Friendly cats, ups and downs, too much road walking, but still no sign of Nessie.
Monday 22nd August, 2011
I got up early and trekked to the bus stop. It’s quite frustrating having to walk all the way round – walking past my tent 10 mins after I’ve just left it! I can understand why there’s no gate at this end of the campsite because if there was anyone could walk in and there could be quite a security issue. But I’m sure they could have put the vehicleless field nearer the main gate!
The bus back to Invermoriston was a lot more expensive than the one I’d got yesterday. Apparently there are different companies running the routes and they all have different prices. Oh well, it’s worth it, not to be carrying my heavy pack. I still have the pack with me as I don’t have a daypack, but it’s almost empty and really light.
Once in Invermoriston I bought a sandwich for breakfast and sat in the shop’s garden to eat it. A couple of friendly cats joined me and I fed them bits of hard-boiled egg from my sandwich.
I wandered round Invermoriston for a few minutes (really, that’s all it took) and bumped into the Canadian women again. The men had already set off walking (I saw them several times throughout the day), the women were taking the day off and going to get the bus to Urquhart Castle instead.
The path begins by climbing very steeply along a narrow road behind the shops. In no time at all I was well above them. The path continued to zigzag upwards, though not quite as steeply. It climbs about 215m in the the first mile. It then drops to about 110 metres. The path joins a forest road and continues to descend until it comes alongside the A82. The forest road then climbs again to about 300m before dropping down again to 120m. At least I couldn’t complain about it being flat today!
The path climbs again towards Grotaig where it joins a small road. There are some paths at the side of the road, but a lot of the time I was walking on the road itself. This section is about 3 miles long and was very hard on my feet. Then I turned to descend on a gravel path before reaching the A82 and following this into Drumnadrochit.
Drumnadrochit is the main hub for all things Nessie. There are a couple of Nessie exhibitions and lots of cafes and shops. I was too late and too tired to do much more than wait for the bus though.
An ascent, a diversion, some Canadians, but no monsters.
Fort Augustus
Sunday 21st August, 2011 This morning even though it was Sunday the Fort Augustus shops were open and the tourists were out in force. I only had 8 miles to go today, but my pack was feeling heavy and my feet were feeling weary. This was the first day where it wasn’t flat and I was looking forward to a bit of inconsistency in the terrain.
I was now following Loch Ness and would do until almost the end of my walk. Loch Ness is one of the largest lochs, only Loch Lomond has a larger surface area. By volume however, it is by far the largest, containing more fresh water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined. It is just under 23 miles long and is 1.7 miles across at its widest point. Loch Ness is of course famous for its monster, but though I kept a good look out I didn’t catch so much as a fleeting glimpse of it.
Leaving Fort Augustus, the path immediately began to climb. It follows minor roads for a while, but is soon on forest tracks. The path kept its height with a few undulations. It was hard to see the loch for a lot of the time because of the tree cover. But it was also hard to hear (and see) the traffic down below on the busy A82, something which I’m not complaining about. Every now and again there would be a break in the trees and the chance to stop and drink in the view.
At one such viewpoint I was perched on a conveniently placed large, flat rock enjoying coffee from my flask when two older Canadian couples came along. They were walking the path too, but staying in B&Bs and using a baggage carrying service. I chatted for a while before moving on. I continued to see them on and off throughout the rest of the day.
As it got towards the end of the day I felt I was beginning to tire of carrying my back. The next two days are long days with a lot of hills and a lot of miles and I wasn’t sure how I’d go on. I decided to check out buses when I got to Invermoriston to see if it was possible to easily get to and from the Inverness campsite. If I could do this I could leave the bulk of my gear there and sleep there for the remaining three nights just getting a bus at the beginning and end of each day.
