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Levenwick, Shetland Day 22 Friday 12th June
The drive south was darkly foreboding with some rain, and strong winds. Most Shetlanders we meet tell us that it's the worst summer in living memory! Its tough on them as the growing season normally is so short that a late arrival of 'summer' has obvious implications. Not only that, some wildlife will also be affected by the lack of seeds, insects and so on.
Shetland has three golf courses and one of these lies west of Lerwick in a valley. It is incredibly open with no trees but from a distance, ie the road, it looks interesting, even challenging, especially if the wind blows; no, especially as the wind always blows here in Shetland! I had planned to stop but with an awkward entrance will have to do this on our return northwards in a few days time.
As it was we made a brief detour via Scalloway, the ancient capital of Shetland but finding nothing open and nowhere to park we just headed on south towards Levenwick, a small village with a campsite a few miles north of Sumburgh, its airport and the end of the road….literally.
The campsite, another run by volunteers and alongside the village hall, is near the top of a hill so it catches the wind. However, its well organised with decent facilities. Our early arrival enabled me, master chef in the making, to produce my prize winning 'casserole with beer'. We used a Shetland Island dark stout that was very tasty - the casserole wasn't bad either!
Friday dawned, as most days, a little damp but with the extra dimension of a mist/fog enveloping the hills around us - hardly encouraging! However, by the time we had breakfasted and dressed this had begun to clear. The drive to Sumburgh, about 10 miles saw it clear even more and by mid morning we had some blue sky, sunshine, little wind and a hint of summer!!
The road leading up to Sumburgh encircles the airport; and even crosses the main runway! The have to shut the road when an aircraft lands or takes off! Given that it only has a few flights per day that's not a problem. Imagine Heathrow of Gatwick with a similar arrangement!
Having parked we than could visit Jarlshof, an ancient site by the sea. In other words, many piles of stones that some academics have suggested tell us a lot about life on Shetland over several millennia. Happily a young man has developed a system for aiding ordinary morals understanding of how the site developed. It is really amazing what can be done with computer graphics; so much has changed and evolved over the last 30 years that they can now recreate what they think buildings looked like and this makes the 'piles of stones' far easier to comprehend. Also, the commentaries one can get on small hand held devices, which the user controls allows one to tour a site in what ever way one chooses. Thus, the visit was very pleasing and a real educational experience!
We also came across an expert in wildlife who was able tio identify an odd bird. I had seen these rushing about on the stony beach and decided that they looked like Wrens but not quite. He told us that they were Wrens, but Shetland Wrens which are different. After that we walked the mile or so along the cliff edge up towards Sumburgh Lighthouse, harassed by Fulmars who flew around us as their nests were just below our feet. By now the day was warming up and we could enjoy the scenery under bluer skies and some brighter sunshine! Long may it continue!
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