Book #34 Between Weathers: Travels in 21st Century Shetland

Between Weathers: Travels in 21st Century Shetland by Ron McMillan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you have ever had the good fortune of visiting the Shetland Isles you will undoubtedly enjoy this book. If you have ever had an inkling of visiting these northern isles you also will enjoy this book. If you enjoy enquiring, lyrical travel writing then get a copy of this most enjoyable travelogue by Ron McMillan. My wife and I were enchanted with Shetland where we recently enjoyed a holiday. I purchased a copy of this enthralling book in the Shetland Tourist Office in Lerwick. An evocative read with McMillan visiting many of the locations that we enjoyed and far more that we didn't, like Fair Isle (a must for a future visit), Papa Stour and the island of Foula.

McMillan enjoys flights on the Loganair Islander, sitting up front in the co-pilot's seat, this stubby little aircraft able to fly in most of the weather that Shetland has to throw at it. If ever a phrase was made for Shetland: "It's a day atween waddirs"... Between weathers.

This wonderful account of his travels brims with insights into the islands' wildlife, archaeology and geology and most of all it casts a warm and engaging light on Shetlanders themselves.

If you read this book and you haven't been to Shetland - you will want to.

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60 Degrees North

The sixtieth parallel marks a borderland between the northern and southern worlds. Wrapping itself around the lower reaches of Finland, Sweden and Norway, it crosses the tip of Greenland and the southern coast of Alaska, and slices the great expanses of Russia and Canada in half. The parallel also passes through Shetland. A visit to these Northern Isles has been on top of my bucket list for many years. Finally I have persuaded my wife Ros that a holiday here would be an adventure. Her resistance to such a trip has been weakened by watching the wonderful series 'Shetland' on ITV based on the books of Ann Cleeves (I have read the complete series). She doesn't want to show too much enthusiasm about the trip but I can see that she is looking forward to it as much as me. We start our journey north in May, on my birthday.

Our journey starts by limo from Brighton to London Heathrow from where we take a British Airways flight to Aberdeen. We then transfer to the Aberdeen ferry terminal for the Northlink ferry crossing to Lerwick on Mainland Shetland. A crossing of some 200 miles over the top of the North Sea, below the North Atlantic. These crossings are notoriously rough at times...

Lerwick is the capital of Shetland and dates back to times of Viking occupation from 500 - 1000AD.

We will spend several days on Shetland, one of the best places for birdwatching in the UK (yes, Ros is aware of this!)

Our journey back on the ferry will include a stop at Kirkwall, the capital of Orkney.

That is the plan. I hope it can be fulfilled....

60 North

60 North is the title of the quarterly publication issued by the Promote Shetland organisation. Not surprisingly the Shetland Islands lie approximately 60º North. Winter days are noticeably shorter than farther south while, in summer, there is no real darkness. In March, a visitor staying for just a week sees the day lengthen by nearly 40 minutes, more than anywhere else in Britain.

Characterised by bare, peat-covered landscapes and a convoluted maze of sea lochs, bays and inlets – or ‘voes’ as they are known, Shetland has a distinctive character and spirit that separates it from the rest of Scotland. As a historic hub of Viking expansion, the Nordic culture is still part of Shetland life. Not least celebrated on the last Tuesday in January with the pagan fire festival of Up Helly Aa, when a full size replica of a Viking longship is set fire to, heralding the return of the sun after a long dark Winter.

And return it does, for one of the great highlights of a visit to these islands is a midnight walk in mid Summer, when you can watch the sun set briefly below the horizon before rising again a short time later. The ‘simmer dim’ twilight of mid Summer adds a touch of timelessness to holidays.

I am planning to visit the Shetland Islands next year.  Shetland is famed for its miniature ponies but it is birds that dominate the islands. Filling the sky and cliff ledges, huge colonies of gannets, guillemots, fulmars and puffins migrate and nest in Shetland, making it an ornithologists paradise. Botanists have around 500 species of plants to discover, and for naturalists there are vast quantities of seals to watch, basking on the rocks, and otters to be seen in the remoter coastal areas. Whales, sharks, dolphins and porpoises can also be seen off the coast.

The one drawback is the cost of getting there. I will need to fly from Gatwick to Edinburgh and then Edinburgh to Sumburgh, situated on Shetland mainland approximately 40 kilometres from Lerwick. The return flight will cost around £600 ($960).

Time to start saving again....