Almost at Invermoriston the path dropped steeply through woods to reach the main A82. Unfortunately because of damage to the trees the path had been closed for safety reasons. I had to follow a lane instead which added another couple of miles to my day’s walk. I really wasn’t in the mood for this. I was tempted to try the path and probably would have done if I didn’t have my big pack. When I got to the other end of the path I could look up into the woods and see the damage. It would have been really difficult to get through as trees were all across the path. So I’d made the right decision to follow the detour. I found a bus stop and checked the timetable. It being a Sunday I was hoping I wasn’t too late for the last bus. It was fine and I only had about 20 minutes to wait. The bus dropped me outside the campsite which is actually on the route of the GGW. I could see tents from the bus so thought I didn’t have far to walk. Wrong. The campsite is big. And the entrance is at the far end. I had to walk all the way down the side road to get to the entrance. The field for campers without cars was then at the other end of the campsite and so I had to walk all the way back again. I ended up with my tent quite close to the road and the bus stop, yet a good 10-15 minute walk away. I was not a happy bunny. It was good to get my tent up though and know I didn’t have to carry it tomorrow.
Distance walked = 10-11 miles (8 ‘official’ miles plus a couple for the diversion and the best part of a mile getting to the field I put my tent up in)
An old railway line, a military road, coffee and cake and playing catch.
Saturday 20th August, 2011
A soggy morning. I stayed in my tent for a while and eventually it eased off. I packed up in drizzle rather than a downpour. By the time I started walking it had cleared up well. Today’s walk is only 10 miles so I didn’t have to be in too much of a hurry.
The path goes along the south side of the canal to the small Loch Oich. There’s only about a mile of canal joining these two lochs. When I got to Loch Oich I went into the coffee shop at the Great Glen Water Park for a coffee and an orange juice. It seems like quite a nice place with log cabins scattered throughout the trees.
Leaving the water park the path follows the bed of an old railway line. Part of a station platform can still be seen as can the stone walls that would have been alongside the sunken track. Trains used to run between Spean Bridge and Fort Augustus but the line was never successful due to rivalries between different companies.
section of old station platform
The path then follows the remains of one of General Wade’s military roads. I sat for a while on a conveniently placed bench and looked across the loch to the ruins of Invergarry Castle. This used to be the seat of the MacDonald clan who supported the Jacobites and Bonnie Prince Charlie. It was burnt down after the battle of Culloden.
After the castle the path moved slightly inland. When it returned to the lochside just before Aberchalder I was surprised at how windy it was beside the loch. Aberchalder has a rather pretty old bridge (The Bridge of Oich). It’s now only used by pedestrians. This is where Loch Oich ends and the canal begins again. I found a lovely tea garden just by the canal and the bridge and sat with coffee and a cake for a while enjoying the warmth. Now I was back near the canal and away from the loch, the wind had dropped and I hadn’t seen rain since this morning. The tea garden had a couple of resident dogs who insisted on playing catch with me, though one really hadn’t got the concept of the game and kept forgetting to bring the ball back to me.
Just past the tea garden I crossed a bridge and followed the canal along a path on the north side. This was an even, flat path and, fortified by coffee and cake, I was able to get quite a pace going. I had a break at Kytra lock which was pretty and had nice grass for camping on, but no facilities. I considered stopping, but wanted to get another couple of miles under my belt, so carried on to Fort Augustus.
Fort Augustus is a busy little tourist town with the most people I’d seen since Glasgow. Because of the proximity to houses and businesses camping is not allowed at the lock and so I had to go up the road to the commercial campsite. This was a big campsite with several different camping areas. I was in a field for campers without vehicles. There were four young Spanish people with motorbikes and tents on the far side of the field from me, but that was it. It should have been a peaceful night. It wasn’t. The Spanish had set up a kind of communal tent as well as there own individual tents and proceeded to have a very loud party. If it wasn’t so annoying, I would have been quite impressed by how much noise could emanate from just four people! I ended up getting quite nowty and shouting over to them to shut up. To their credit, they did, and I was able to get a bit of sleep.
