Shetland Nature Cruise

Sunday, 3rd July was such a memorable day. I went on the North Isles Nature Cruise with Simon King. Brydon from Shetland Nature, and his crew of experts, led a fantastic trip

Viewing Shetland from the sea is a wonderful experience and every time I make a trip by boat I yearn for my very own yacht (something small would do!) I'd spend my days fishing, pootling about, stopping off for picnics on deserted islands, watching dolphin displays, chatting to seals, hubby would serenade me with "True Love", make champagne cocktails at sunset..that sort of thing...

Back to reality - a modern Yell ferry and Lawrence Tulloch entertaining us with Shetland stories from the Bridge, in addition to regular commentaries from a team of experts about geology, archaeology, wildlife.... My yachtie dreams will have to wait!

The route took us north out of Yell Sound, past Fethaland and the Ramna Stacks, up the wild western coastline of Yell, and onwards to Unst. Viewing the seabird colonies of Hermaness (100,000 seabirds, including 50,000 Puffins and 17,000 breeding pairs of Gannets!) was spectacular.

However, the memory that will stay with me forever is the fishing frenzy. Hundreds of Gannets flying high, circling, and then plunging at high speed into the water, at close quarters, is one of those WOW moments, never to be forgotten.

I was also excited to reach Britain's most northerly extremity - Out Stack. More about that, and the lighthouse, in the next post. I'll be sharing a heart warming story, kindly sent by Vaila from Canada; a true love story involving Britain's most northerly lighthouse - Muckle Flugga

And...

Many thanks to Brydon and his team for a brilliant cruise, for sharing their knowledge as they socialised with everyone during the trip, and for steadying me/catching me as I wibble-wobbled and zig-zagged across the deck when seas got a bit choppy near Muckle Flugga Lighthouse. I had a wonderful day and met a lot of great people.