Back onboard and over to Shetland

After a great summer back in NZ we arrived back to a sunny Norway which was a nice surprise. We managed to haul the boat out at a nearby yard the next day and spent the weekend antifouling and polishing the topsides. All that while feeling a bit of jetlag!

    This is where Windora spent the winter under the watchful eyes of the locals who seem to be down checking the boats most days. You can see by the narrow entrance that it is an extremely sheltered spot and gets any sun that's around. Just a few miles from Bergen, on the island of Askoy, Florvag was the perfect place to leave the boat.

 

Just a week later we were on our way to Shetland.

 

We meandered through rocky islands and channels for 12 miles to get to the open sea.

 

The sun continued to shine and we had an easy 30 hour sail across to Bressay Island and anchored in Aith Voe.  Great walking,good holding and friendly locals made it a good spot to fill in the Easter weekend before moving around to town.

 

                                             Remains of a slate quarry.

World War 1

                                          
                                            Fish oil factory remains

 

The island still has crofts and areas of common land to be used for farming.

 

 

Lerwick is an amazing old town with loads to see. We have been out walking every day, exploring all the alleys and little shops. Norway was so expensive that we used up most off our stuff so we are busy getting food diesel alcohol. It has been good getting back into walking everywhere again and being amongst such a friendly lot of people. Everyone wants to help us and we have met some interesting folk. We had just finished tying the boat up at the small boat harbour when a family from Golden Bay, just over the hill from home, called down to say hello. They were over on holiday. The local working on the dock had spent quite a bit of time in NZ and so it seemed with everyone we met. There is a strong connection between Shetland and NZ!! There is also a small boat tied up behind us with 2 young Germans onboard who have wintered over in the Lofoten Islands in Norway who we have been sharing stories with, nice to be back amongst cruising folk again.

On the way to the supermarket we go past this bronze age "broch" built on the Clickimin Loch.

 

It feels good to be back on the move again.We will explore Shetland, Orkneys and Scotland until things warm up enough to head up to the Faroes and then Iceland and beyond.