Disaster strikes twice, a fairy forest and the first rain.
Gairlochy
Friday 19th August, 2011
I woke feeling much better. It was a beautiful day and the sun had driven all the midges away. I sat at a picnic table for a while having breakfast and just enjoyed sitting in such a lovely place. I couldn’t stay too long though and had to rouse myself to get packed away. I appreciated why the guys I’d met yesterday had enjoyed taking so long. If I wasn’t on a restricted timetable I would have loved to be able to spend a few hours, if not the whole day, here.
I hoisted my backpack up onto the picnic bench and disaster struck. One of the straps that holds the pack closed caught on the bench and the buckle broke. It was unfixable and wouldn’t stay fastened with only half the buckle. Luckily I always have a stash of duct tape wrapped round my walking poles so I was able to use some of this to wrap round the buckle and keep the pack closed. It worked really well, but did mean that to open my pack I had to carefully unwrap the duct tape, stick it on the side of my pack and then carefully peel it off to wrap it round the strap again when it was time to refasten my pack. A whole lot of faffing, but at least I’d fixed it.
I hoisted my backpack up onto my shoulders and disaster struck. (Didn’t I write this already?) The waist strap caught on the picnic bench and the buckle broke. I couldn’t carry my pack all day without the support of the waist strap so I had to fix it. Duct tape wasn’t an option here as it would be too difficult to get the pack on and off. I managed to figure out a way of tying one end of the strap to the other and it held quite well. Maybe it’s time I got myself a new backpack.
Finally, I was able to set off. The path headed away from the loch on the north side. It climbed up into a thickly wooded area which seems to have been converted in to a fairy glen. A very large area was filled with glittery and shiny baubles. There were trees that seemed to be fruiting teddy bears or wellington boots. Umbrellas were arranged over fairy tea parties and plastic flowers bloomed. The conservative part of me thought it was an eyesore in such a nice place, but the fun part of me loved it. I don’t know who has done this here, or why, but it’s certainly different.
The path continued on the north side of Loch Lochy all day. I finished the day at South Laggan locks which are at the far end of the loch and where the path joins the canal again. The walk took me through woods all day and although I did get to walk alongside the loch for a couple of miles after the fairy wood, most of the time I was higher than the loch and only got glimpses of it through the trees.
Towards the end of the day it began to rain. It started off quite light, but got heavier and so I had to stop and put wet weather gear on for the first time. It was still raining heavily when I reached South Laggan and had to put my tent up. Luckily it doesn’t take long to get the bulk of it up and I could chuck my gear inside whilst I finished pegging it out properly.
There were a lot of boats moored up for the night and a few other campers too, but the area wasn’t as nice as Gairlochy locks. Nice enough I suppose, but not the sort of place I’d want to linger even if I did have the time.
My first day on the Great Glen Way: acquiring a platypus; detouring to get a toilet key; Neptune’s Staircase and a lovely campsite at Gairlochy.
The start
Thursday 18th August, 2011
I got a lift to the local train station and then had to walk between stations in Glasgow to get to Queen St to catch my train to Fort William. The 10 minute walk made me realise how heavy my pack is. I’ve cut everything down to the bare minimum – I only have one change of clothes, I’ve rationed out my food, I have no reading books, and so on – so the only way I’d get lighter is to buy more expensive gear. At least it should get lighter as the week goes on and I eat my food.
The train from route from Glasgow to Mallaig via Fort William is said to be one of the most scenic in the world. I did the Fort William to Mallaig stretch a few years ago when I needed a day off walking to let my knees recover from the descent of Ben Nevis. I went on the steam train in true Harry Potter style over the Glenfinnan Viaduct and it was truly stunning. Now I was getting to do the first bit of that journey that I’d missed out on before. Once we cleared the suburbs of Glasgow the views got better and better and the last bit into Fort William was wonderful.
