The Shetland - New Zealand connection

8th June

Does the wind ever stop in Shetland? So far MB has been continually buffeted day and night. Temperatures are low compared to England, today has been no more than 12 degrees. And the rain started in the wee hours which was most disappointing after the glorious sunny evening of last night.

As small an airport as Sumburgh is, it is remarkably busy. By 8 am the first of the planes took off followed by a further two. Then it was the turn of the helicopters, Ian assumed they were off to the North Sea oil rigs. 40 years ago he was a regular at this airport when he flew back and forth to the rigs working as a gas turbine engineer.

So the rain did stop for a while and a good job too because right by the Sumburgh Hotel was a prehistoric and Norse settlement. A visit was on the cards so moving MB away from our allotted overnight parking spot to one to the back of the hotel, walked the short path to the attraction. As English Heritage members we could get in for free and I must say what an amazing and unique place. Called Jarshof (Earls House) 4000 years of Shetlnd history was laid out before us. This taken from Shetland Heritage site

Landowner John Bruce initially investigated the site between 1897 and 1905. Over the next 50 years Jarlshof attracted the attention of some of the most eminent archaeologists of the early 20th century, including Dr A.E. Curle, Professor V.G. Childe, Dr J.S. Richardson and finally J.R.C. Hamilton, who published the excavation results in 1957.

We saw the ruins of late Neolithic houses, Bronze Age village, an Iron Age broch and wheelhouses, a Norse longhouse, a medieval farmstead, and a 16th century laird’s house. All were explained on audio guides and this has got to be one of the most important and inspirational archaeological sites in Scotland. For anyone visiting Shetland try not to pass this by. At £7.50 adult or £6 concession, it is worth every penny.

A series of wheelhouses were built within the broch complex. The roofs of these houses arched right over and were sealed with a layer of turf. This considerable weight was supported on high radial stone piers- much like the spokes of a wheel.

Arial photo of the site.

Me looking up at....

him looking down. At The wheelhouse

We timed our visit just right, 90 minutes of looking around the ruins, we just made it back to MB when the rain started again. This time it stayed for the rest of the day!

One more attraction we wanted to see and that was the Crofters house. As it was indoors at least we could stay dry. Got wet through though, the path leading to it was long enough for a soaking. Anyway, the first thing we noticed was how small the door was. Even I had to duck to get inside. Once inside, wow, cosy warm, a roaring fire in the hearth, it was amazing. The chap telling us about the place was informative and funny and very interesting. Donations were asked for after the visit, we were more than happy to donate to keep this historic place going.

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This could interest you Marilyn and David.

 

So we made our way back to Lerwick. One thing we realised very quickly, the 3 internet in Shetland is almost impossible to get. O2 is okay and Ian has been able to tether his phone to mine. At Tesco sim cards can be bought for £10 which would give us 20 GB of data. Called Gif Gaff this was the best of the bunch for coverage on Shetland. Once we leave Lerwick the 3 sims will be changed for the Gif Gaff with the hopes it does exactly what it says on the tin!

We are back in that car park along that narrow lane. By ourselves once again, the wind is howling, rain beating down and heating on. It's blooming cold! Where to tomorrow we have yet to decide. Our chairman (ECP&DA) son lives on the island and a phone call later will let us know the best places to visit.

 And wildlife today (I think the four birds are Wheatears)

Shags