Day 12 of The Shetland Diaries: Shopping in Shetland, Jimmy Perez’s Jumpers, and the Ness of Birgi

D. had been obsessed with finding a Shetland wool hat for the entire trip so the last morning we had in Shetland we decided to go through the shops in Lerwick to find one.

But nothing seemed to suit him. They were either too thin or didn’t fit over his ears or weren’t the right fabric. I bought a few souvenirs but since we only took two carryons had very little room to buy anything.

We bobbed in and out of shops in the commercial district looking for the perfect hat for D. and the smallest souvenirs for me. The city shopping district was crowded because a cruise ship came in that morning and 5000 tourists had the day to explore what they could.

Finally after going back and forth we gave up and went for coffee at the Peerie Coffee Shop. D. resigned himself to not finding one and I took out our postcards and we finished writing them and looking up addresses.

When we got to the post office the stamps were enormous. About three times the size of a US stamp and cut off a good portion of what we wrote.

“Oh well,” I said to D. “It’ll be like a puzzle for them to figure out. Fill in the blank or something.”

It felt bittersweet to leave Lerwick, this little city of 7000 people that captured our hearts. We drove south to the airport and I got to say, “Turn right, stay left” for one of the last times to D.

About halfway to Sumburgh Airport we saw a shop that said designer knitwear in a small village just off the road.

“Turn there,” I told D. “Let’s give it one more try.”

The little shop of sweaters, hats, and other knitwear had two other tourists and the delightful owners of Wilma and Irene who designed all of the knitwear.

I gasped when I saw a signed photo to Irene from Douglas Henshall, the Scottish actor who plays Jimmy Perez in the television series Shetland.

“Irene designed his jumpers,” Wilma told me. I nearly jumped up and down with excitement and right there and then I decided no matter what else I would have to chuck out of my pack I was going to buy a sweater from Irene.

Meanwhile D. had found the perfect hat and Wilma brought out the inspiration for the design - a painting of a brown trout with lots of blues and browns. So perfect for D. who used to fly fish all the time.

We left with our packages wrapped up and enough time to do one final walk near the airport before our flight.

The Ness of Burgi was a short walk out across a peninsula south of the airport to an Iron Age settlement of rocks and turf that sat at the end.

We clambered over boulders and took the last of our photos of this beautiful island.

“How much do you think we’ll miss this place on a scale of 1-10?” D. asked me.

“A 10.”

Day 10 of The Shetland Diaries: Traveling Unst - The Most Northerly Isle in Britain.

Puffin at Hermaness Nature Reserve on the island of Unst

We left our chalet in Yell early so we could catch the 9:30 am ferry to Unst, the most northerly aisle in Britain and as far north as we could possibly go on our trip.

I had booked us on the ferry in advance since the Unst ferry doesn’t fit as many cars and it’s popular on the weekends. We sped northwards stopped occasionally by sheep and lambs crossing the road.

We joined the queue to get on the ferry and when it opened they crammed us all in like sardines. There are no views on these ferries. Everyone stays in their cars watching the hull and waits for the slight swaying to stop and then you’re directed off one by one by the crew.

I was so excited to get to Unst. This was supposed to be the cherry on top of the delicious sundae of the trip. First, because it is home to thousands of puffins, the beautiful penguin-like bird that lives on the edges of the cliffs.

Second, because Unst is most closely aligned with the Viking heritage. It was one of the first places they landed as they went raiding from Norway.

And third because it’s the tip of the top of the islands.

D. was most excited about going out on this road on the northern peninsula. A man who was riding his bike to as many Scottish Isles as he could told him about the road when we met him on the Papa Stour ferry. 

The problem was we didn’t have the most detailed map and so we were guessing where the road would be. 

We pulled over to find D. a coffee (the endless quest) and asked a man about the weather. He said the fog and rain were supposed to clear up in the afternoon so we decided to take our time heading up to Hermaness Nature Reserve and see the Viking longhouse and boat first. 

The boat is a replica of a Viking ship that was found buried. The Norwegians had originally planned to sail the replica to the U.S. but it only got as far as Shetland so the Shetlanders decided to finish restoring it and put it permanently on display. 

The longhouse was also a replica of what some other Viking settlements looked like that have been uncovered. 

All I could think was how terrifying it must have been to the Shetlanders at the time to see that boat coming in from the sea knowing that all the men aboard wanted to plunder your stuff. 

But Shetlanders are very proud of their Viking heritage and celebrate it each year with fire festivals in the winter with men in Viking dress and fire sticks that they throw at a boat in the harbor to burn it up. This is called Up Helly Aa and though I would love to go D. wasn’t thrilled at the thought. 

“I don’t really care about that kind of stuff,“ he said. Fair enough. 

Hermaness Nature Reserve is at the very top of Ulst. It’s the most like a U.S. national park of any place in Shetland. There is no entrance fee. You just park at the bottom of a hill near the visitor center and start climbing. 

They have laid down a walkway to the cliffs to keep tourists from mangling bird habitat. But as we walked up two things happened. 

First we seemed to be herding a pair of sheep and lambs up the hill. And second we had another attack by bonxies (the Arctic Skuas) and this time we acted as if we were old pros at this - raising one arm high while we each took turns taking photos. 

