came off, so we could both sympathise on the day. He (and Billy) confirmed my greatest fear, that the wind could, and probably would, change direction giving me a head wind heading back. Damn. One of the few things keeping me going was the thought of the easy cruise back to Lerwick.

It’s a beautiful site. The amenity block is built using a Lifeboat from the SS Canberra.  I’m developing a plan, especially when I found out there is a shop in the village, and the once a week pub is open tomorrow.

My bike got a couple of comments today, with Billy and a Belgian couple on the campsite being aware of Fairlight, and had thoughts if buying one – their marketing must be good for a pretty small company.

Total Dist Cycled 810 km, (503 miles) 9 Ferries, 1 Train