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I'm one third of the way through my road trip today. I've also had a very quiet day doing next to nothing hanging out around Ullapool, eating oysters and haggis although not at the same sitting.
No Germinal CCXXIV places to visit either 😕
Luckily I didn't get dumped on by this beastie.
The adventure picks up tomorrow. Until then,
Allons-y
Douglas Germinal CCXXIV Brain over and out
Last night was probably the coldest yet, I could have done with Guy & Morgan to heat up the Alphard. There was a bitter cold wet wind which made making a cup of tea for breakfast almost impossible. I was glad to hit the road, albeit at just gone 7am, to give me a chance to dry out.
I had been advised by the owner of the campsite to ring the ferryman the night before in case of bad weather cancelling the crossing, but it obviously takes far worse weather than this for him to abandon his crossings. I got to Keodale on the bank of the stunningly beautiful River Kyle of Durness ridiculously early, so I was able to make myself a cuppa. I discovered some orange club biscuits Guy had secreted away for me as a surprise and almost burst into tears! But as I was early, I was able to get on the ferry that takes you to the minibus that takes you to stop #38
CAPE WRATH
The weather was truly appalling by the time the minibus bumped us the 11 miles from the west bank of the river to the UK mainland most north-westerly, and probably least visited point. It was hard to get the epic scale of the place unfortunately. There were glimpses of the sea below, with occasional breakthrough of mist and mire to see the bombed-to-smithereens island of Garvie. According to Grenville, our driver & guide, the armed forces hit it with a thousand pound bomb 3 weeks ago.You have to hope no birds were having a rest there at the time. Grenville was good fun actually, having travelled up from about as far as you can get to work here for the summer (Falmouth in Cornwall, the same town we bought the Alphard from as it happens).
At Cape Wrath there is a little Café (The Ozone) run by father & daughter John and Carole (and at least one cat) who not only make you feel very welcome but who also make the best homemade soup I've had for ages. They seemed delighted with my Germinal CCXXIV quest, and I duly signed their visitor book mentioning the band and the mug/T.
As luck would have it, just as we were making our way back to Malcolm and his ferry, the weather cleared for a bit. I have never witnessed such dramatically volatile weather in all my life. It literally went from early February to July in 20 minutes. See if you can spot the nesting Skua (according to Grenville!) in the next picture...
We did manage to get to see "The Cathedral Stack" on the way back.
I took a fairly leisurely drive down the A838 or NC500 as everyone is calling it these days. I veered off to the right at Loch Assynt towards Lochinver and onto the tiny roads past Strathan and was just pole-axed at how beautiful this part of the world is. This is an area I will definitely be returning to to spend some quality time in with Guy. My reason for such an apparent detour was because I wanted to get to a part of the coast that looks out across stop #39
SUMMERISLE (SUMMER ISLES)
On Germinal CCXXIV mug/T the place is Summerisle but I think this refers to the fictional place where "The Wicker Man" is set. To my shame, I've never watched this film - I know, I can hear your gasps from here - but I wanted to at least try to be completised on this quest. And before you start saying "yes, but", I have looked up where some of the island scenes were filmed, so if you're really good, I might go there too.
I felt like I spent a long long time driving today, but for many miles my speed barely went above 20mph due to the tiny single track lanes that make up the road network in NW Scotland. By the time I found Elphin, my base for the night I was ready for bed already "Alright, Already!" (quote from "More Tales of the City") but food and wine did perk me up enough to get my blog done. Only then did I discover I had not signal or WiFi. Or hot water. Or a shower. Good view though;
Allons-y
Douglas Germinal CCXXIV Brain over and out
The 7th July was one of those rare days on the quest to conquer Germinal CCXXIV as there are no places in between the start (Stromness) and finish (Eriboll) of the days journey.
Our slightly delayed arrival at Scrabster was where Guy & Morgan and I parted company for the next three weeks, as he heads back home to North London and work and I carry on down the west side of the UK.
I did feel quite lonely as I drove away, with every single vehicle doing a left turn towards Thurso and the main road south except for me. It didn't take too long for that feeling to disappear when I saw signs for "St.Marys Chapel (Ruin)". I do love a good ruin, and this was small but lovely and set above the most dramatic of beaches.