To get to the official start of the walk I had walk through Morrison’s car park and cross a main road to get to a grassy area by Loch Linnhe. This grassy area covers the remains of a fort built in the 1600s. I sat and had lunch at a picnic table and then wandered over to the GGW sign to take a photo. A group of young guys were sprawled beneath it enjoyed a case of lager. They’d just finished the walk and were celebrating. They said they’d spent 2 weeks doing it and had really enjoyed the leisurely pace and being able to camp wherever they found a nice spot. They also warned me that water isn’t that easy to get and one of them gave me his platypus complete with 3 litres of water. It was difficult to stuff it into my backpack and meant I had just added another 3 kilos to my already heavy load, but I was grateful. I’d never bought myself a platypus or camelbak as I wasn’t sure if I’d get on with them. But now I had the perfect opportunity to test drive one.
The walk begins by taking a path through a housing estate. As much as possible it was beside the River Nevis and in the trees, but there were times when I was just walking down residential streets. About a mile before Corpach and the sea lock the path doubles back on itself and then begins the journey east. I had to do a detour down to the sea lock though to buy a toilet key from the office there. I only phoned about key a couple of days ago – if I’d been more organised and rang earlier they would have posted one out to me. However, as I wanted to go to the sea lock anyway, it wasn’t an issue. The key cost £6 and is a British Waterways Key rather than just a Caledonian Canal key which is what I was expecting it to be. What this means is that I can use it to access toilets and showers at canal locks all over the UK.
The sea lock (aka the place to buy a toilet key)
It was when I left Corpach that I felt like I was on the path proper. It was getting quite late in the day, but as it’s August in Scotland there was still plenty of daylight. I was hoping to make it as far as Gairlochy to camp; at the very least I wanted to make it to Moy which is a couple of miles before Gairlochy, but knew I’d feel much better if I could complete what is the usual day one leg despite my late start and detour.
The path follows the south bank of the canal all the way to Gairlochy and Loch Lochy, the first of the three lochs I would follow as part of the path. The path is good and very, very flat. So much so, it felt quite monotonous and I could feel my legs seizing up from doing what was essentially the same step over and over. If it continues like this (which it probably will) I could well finish the walk with a case of RSI.
As I came close to Neptune’s Staircase I started to see lots of people. Generally the path is very quiet until it reaches a lock or small town. Neptune’s Staircase is quite a tourist attraction and many people were standing around photographing the boats passing through the series of eight locks. The following is what Wikipedia has to say about it:
Neptune’s Staircase (grid reference NN113769) is a staircase lock comprising eight locks on the Caledonian Canal. It is the longest staircase lock in the United Kingdom, and lifts boats 64 feet (19.5 metres). The locks were originally hand-powered, but have been converted to hydraulic operation. The base plinths of the original capstans are still present, although the capstans themselves are now gone.
The current lock gates weigh 22 tons each, and require a team of three lock-keepers (at minimum) to run the staircase.
It is usual for them to operate on an “Efficiency Basis”, that is the keepers try to either fill each cut with boats on the lift or drop, or to allow for passing, ie a dropping craft to pass a rising craft on the same fill/empty cycle.
It takes approx 1 hour 30 minutes for a boat to pass from one end of the staircase to the other, through the eight locks.
It is one of the biggest staircases in Britain, and is kept by British Waterways.
It is located at Banavie, near Fort William just north of Loch Linnhe.
The structure was designed by Thomas Telford.
By the time I got to Moy I was feeling pretty tired and my feet were starting to throb. I was tempted to stop and camp, but decided I could manage another few miles and so pushed on. I was glad I did as Gairlochy is a lovely place to camp. Light was fading and the midges were coming out in force so I threw my tent up in quite a hurry on the soft manicured grass at the side of one of the locks. It was only afterwards when I went looking for the toilet and shower that I realised the building I thought was the toilet block wasn’t and the actual one was much further down. So I had a bit of trek each time I wanted to go to the loo, clean my teeth, wash my dishes, etc. I was beyond caring too much and after a shower and something to eat crawled into my sleeping bag really grateful to be able to give my feet a rest. I don’t usually have a problem with throbbing feet so have put it down to the hard surface of the path and the repetitive way of walking on the flat.
