And then, before you know it, the alarm goes off... It was a very short night, as this mommy had decided that - the evening before a 2.30AM start - she had to try and fix the washing machine that just broke down, fix a puncture is Batmans back tyre, create 24 treats to hand out on his birthday on Monday and pack a bag. All at the same time.
Not a clever idea.
Especially when at 3AM, when the last items went into the bag and it needed zipped up, the zipper breaks.
Yes, it was a great start to the day, and if it had only been me going, I would have jut sat down on the floor and cried.
But, instead, I woke up long-suffering husband, made him climb into the cubby hole in the attic - still half asleep - and dig out another bag. After repacking, drinking a stiff espresso and a last kiss goodbye, I drove off to pick up Monique.
And after an exciting drive, we arrived at the car park, and saw the first planes landing in the distance...
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| Monique, looking forward to the flights, but anxious nonetheless... |
We were dropped off at the terminal, checked in, had more coffee, enjoyed some people watching, and then it was time to board. The first plane trip ever for Monique, trip number (let me count - 30?) for me, and one that we won't forget in a hurry... The poor thing was so ill... Luckily, at Edinburgh airport the Boots had some amazing tablets and after swallowing a magic pill, Monique and I boarded plane number 2.
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| The FlyBe propellor plane to Shetland |
This journey went a lot better (Hooray for Kwell!), although even I held on to the seat during landing... Quite an experience! ;)
At Sumburgh, we were driven to the car rental place, where our car for the week awaited. I forgot how small Ka's were! But all our luggage fit in (luckily there were only 2 of us!) and we drove off towards Scalloway, where we had rented a chalet.
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| Our car for the week |
The chalet was small, but big enough for the two of us, although a kitchen with only a square yard of floor space to manoeuvre around in, is quite small even by Dutch standards! The view out of the window the next morning, however, was breathtaking...
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| The view from our chalet, with Scalloway Castle in the distance |
It was like this for most of the week. We were so lucky with the weather!!!
Of course, we wanted to do some exploring before the Wool Week started properly on the Monday, so we consulted our map andecided to drive to Burra. Our first stop was Hamnavoe, to see the illustrious lace fence.
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| Foula in the distance |
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| Hamnavoe |
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| Almost everyone is still a fisherman here... |
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| Scallops everywhere! And then this is 'just' a shed... |
It turned out to be harder than we expected. We really went round the entire village twice, and still couldn't find it! In the end, we asked a nice lady for directions, and it turned out that the lace fence was all the way at the beginning of town, just past where we stopped the first time. So back we went!
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| The lace fence, with onions hanging to dry. Go figure ;) |
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| A better picture. It looked amazing! Definitely something to consider doing... |
After counting repeats and taking pictures of the fence from all possible angles, we drove on to East Burra.
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| An old croft house/barn at East Burra, with the mountains of the Mainland behind. |
After a look around, we drove back up and then back down to West Burra, past the Burra Bears workshop, to be greated by this:
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| You are joking, right? |
But then this... Feast your eyes on the amazing beauty of this place...
This island is just me all over. Greens, blues... I just blended right in.
Apart from the hair, of course :D
More next time!
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#nagenieten
Ik kijk nu al reikhalzend uit naar het vervolg.