Turns out those killer birds divebombing my head could have been Skuas. Van the Man suggested the idea, and when I google imaged them, they looked suspiciously similar. All those times I've sung their praises, the ungrateful beasts. This picture doesn't really show them in their best light, as it were, but have you ever tried taking a picture of an animal hell bent on knocking your head off?
Our last day on the Shetlands was a bit dull - we did the kind of stuff that doesn't really make interesting reading, chores like laundry and trying not to get absolutely bloody drenched in the dreich. Had an excellent lunch in Lerwick though. "C'est la vie" got top marks from the both of us.
Our return journey to the Orkneys on MV Hrossey takes us conveniently past stop #37
FAIR ISLE
Of course, Fair Isle also refers to the shipping forecast area we were sailing through too! We didn't manage to arrange enough time to visit and set foot on the Isle unfortunately. I'm told it is as rugged as it is pretty.
My pic attracted quite a lot of attention as a few people had also come out on deck to watch the island as we sailed past. We have come to the conclusion that Scottish Island men are more than happy to let their wives do all the talking.
To my utter embarrassment, I had forgotten to pay my bill for the campsite on Shetland so I sent a grovelling email begging for forgiveness and promising to pay the very second they sent me their bank details. Some confusion over a key, not that I ever used or needed one while we were there. I'm sure all will become clearer later.
Arrived very late at the campsite in Stromness and we've probably woken up all our neighbours.
Bad campers.
Allons-y
Douglas Germinal CCXXIV Brain over and out
We set the alarm for 7am, but were both awake an hour earlier for some reason. Restlessness and a dog that needed a walk/wee forced us out into the cold. Today was always going to be a long day, so no bother really.
We made the first ferry port (Toft) earlier than our booking, but they have a very civilised system where you line up in either a booked lane or an unbooked lane, and if there is still space when all the booked vehicles are on board, unbooked vehicles can come on.
Sped across the Isle of Yell to the next port (Gutcher) and did the same to get to Unst. Then we hurtled ever northwards until the road ran out so I could get to stop #35
MUCKLE FLUGGA
Now my smile really does disguise the sheer bloody-minded effort it took to get to this point. The day before, I had googled the best place to photograph Muckle Flugga, and in-between the signal disappearing, came up with a variety of options. The one I chose looked pretty simple as I read it, but once we were out there ... well, it was as clear as mud. Postcodes in the sat-nav were useless, and after a couple of false starts, we ended up outside a farm with what looked like it might be a 20 minute walk up over a cliff top and bingo.
Well, Guy and Morgan quite rightly decided to stop and let me carry on alone after about 30 minutes of trudging our way through what can only be described as bog. I carried on for another 90 minutes, only to end up on a tarmac road (definitely not on the map) which led up to an MoD establishment.
Almost at the top, the road split, and a dirt track led to a clifftop vantage point giving me a wonderful view of the two most northerly parts of the UK - Muckle Flugga and Out Stack.
It was a relief to get back. We stopped off for tea and a roll at "The Last Checkout" which gave my feet a chance to dry out, and then we headed south (hahaha) for my final Germinal CCXXIV place on the Shetlands. It is another island, but Robin had suggested getting a view of it from Unst rather than from Fell. So parking up next to Muness Castle we set off for stop #36
FETLAR
Anyway, here is a zoom in on Fetlar;
We arrived back in Skeld pooped, but were treated to Pale Blue Eyes on BBC6MUSIC as we finished off supper. And the sun stayed out for almost a whole hour.
Guy ended up listening to a local family playing what he described as Pete Segar meets the Boss and Woody Guthrie, and chatting to a fellow campervan traveller Fiona while I battled with the slowest WiFi network in the Scottish Isles to get this finished.
Allons-y
Douglas Germinal CCXXIV Brain over and out
I thought I'd get this done early again today as tomorrow promises to be a long one with an early start.
I met a couple of folk yesterday evening who are climbing and cycling their way around the Scottish Isles. One of them was not only familiar with Sea Power but remembered the Tshirt and was full of goodwill towards my current escapade.