My tent at Gairlochy
Distance walked = about 12 miles (10 ‘official’ miles, plus a couple on the detour to the sea lock)
Now that I’ve had a few days to reflect on my walk here are some of my thoughts:
I’m glad I’ve walked a long distance path in one go and in the recommended amount of time as I feel like I’ve proved something to myself. I know I can do it, so now I can walk paths any way I like without feeling like I have something to prove.
At the start of my walk I met a group of young guys sitting under the start/finish sign in Fort William celebrating the end of their walk with a crate of beers. They’d walked it the other way round to me. When I asked them about it and how long they’d taken I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d said less than the usual amount of days. Instead they said, “Well most people take five or six days, but we took about two weeks”. They went on to say how much they’d enjoyed just walking however far they felt like and camping in nice places. As I did the walk I really appreciated what they meant by this and felt that their way was a great way to do it. I did feel like I was missing out on enjoying the wonderful places I was passing through because I was always aware that I had to keep walking to make that day’s target. I also felt like I spent far too much time looking at my feet and the ground and not enough at the wonderful views. So next time I do a one week walk, I’m going to allow 2 weeks. If I finish in one week, then I’ll have a week in hand to do something else. But I’ll know I have plenty of time to really enjoy my walk.
The path was much harder than I thought it was going to be. And I mean that literally. I don’t mean it was a more difficult walk, but that it was very, very hard underfoot. Chunks of it were on roads (mainly very minor roads, with only the odd car) and most of the rest of it was on paths and tracks that were not only hard but often stony as well. By the end of each day the soles of my feet were really sore. It took a lot of lying down before the throbbing started to wear off. By the end of the week I was resorting to painkillers. If I was to do the walk again I would seriously consider getting some air cushioned trainers and walking in those. The stones would still hurt through the soles, but the overall impact would be a lot less that it was with my heavy, rigid-soled walking boots. Even though it’s been a wet summer, the path was never particularly muddy, so trainers would have been fine.
All along the path there were items of discarded clothing hanging on fences and trees. Was someone walking ahead of me trying to lighten their load? Or do lots of people lose random items of clothing on the walk and other people come along behind and hang them up?
I need a lighter tent. My tent is quite light for it’s size. It’s small, but I can sit up in it and have room to spread my stuff out and cook. I bought this one because it is light enough to carry, but also it’s good for spending long rainy days in. I didn’t want to be stuck in a tent that I can only lie down in and can only cook if I go outside. However, to carry it for this distance I really could have done with something ultra light. I will seriously have to look at bivvy bags too.
I’m back home after just over a month away in which I completed two of my challenges. I’ve wild camped in the UK and walked a long distance path in one go.
My wild camping was quite soft really as in Shetland it’s so easy and most of the time I camped near piers where there are toilets and showers. But I did do nine straight nights. I also officially wild camped for a couple of nights on the Great Glen Way as I slept at locks where there are designated wild camping sites (can it be wild camping when it’s a designated site?) and I was able to buy a key enabling me to use the toilets and showers at the locks. I’ve done much wilder wild camping in other parts of the world (particularly Africa) so I know I’m capable of it, I just wanted to break my habit of always relying on campsites when I’m in this country.
As for my long distance walk, I walked the Great Glen Way over 6 days. Technically I finished on the 7th day as I stopped at the campsite in Inverness at the end of day 6. This is right on the route and there seemed no point walking into Inverness just to walk back out again, only to walk back in again the next day to get the train. The walk should have been 73 miles but I did just over 80 as one day there was a 2 mile diversion and I also walked out to both sea locks which aren’t included in the official trail. I carried all my gear for the first 4 days, but set up camp in Inverness and bussed back to the walk for the last couple of days when it was long and hilly. I could have done it with all my gear but would have needed more time. As with the wild camping, I have done longer walks than this and carried more gear in other countries, but wanted to do it here just to prove to myself that I’m still up to it.
