A JOURNEY TO BRITAIN’S NORTHERNMOST ISLE (3RD OF 3 PARTS)

Our visit to Shetland was precipitated by a friend’s invite for Jared and I to explore the islands. He told us that we will see the northernmost tea shop, northernmost police station, northernmost bus stop, northernmost hotel — practically everything northerly, and boy, was he right! We’ve seen everything northerly in the British isles when we visited the tiny island of Unst. To get to the island, we took the ferry for about half an hour (the car was loaded on a ferry) to an island called Yell and then on to another ferry for 45 minutes to Unst. What completed our trip was the visit to these islands.

I’ll let the photos do the talking.

Most northerly Tea Room.

Most northerly food shop and gasoline station (photo taken from inside the food shop).

I couldn’t resist posing for a photograph in front of the most northerly bus stop, and the most colourful I’ve seen — it  has flowers, books, table and chair and candies for anyone to enjoy while waiting for the bus. 

Shetland is absolutely beautiful. Its vast expanse of striking wild beauty will awe any first time visitor  — its craggy terrain; the towering sea cliffs; the empty hidden beaches, the turquoise seawater; the haunting nature; the boundless blue skies; the tiny wild flowers in the meadows — the landscape is indeed quite dramatic. The tranquillity and sense of vastness and openness is truly a world away from the hustle and bustle of London life.

Having lived in a small town (I was born and grew up in a little town in southern Philippines just a few minutes walk to the Pacific Ocean), I am relishing the thought of going back to the countryside. Visiting Shetland, especially the islands of Yell and Unst, reminded me of my hometown — it has none of the big city drawbacks. These cluster of islands may not be easy to get to (there is no direct flight there from London), but I love the bucolic scene and immensely enjoyed the visit. Also, it is a blessing to have a little bolthole in Shetland — thanks to our friend Kevin who has given us an open invitation to come anytime we want to get away. Shetland is an authentic rural escape where time seems to stand still and I can’t wait to visit again!

Here’s the previous posts:

In Part 1 I focused on the mainland especially Lerwick, the capital town as well as the nearby villages.

In Part 2 it was about meeting local people and some historic sites on the island like Scalloway Castle, Clickimin Broch, etc.