Motorhome travel: The Shetland Islands
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It was 12 years ago that Sarah and I made our last trip to the Shetlands in search of its special natural history.
At that time, we were both teaching and therefore restricted to school holidays. Now free of this constraint and with more flexibility to plan longer breaks we managed to spend most of June 2013 on these, the most northerly islands in Britain.Having been before we were determined to visit many of the places that we missed last time and there are plenty of them. The main islands are about 80 miles from top to bottom and have a massive coastline with plenty of inlets, harbours and islands.
Travel to the islands is by ferry; we opted for the overnight sailing from Aberdeen to Lerwick with Northlink Ferries. We based ourselves for the first few days around Lerwick but had a night on the nearby island of Bressay accessed by a short ferry crossing from the town.
I had a great look at a Shetland wren (a sub-species of the British version) on one of the walls of a ruined croft and plenty of arctic terns, which nest in a colony, before I reached the climax of the walk where there is a view of the massive seabird colony at the Noup of Ness.
I even had the company of a few pairs of puffins for lunch.
We moved to the pier at West Burrafirth for a couple of nights wild camping. On the road down to the pier we saw a mountain hare and, at the pier, another otter. From West Burrafirth we took the ferry to the island of Papa Stour. It is possible to take the ‘van over to the island but, since you can walk around it in a day, we decided against it.
Papa Stour is well worth the visit, if only for its staggering coastal scenery. It also has internationally important colonies of arctic terns and, with those, come many arctic skuas, a much more attractive bird than its relative, the great skua.
The views from the caravan site at Braewick take some beating, but ironically it wasn’t the most productive region for wildlife watching. Probably the highlight was a trip down to the beach at Stenness where we found the very rare oysterplant and spent a wonderful sunny
evening with common seals.
From here we headed further north and climbed the highest peak in the Shetlands, Ronas Hill, which stands 450m tall. It is sensible to drive up the very minor road as far as the masts on Collafirth Hill, which significantly reduces the climb.
Fetlar is known as ‘The Garden of the Shetlands’. It is greener than the other islands we had visited so far on this trip. Its complex geology, consisting of serpentine rock in part, encourages grass and a greater variety of wildflowers than can be found on peat, the dominant soil of most of the Shetland Isles.
Being a smaller island, there is a great community spirit on Fetlar and a warm welcome is made to visitors, helped by the café, heritage centre and campsite. Our first night on Fetlar was magical. The sky began to clear, the wind dropped and we stood beside Loch Funzie as the water calmed to a glass-like finish, perfectly reflecting the breaking cloud. It was worth visiting the island for that one evening alone.
From here we headed further north and climbed the highest peak in the Shetlands, Ronas Hill, which stands 450m tall. It is sensible to drive up the very minor road as far as the masts on Collafirth Hill, which significantly reduces the climb.
Fetlar is known as ‘The Garden of the Shetlands’. It is greener than the other islands we had visited so far on this trip. Its complex geology, consisting of serpentine rock in part, encourages grass and a greater variety of wildflowers than can be found on peat, the dominant soil of most of the Shetland Isles.
Being a smaller island, there is a great community spirit on Fetlar and a warm welcome is made to visitors, helped by the café, heritage centre and campsite. Our first night on Fetlar was magical. The sky began to clear, the wind dropped and we stood beside Loch Funzie as the water calmed to a glass-like finish, perfectly reflecting the breaking cloud. It was worth visiting the island for that one evening alone.
This piece is an extract from March 2014 MMM magazine. To download your copy for only £2.49, click here
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