Shetland Surprises

Arriving in Shetland marked the true beginning of our travels. We had to put the previous two days behind us and focus on enjoying this incredible place. The first thing that hit us when we arrived was the glorious sunshine. We picked up our rental car and started to explore. We visited the Sumburgh lighthouse which played a vital role in the Second World War because of its radar station. We recognized the lighthouse as one of the sets for the Netflix Shetland detective series we'd been watching and spent the next three days constantly finding locations where the series was filmed.
Shetland sits at a very high latitude (above Churchill) and has a cool but consistent climate. Just over twenty three thousand hardy people live there. There used to be lots of trees on the islands but most are gone now. There is a rugged, barren beauty about the place and Shetlanders see themselves as an independent people. Farming and fishing used to be the economy but now oil in the North Sea has changed things. Shetlanders especially are proud of their Viking heritage and have a special fire festival called Up Hell Ya which culminates with the burning of a Viking ship.
We had a wonderful Airbnb in Lerwick and our host Caroline told us about her family background which included the family knitting sweaters in the evening to help them earn a living. There are plenty of knitwear shops in the capital city of Lerwick (population about seven thousand). To the south lies an island called Fair Isle (population 30 or so) which we passed on our ferry ride to Orkney where world famous knitwear is made. I guess if there are so few people, what else is there to do on a Friday night.

We drove out to Scalloway, the second largest town, and, because the sun was out, had a wonderful (only a little nippy) swim in the ocean because we are, after all, Canadian. Driving in Shetland was an adventure in itself with driving on the right (that is left) side of the road, using roundabouts, and driving on single track with 'Passing Places'. This was especially interesting when we drove to the very remote hamlet of Sandness (population 20 or so) which involved lots of single track across tundra like landscape with plenty of suicidal sheep. We will never forget our wonderful time exploring this fascinating corner of the world!