So right now, I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself.
Gannets, puffins, a lighthouse called Muckle Flugga, a chocolate factory and a brewery: just some of the reasons why Unst is my favourite island.
Sunday 14/8/11
The hostel at Uyeasound in Unst.
Unst is one of my favourite places in the world. You can’t get any further north in the UK. There are a couple of rocks further north (Muckle Flugga and Out Stack), but this is the last place that can actually be called a place. Last time I was here, I found it difficult to tear myself away and spent about half of my time on Shetland here. This time I’ve left it till last so I had something to look forward to and so I did get to see other places too.
I’ve been here a couple of days already. The first day was spent doing admin-y type things – finding internet access to book my train tickets for the Great Glen Way (GGW), sending emails, getting petrol, doing a stock-take of my food and working out what I needed to buy for the GGW, and so on.
Yesterday was really stormy. Force 7 winds and rain lashing down until the evening. No-one could really go anywhere, including all the canoeists who are up here for the weekend. We all sat around the hostel watching the waves crash against the shoreline and the tents flap madly in the wind. Once again my little Vango survived brilliantly. There was a similar storm when I was here last year and other people’s much more expensive tents were tearing and had poles snapping. Mine flaps away, but survives without the tiniest shred of a tear or hairline crack of a pole.
Calm after the storm.
This morning was beautiful. As predicted, the storm had blown itself out. After breakfast I drove out to Hermaness. This is a nature reserve at the end of the end of the UK. There is a car parking area and a small visitor centre with toilets. This area is known for its birds as well its dramatic views. Because of the birds visitors are requested to stay on the paths and not wander freely across the moorland tops. As it is very, very boggy it’s much easier to stay on the paths anyway.
I walked about 30 minutes uphill and then across moorland to the cliffs. Once at the cliffs most people head east to see the puffin colony and Muckle Flugga with its lighthouse. As I like to be a bit contrary I walked west. Just a few minutes to the west, where hardly anyone goes, is the most amazing gannetry (gannet colony). I discovered this last year and wanted to go back this year. The dark cliffs look white, they are that stuffed with gannets. The air is full of gannets; the sea is full of bobbing gannets. The noise, the smell, is just pure gannet. Most of my senses felt completely overwhelmed by it.
The gannetry at Hermaness
Only after having my fill of gannets did I walk east. I didn’t see any puffins this year, though I’d probably only just missed them. Last year, I was here a few days earlier and there were puffins everywhere. I’d sat for ages with puffins popping up out of the ground or zooming in to land all around me.
Hermaness with Muckle Flugga in the distance.
I walked further east along the cliffs until I was level with Muckle Flugga. I have to learn to kayak properly so I can actually get there. There were a dozen canoeists on the water today and I watched for a while to see if they would go to Muckle Flugga, but they just seemed to be sticking to the coast.
Leaving the cliffs I headed up and across the moors again on another path that joined with the original path to drop down to the car park.
I finished my day out by going to the chocolate factory for a deluxe experience. A hot chocolate with whipped cream, marshmallows and a chocolate lattice; three Abernathy biscuits partly dipped in dark, milk and white chocolate; two filled chocolates, one dark and one white; and three squares of solid milk, dark and white chocolate. How ideal is this island? It’s isolated, friendly, relaxing, has great wildlife and views AND has its own brewery and chocolate factory. Can you see why it’s one of my favourite places?
A museum curator who does cartwheels in the car park, home-made ice cream with unusual flavours and a couple of lovely walks.
Wednesday 10th August, 2011 and Thursday 11th August, 2011
I arrived in Fetlar on Tuesday evening and pitched my tent in the boggy field that is the official campsite. Apart from a Dutch family on the far side of the field, I was the only person there. The wind was getting up, but the light was beautiful so I had a stroll along the road taking photos of the amazing coastline, before settling in for the night.