After several miles of walking we reached the top of the hill and the views of the north Atlantic and the lighthouse were magnificent. 

But I wasn’t prepared for the thousands of birds on the cliffs flying below us. It was a Nature event that I have never experienced before. Literally cliff after cliff were covered in birds so that it appeared as if the cliffs were white. Guillemots seemed to be in the biggest abundance. 

We climbed even higher and met our first puffin. And then one more joined him and then another. We were enthralled. 

We walked even further until we were the only ones out there with the puffins and D. spotted one quite close to us along the cliff’s edge. He dropped down on his belly and took out some binoculars to get a better view. We stayed with that puffin for at least half an hour before wandering back when we found a huge tour group coming up from below - all with red jackets. 

“The red coats are coming, the red coats are coming,” D. joked, and they were. A few more pictures and we were off to find this mysterious road the biker had suggested to D. 

At Haroldswick we drove out east towards the coast. The first road we took led us to a nice beach but not a view so we turned around to look again for “the road”. About half way back we saw a steep road going up the side of a hill. 

We decided that must be it and D. turned up the road. It was quite steep and I joked that it must be Shetland’s version of Going to the Sun. The views were good but it turned out that the road led to the Shetland space station (a round white globe on the cliff) and there were gates and warnings about radiation everywhere. 

D. turned around, disappointed, and we were nearly at the bottom of the hill when I tried to cheer him up by praising his driving. 

I said, “You know, you’ve done a really good job driving,” and as soon as I said it we heard a boom and then I said, “We have a flat tire.” 

Now, I am not really superstitious but that was awfully weird timing. 

What happened next was part comedy and part marriage testing. First we found out that there was no spare tire. I called the rental car company. They confirmed. No spare tire just a bottle of foam sealant and a compressor that you hook to your cigarette lighter. All of this was in tiny writing in the instruction manual. None of it worked. Instead our tire stayed flat.

Lots of swearing ensued. We called the local garage but no one was available. “It’s Sunday and they’re all fishing,” I was told. “Call back at 9 am tomorrow.”

“Of course,” I said. 

Luckily our flat occurred almost on the doorstep of an old military compound turned into resort. 

We hiked up the hill to their check-in. The bar man was the only person available and he quickly got us sorted into a room with two twin beds for 45 pounds. 

“Welcome to our new college dorm room,” I told D. when we were alone. The unisex bathroom was across the hall and D. asked if he thought it was okay to go in there with just his underwear on in the middle of the night. 

“Probably not,” I said. “But I also don’t think anyone else is staying in this wing so you might get away with it. 

Long and short was that it wasn’t ideal but I just felt lucky we had anywhere to sleep except the car. 

On the upside, the staff was very friendly and sympathetic. “No spare tire! Give ‘em hell!” 

At dinner we met a young American attending BYU University who was working at the hotel and at the space station for the summer helping shoot off rockets into space. 

He said he could barely understand most of the things people said when they ordered. 

I hoped he could understand the orders to shoot off the rockets okay!

A good dinner, a sunset walk down to the local beach after, and a new season of Grantchester watched together on my twin bed cheered us up. Not a bad place to be stranded at all. 

How to pack for two weeks with just a backpack

So, we leave on Thursday for the Shetland Islands. I feel the need to use an exclamation point!

If you’re not familiar with the Shetland Islands, they are about 375 miles north of Scotland. For purposes of comparison, that’s about as far as from the north of Montana to the south of Montana. But in this case those miles would be covered by sea.

We are not taking the ferry from Scotland to Shetland. It’s about 15 hours and I don’t enjoy long boat rides, so we’re going by air for the entire trip. Which meant that there were a lot of discussion in our household about what suitcases we would take and how we would pack.

I haven’t taken a backpack as my only form of luggage for 20 years. But in this case, since we need backpacks for extended walking (aka hiking) around Shetland, and because I wanted a good old-fashioned minimalist challenge, we have both opted to take a backpack and perhaps another small carry-on like a computer bag or larger purse. Obviously, D. will not be carrying a purse.

In addition, the temperature ranges from 45 degrees Fahrenheit to 55 degrees Fahrenheit year round on Shetland, so we need some warmish clothing.

Here’s what I’m takinf that fits in my backpack:

• Rain Gear (rain-proof jacket and pants)

• One pair of jeans, one pair of leggings, and I’m wearing a pair of hiking pants on the plane.

• Two long-sleeved shirts (one for the plane), one t-shirt, and two light sweaters.

• Socks and underwear.

• Sleepwear

• Swimwear

• One belt

• One down coat for warmth (which I’m wearing on the plane despite how ridiculous it will look to wear one in summer).

• One hat, light gloves, and a neck gator

• Hiking boots (which I’m wearing on the plane) and possibly sandals (they may need to go in the other bag).

Here’s what I’m taking in my other small carry-on:

• Wallet and Passport

• Phone

• Computer

• Kindle

• Notebook

• Toiletries

• Umbrella

And that’s it! I’m not going to anything fancy, and so I’m packing for comfort, ease, and practicality. And I’m really looking forward to living out of a small backpack and mputer bag for two weeks. Really!