Safe Return Doubtful

Papa Stour – westside Tuesday 4th July The trail today took Roja and I across the island on an old track to its high point, a5 89 metres. This is the north east corner. The cliffs are much higher, more like 50 metres, and too high for me to approach…

Papa Stour Island I Monday 3rd July At 9 this morning I took the 40 minute ferry crossing to Papa Stour. There was just one other vehicle on the boat which can take six vehicles. Like many of Shetland’s islands, Papa Stour shows signs of life dating back centuries. Missionary…

As ridges go… Sunday 2nd July 2023 To get a bit of perspective, and for some variety from the coastline, I took to the hills of the Walls peninsula this morning. There’s a wide ridge running for about 3 kilometres from northeast to southwest with only a maximum height of…

Melby Beach Friday 30th June This planet. How many lives would you need to live all the places that appeal? I could certainly spend one of them on Shetland. It has a coastline of more than 1700 miles, varying from extremes of boulder-strewn wild-storm beaches to barely touched stretches of…

A beach called Sand 29th June 2023 It was to be another rainless day here on Shetland, bits of cloud around, but generally sunny, the temperature sneaking up above the average for the time of year, which is 15C, to even as warm as 18, though with the ever-present breeze…

East Burra 28th June 2023 After an early wander around the tombolo I drove up the coast for half an hour to the Burra, twin islands, remarkably similar in shape and elevation, connected to the mainland by a bridge. They both have isthmuses at their southern tips connecting to baby…

St Ninian’s Beach 27th June 2023 The sunset was at 10:39 pm last night, and it was a cloudless sky. There’s a few beach walkers at that time, though the light doesn’t fade much, until the official sunrise at 3:23 am. I soon put off any thought of leaving this…

On St Ninian’s Beach 26th June 2023 I had booked the most basic accommodation on the overnight boat from Kirkwall to Lerwick, a reclining seat. But I had hoped not to use it, preferring the illegal option of staying in my van bed. I had researched on the internet and…

Orkney – just passing through 25th June 2023 There are many beaches like Skaill on Orkney where it is possible to get the van just a few metres from an almost deserted beach. I’m only in transit through Orkney on this visit, as I spent a few weeks here just…