Fair Isle and Lerwick

We woke to quite rough seas and high winds as we approached Fair Isle. We went to breakfast, and while we were eating, Kara came on the address system to announce that, with over 2 metres swell combined with fairly strong winds, it was unlikely they could operate the side gate for us to board the Zodiacs. We were on the north side of the island, as that was the most sheltered, but after a short while, we were told we would not be landing. Another Tristan da Cunha! Still, Fair Isle is a good deal closer to London and we are sure we will get there one day. We were disappointed, but very grateful we hadn't had a problem landing anywhere else on this trip. We knew how fortunate we were to have come ashore at St. Kilda.

Passing the lighthouse on Fair Isle, and then trying to find shelter from the wind.

We spent about an hour sailing close to Fair Isle before we headed off on the short crossing to Lerwick. Sadly, it was too rough to cruise past the fantastic bird cliffs we had seen before on the western side of the island. On arrival at Lerwick, there was a large ship occupying the quay where we wanted to berth, so we had to tie up near the ferry terminal. It wasn't ideal, but the town centre was not too far away. We didn't have a very picturesque view from this position.

When we arrived, we called Rob Wrate, who is working here at the moment, and arranged to meet him this evening at Monty's Bistro. It was raining and quite cool as we left the ship to walk into the town. It certainly didn't feel like June! Berthed near to the Queens Hotel was this Dutch accommodation ship being used by North Sea oil workers involved in the development of a large gas field to the west of the Shetland Islands.

There were Arctic Terns flying around the harbour and this one obliged us by landing on a railing close to us. What a great picture Wendy took!

We walked to Commercial Street and went into the Visitor Centre and the bookshop to get warm! Back at the harbour was this 'tame' gull, scavenging for food. Luckily for me, I didn't have a prawn sandwich in my hand, as I had a bad experience one summer's day in Broadstairs when I was eating lunch near the beach. Out of nowhere, a large seagull swooped down and stole an entire baguette filled with prawns and proceeded to devour it on the sand in front of me, with other gulls trying to snatch it away.

On the harbour quay we stopped at the memorial to the whaling ship, Diana. She came from Hull and was on a whaling expedition to the Arctic in 1866, when she became stuck in the ice. The captain and eight crew died, before the whaler managed to reach Shetland on her return journey.

We returned to the ship via the excellent Shetland Museum. We were hoping to get a cup of tea but the museum was closing in a few minutes, so all we could do was go into the shop and spend some money! We ended up buying two Lewis chess pieces, the King and the Queen, a good reminder of our time on the Isle of Lewis. We were pleased to discover that profit from the sale goes to the Museums of Scotland.

In the evening we walked to Monty's Bistro and met Rob there for a lovely dinner. We all ate and drank exceedingly well!

Afterwards we walked part of the way back with Rob, before he headed off to his hotel. He has patients tomorrow from 8am to 8pm!

Tomorrow we have a coach tour of the southern part of Shetland visiting many of the places we have seen on our previous visit to the island.