Wednesday was a beautiful day. I started by going to the museum. As I drove up a boy was doing cartwheels in the car park, obviously really enjoying the sun. He turned out to be the curator and tourist info guy. When I turned into the car park he went back inside and stood behind the counter and was very professional.
The museum had lots of local history, geology, etc. There was a big display on William Watson Cheyne who had a house in Fetlar. There were lots of connections with places I’ve been so I was quite interested. He was born on his father’s ship just off Tasmania and christened in the Scottish church in Hobart. He’d worked in King’s College Hospital. His family were from Tangwick Haa.
I spoke to C (the young curator) and an older woman who came in. She was a trustee of the museum. The curator had left suddenly and they had a new one starting in another week or so. The new one was a lady from the Isle of Sheppey. As the museum was currently curatorless the trustees had been opening it up and working in it voluntarily. They’d also got the island’s teenagers to get involved and do shifts. C was one of those. He was 14 years old and originally from Warrington. He’d moved to Fetlar with his younger sister 18 months ago when his mum got the district nurse job. C was a student at the Anderson, the main high school for Shetland’s children of secondary school age. He’d started at the high school in Unst but didn’t like the travelling and having to get up at 6am and not getting home till 5pm. He was really happy at the Anderson, living in the hostel. He said everyone, kids and teachers, had made him feel part of things from the start. He felt they got a lot a more freedom then he had in Warrington too. There are no school uniforms in Shetland schools, but he said it gets a bit boring wearing your own clothes as then you have nothing different to wear in your own time.
He told me there were nine children currently on Fetlar, but a family with two more, including a girl his age, were due to arrive on Friday. It seemed that life on Fetlar is ‘moving up’ – families are moving in and the primary school which has been closed for a couple of years as there were no children that age, is about to re-open as there are now two children to go to it. The previous teacher is coming back.
It seems a good thing to do to get the teenagers involved in the museum as not only do they get to know about their island, it’s great work experience. Where else would a 14 year old be doing shifts in a museum by himself, dealing with tourist info queries, both in person as the museum doubles as the tourist info office, and fielding overflow calls from the main Lerwick tourist office?
The woman trustee showed me some old photos including one of her and her friends standing outside the Anderson hostel back in their school days there. There was a woman visitor in the museum who said she had also been a pupil at the Anderson. She is now a teacher, though not there. I don’t think she lives in Shetland. Three generations of Anderson students together – this must be quite normal here, where everyone will have these connections and links.
The woman also showed me a photo of the old church. This has now been rebuilt as the modern community centre and the only original part seems to be the internal roof. All dark wood. She was the last person to get married in this church back in 1969. As there weren’t the ferry links then it was a massive task to get all the food and guest together. Fetlar weddings she said, at least back then, can go on for days.
Fetlar is hoping to get good enough internet connections that people on the island can start working from home doing council jobs and so on. Teleworking. This would be good in further encouraging people to move to Fetlar. There are about 70 people at the moment.
I left the museum still giggling at the thought of the museum curator doing cartwheels in the car park. It kept me amused all day.
Before going to the museum I’d called in at the well-stocked shop to pay for camping. I spoke to the woman who had moved up from the Midlands a year or two ago to take over the shop. She told me about riots that have been happening in cities in England, including Manchester. Apparently police had shot someone in London and a demonstration about this had turned into a riot that had spread around the country. It seemed to be more an opportunity for thugs and looters to have a field day than anything political though. I love that I can be in a place in the UK and yet not know about something as major as this happening. It really is like a different world. She also told me that because of the film that’s currently being shot in Shetland, The One Show had been up and done some of their own filming. The shop woman had been interviewed, but she wasn’t sure when it was going to be on.
