No Way To Noss

We were up early to get to Lerwick for the 9 o'clock ferry to Bressay.  We had called the Noss ferry messaging service and were delighted that the ferry to Noss was running today.  It doesn't run if the weather is not right, which we knew from our own experience 11 years ago when we got to the slipway only to see a red flag flying on Noss, telling us that the "ferry" (a small rib) was not running.  Having crossed to Bressay, we cycled across the island to the Noss slipway.  It was misty and the rain came on just as we arrived, so we put on our waterproofs and went down to wait.  The two female wardens/rangers soon came across in the rib.  It was a bit slippy getting into the boat but the crossing was fine.  The warden asked us to wait in the visitor centre while she went to pick up the next two and she would give us a chat when she came back.

So, we had a look about and were excited to read that there had been a sighting of orca fighting with Risso's dolphins on Monday.  But that was as close as we were going to get.  When they came back over with the next two visitors, the warden said that she was going to have to take us all back as she was worried that the wind was comijng from the south and it was going to get too tricky to get us back later in the day.  Thwarted once again.

So, plan B came to the fore.  We cycled back to the ferry - which was full with 13 cars on it.  No wonder it runs about twenty times a day.  We did a bit of shopping in Lerwick before heading over to Scalloway.  Disappointingly, the castle and museum were closed, so we just went for a walk.  There are a few notice boards telling the history of the town which was a busy place in its heyday and still quite a big place.

We drove south over a couple of bridges to get to the beach at Meal.  It was raining at this point, so we stayed in the car and eat lunch.  Luckily, the sun came out and we went down to the beach for a walk.  It's certainly a cracker of a beach.  We even found it's smaller quieter cousin after climbing a few rocks to the west.

We then drove south to see Minn beach and went for a cracking walk round the peninsula down to Kettla Ness.  Cliffs, caves, stacks, crashing waves and thousands of rabbits running everywhere.  We had a cuppa watching a flock of Arctic Terns screeching and dancing in front of us.  We spotted two rock-climbing sheep who had managed to get to the top of a very steep grassy stack.  We had a paddle on the beach before driving back to the caravan for dinner.