One of today's Germinal CCXXIV places was a bit hidden away from public view unless you happen to own a boat, which sadly we don't. Having said that, the winds around some of the Shetland Islands can be pretty dramatic and the weather turns on a sixpence. But following Robin from the Visitors Centres advice, we travelled to a far flung corner of Northmavine so that we could look over St.Magnus Bay to stop #33
VE SKERRIES
So once again, I'm praying on your good nature to believe that there are actually a group of tiny islands out in the distance beyond that big one you can just about make out to the left of the picture! We were standing in the abandoned Old Haaf fishing station on Stenness peninsula surrounded by sheep. In the 10 minutes it took to walk there having parked in sunshine, the wind picked up at least 5 force points and it started raining horizontally, and the first three photo attempts didn't work because raindrops kept obscuring the camera lens. The Ve Skerries are the most westerly part of the Shetlands (assuming you don't count Foula) and as far as I'm aware are uninhabited. They lie to the north-west of Papa Stour, which obscure them from the nearest coast line, hence why we had to travel miles and miles (only to have them obscured by the bloody weather!)
Both before and after the appointment at Old Haaf, we had stopped to admire the coastal scenery which is pretty amazing around the Eshaness headland.
While looking at the map, I realised that I could fit in another Shetland Germinal CCXXIV place with relative ease. I was going to go there tomorrow, but decided to change my mind on the grounds of well why the hell not. Now Robin had warned me about the dangers of photography near this next place, citing industrial espionage but once we got close I twigged that he had been pulling my leg. There is even a tourist information board explains all. Stop #34
SULLOM VOE
Sullom and Sullom Voe have had a few incarnations over time. Starting life as a sleepy little fishing community before WWII started, it became an important RAF base for their flying boat planes. In the 70s it had a new lease of life when a huge oil & gas terminal was built. I also realised that maybe I got it wrong yesterday about Voe being the word for town, although somewhat confusingly there is a town called Voe on Shetland.
I was also wondering if fellow Sea Power fan Neil Gardner had ever been/worked here, being the petrochemical industry engineering whizzkid that he is.
Once again within minutes the weather turned frightful so we decided to head for home and crack open a bottle of wine. Just before we arrived at Skeld, Guy spotted a tiny beach that looked like it belonged to the house next to it. We drove down, and within seconds he was in the water. It was very cold he told me.
Going to get this one in early for a change as I'm knackered. We took the overnight ferry from Kirkwall to Lerwick (with a pet-friendly cabin at vast expense - they know people like us will pay through the nose) and to be honest I find sleeping and travelling an impossible combination. Best bit was the hot shower.
We had breakfast on board - I really wanted to hit the ground running, as the Shetland Islands are a bit more spread out than the Orkneys and some of the Germinal CCXXIV places involve both multuiple miles and ferries. But I reckoned I could get at least two in before our check in time at the campsite in Skeld. The weather really felt like your average early November day as we drove through deserted countryside to stop #31
VIDLIN VOE
Now it's difficult to know exactly where is being referred to here. As far as I can make out, "Voe" is an old term for village, although some maps have "Voe" as a body of water. Anyway, we stopped in Vidlin, which isn't even a hamlet really, and gave it due diligence!
Next up was a drive down (or up, I suppose as we were still heading north) the peninsular to get to Lunna Head, as this would give us the best possible view of stop #32
OUT SKERRIES
This was another challenge to be honest. The road stopped between a cemetery and a very grand house. We parked and got out and walked up a steep clifftop path, through a field of ewes, lambs and unfeasible amounts of sheep manure, until we made it to the headland. The wind was icy and wet, and Guy suggested that maybe I shouldn't change into Germinal T just this once ... I can be a stubborn old bugger sometimes and change I did, crouching down beneath a little rocky outcrop to try and get some shelter from the gale that was blowing!
In the distance, you can (just about) make out the group of islands that form the most easterly part of the Shetlands. Only three of them are inhabited and only 34 people live there.
You have to admire these people who really do live on the edge.
Guy convinced me that I might need the help of a local to complete the rest of the Germinal CCXXIV places in and around the Shetlands so we stopped off in Lerwick to visit the Tourist Centre where I explained my quest to Robin. He took it all in his stride, giving me the best places to go to achieve my goal, and to where we could get a hearty meal in between stops! He also advised booking the necessary ferries ASAP, as there was every chance that I could get stranded if I didn't plan ahead.
We finally arrived in Skeld early afternoon so we had time to attend to the dull side of life on the road - laundry, refilling water and trying to make sense of the chaos that the inside of the Alphard has become.
Definitely an early night tonight although I believe it only gets dark for about 90 minutes here at this time of year!
Allons-y
Douglas Germinal CCXXIV Brain over and out