I next went to the community centre where there is the Fetlar Café. I had a Panini and coffee – a cafetiere of very good strong coffee and then followed it with a homemade golden bay flavour icecream. The cook in the café used to be the school cook until the school closed down. The café job is part-time so she’s thinking about selling her ice-cream commercially. A small tub with a simple ‘Fetlar ice cream’ label was £1.80. Most of the ingredients she sources locally, but obviously some she can’t. Golden Bay has the cream flavoured with bay leaves and then it’s sweetened with golden syrup instead of sugar. The homemade cakes looked good too.
Leaving the café I drove the short distance to Funzie Loch (Funzie is pronounced Finney) I watched two red-throated divers on the loch for a while and then walked to the hide where I sat for over an hour looking for exciting wildlife. I saw a rabbit. The Dutch family were also at the hide but didn’t stay very long. When I left the hide I walked up across a boggy, burn criss-crossed moor to the old derelict coast guard station. There were quite a few bonxies about , but they were enjoying flying about and not at all interested in me. I then walked round the headland taking photos and stopping to admire the views. It was late when I got back to my car and I didn’t get back to my tent till about 8pm. It’s wonderful having such long days, even at this time it was still broad daylight.
The following morning I had a bit of a lazy start. I had a shower and got packed up and then went back to the café for lunch and a gooseberry and elderflower ice cream. More gooseberry taste than elderflower, but delicious all the same.
I left the car back at the campsite and waked down to Tresta beach. I intended walking along the beach and then following a path to the high point of the cliffs above. I had a quick look at the church – lots of memorials to various locals of bygone times – and then made my way to the beach. I got interested in the rocks and shells and spent my time walking up and down and collecting some of them instead of going up onto the hill. I only left when it was time to collect my car for the drive to the pier to catch the 4.45pm ferry.
I woke to a really nice day. The first ferry came in, but the only tourist was a young guy over for the day. Once ready, I started walking. I wanted to walk round part of the coast and then cut inland to the church to pick up the book I’d given Jane the money for yesterday. I spent a while wandering along a couple of beaches and then couldn’t get any further without cutting inland a bit sooner than I’d wanted to. I got as far as a house and croft that looked wonderful – it’s got its own beach and a great view of the stacks.
After collecting my book I walked to the end of the road to the airstrip and then headed out across the moors. I spent most of the rest of the day wandering on the moors, getting close to the coast every now and again, going round lochs and up on to the tops. I headed back to the waiting room with enough time to cook a few days’ worth of pasta and tomato sauce and to eat dinner. Then I got the last ferry back to mainland.
On the ferry I spoke to the young guy who’d got off the boat this morning. He was from Hamilton but had lived in Lerwick for the past year. He’d finished university and then got a graduate training position with SIC (Shetland Islands Council). He only had three weeks left before he moved to Plymouth to take up a permanent position. He’d been out walking every weekend and so had seen plenty of Shetland. This was his only day in Papa Stour though. At least he got to see it before leaving. He’d managed to walk the whole way round the coast and it had been a good clear day.
Talking to him made me think more about living in Skerries. If I had a campervan I could spend every weekend going to different parts of Shetland and getting lots of walking done. After a few years of doing this I’d know these islands inside out. Note to self: look up the job advert for the teaching position in Skerries and see if I fit the criteria.
I got up early and trekked to the bus stop. It’s quite frustrating having to walk all the way round – walking past my tent 10 mins after I’ve just left it! I can understand why there’s no gate at this end of the campsite because if there was anyone could walk in and there could be quite a security issue. But I’m sure they could have put the vehicleless field nearer the main gate! 
The path begins by climbing very steeply along a narrow road behind the shops. In no time at all I was well above them. The path continued to zigzag upwards, though not quite as steeply. It climbs about 215m in the the first mile. It then drops to about 110 metres. The path joins a forest road and continues to descend until it comes alongside the A82. The forest road then climbs again to about 300m before dropping down again to 120m. At least I couldn’t complain about it being flat today! 
