On tour in October

Although the ordinary tours of the isles are finished for the summer there have been two booked for October...

The first has just finished and we had a great time, exploring and seeing the autumn colours of Shetland. The first day coincided with the arrival of the remnants of Ophelia, the hurricane that was, and we had to spend the day indoors at the museum. No hardship though because we had cake!

In fact we have instigated a new system for the tours - Cake Points. Every misdemeanour or slight, perceived or real, meant deduction of the points which translated into cake at the various stops we made. The system was so successful and so much fun that we felt that everyone needs to be in on it!

We also took Haegri-the-Viking along with us, and I am delighted to introduce his wonderful new girlfriend, Seniah, knitted by a friend as his companion. Seniah hails from London but the pattern comes from South Africa as part of a fundraising project for children in the province. Thank you Ms Cream for making Seniah for us. 

On this trip we also had Hunter who was brought along as a substitute for a husband who could not make the trip. Here is a picture of all three taken as the ferry left Gutcher in Yell on the way to Unst...

October, I thought, is not the best month for touring because of the changeable weather but we had some spectacular days. Up in the North, at Eshaness, the sun streamed through huge clouds and turned the surface of the sea into dancing light. At St Ninian's Isle the wind whipped up the waves and turned the water blue and silver, green and blue. At Sumburgh Head the sun illuminated a small patch of ocean and gave us a clear view of Fair Isle and of Foula. In Yell the red grass glowed on the landscape and in Unst the waves on Norwick and Skaw beaches tumbled in white and blue while the tannin stained burns tumbled along the sand and among the rocks. October, it turns out, is actually fine for showing people the isles!