Postbus

Postbus, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Public transport is a little scarce in these parts so I have had to pretend to be a parcel to get anywhere. This is the Royal Mail at its finest: the 'Postbus', maximum capacity 4. First class, you could say.

Ben Loyal

Ben Loyal, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

The weather has cleared up just as I have to leave Tongue. This is a glimpse of the mountain I was supposed to climb yesterday, Ben Loyal.

Mist and rain

Mist and rain, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

I was hoping to climb a mountain today but the mist is so thick its sitting on the ground. I tried something less adventurous but even had to give that up after getting drenched. The atmosphere of this place though, called the Kyle of Tongue, is extraordinary. I hope this picture gives some impression of the eeriness.

Cow of the day

Cow of the day, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Welcome to the latest feature of my blog: cow of the day. Every day I will take a picture of a new and fascinating cow. Only joking. Today has been overcast and drizzly so this was the only picture I could get. They were popular fellas. Right after I left a car stopped and I could hear a guy going 'moooo...' trying to get it to look up. Anyway the good news is I'm now on the Scottish mainland. Today I've clocked up the most northerly point on the mainland, Dunnet Head, which is empty apart from a lighthouse and some Americans. So you get a cow instead.

Scapa Flow

Scapa Flow, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

The southern Orkney Islands enclose a dangerous stretch of water called Scapa Flow. It looks peaceful enough to me, but there's been countless shipwrecks here. It was also the scene of an astonishing piece of history in 1919, when in the biggest scuttling event in history, the Germans sank 83 of their own ships rather than let them fall into the hands of the British. You can still go diving to see the wrecks.

Leaving Hoy

Leaving Hoy, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Back to the Orkney mainland on yet another ferry. And the weather just keeps getting better and better.

Dwarfie Stane

Dwarfie Stane, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

This is a fun little landmark. It's actually a tomb carved right into a solid lump of rock. You can peer right inside. The sign says it dates to 3500-2500 BC. I could believe it took that long to make, too. That's the stone age. There were no metal tools. That means that they carved into a rock using other little bits of rock. Unfortunately there's no corpse there now.

Rackwick Bay

Rackwick Bay, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

A view into the beautiful Rackwick Bay.

Over the hill

Over the hill, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Orkney has some incredible coastal scenery. I thought I'd seen the best yesterday but then I climbed over a crest today to be greeted by this. If you look closely you can just about make out the faint outline of the north coast of Scotland in the distance.

Hoy

Hoy, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Today's adventure: the hills of Hoy.

Folk music

Folk music, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Spent the evening in a gorgeous little town called Stromness. Treat myself to my first meal out (locally caught herring - happy now, mum?), met up with a lovely girl called Kathy who I met on the Shetlands, and listened to live folk music! Perfect.

Skara Brae

Skara Brae, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

I ended up hitching a lift with a Canadian couple to this place: Skara Brae. These houses are older than the pyramids. The Canadian guy wasn't paying attention though; he was too busy telling me about his collection of cannons: 'I have seven of them. I had nine but the second wife took two with her.'

Standing stones

Standing stones, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

The Stones of Stenness, with the hills of Hoy, my next destination, in the background. They were erected between 3000 and 2500 years ago.

St. Magnus

St. Magnus, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

This is pretty cool, I think. St. Magnus's cathedral with the ruin's of the bishop's palace in the foreground. See how arty I've done it? That takes a true master of photography, that does.

Kirkwall

Kirkwall, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

On the Orkney Islands now. Can't believe the time's past so quickly. Here's a view of the capital, Kirkwall. As you can see, it's a lot flatter than the Shetlands.

Leaving Shetland

Hi everyone. Thanks for all your comments. Johnson Crew - apparently they are plenty of dolphins around but I've haven't seen one :( I haven't seen seals or otters either. Still, check out my picture of puffins below.

Today I'm getting a ferry across from the Shetlands to the Orkney Islands (the next lot down). They're about 70 miles south of here, and are supposed to be a bit more lush. I'll get some pictures soon.

So what did I think of the Shetlands? Well, I feel like I've been here forever, even though it's just been five days. I already feel at home. They say that people are very welcoming here, and I can vouch that it is true. And there's plenty going on once you start to look. I spent the last two days on the remote island of Unst, and saw about 10% of what was on offer.

Shetland has lots of Shetlanders, but there are loads of people from elsewhere too. I've met people from France, Australia, Japan, Germany and Ireland, not to mention the Brits. I haven't travelled on my own before, but it's dead easy to meet people once you all pile into the hostel in the evening, and discover that everyone is doing exactly the same as you! On Unst, there were only two of us in the hostel, but we discovered that we are taking the same ferry to Orkney, so I'm sure we'll meet again.

Keep leaving your comments. I enjoy reading them, although I can only see them when I can get to a computer (I do my blogging from my phone - although it looks as though a couple of my blogs didn't make it). I've tried to reply to a few here.

At the edge of the world

At the edge of the world, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

This picture shows you Britain's most northerly lighthouse, Muckle Flugga, Britain's most northerly rock, Out Stack (on the right), and, if you look closely enough, Britain's most northerly person.

Hermaness

Hermaness, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

I tantalised you earlier with my sighting of a puffin, but I wasn't able to get a photo. Well, I'm making up for it now. There puffins were at Hermaness Nature Reserve. It's impossible to get around Unst without a car so the hostel warden gave me a lift up. The reserve is simply swarming with puffins, and they let you get extremely close. There's also gannets, and great skuas, which dive bomb you if you get too close to their nest. You're supposed to carry a stick to fight them off, but today I think I saw more skuas than you could shake a stick at.

Sheep and peat.

Sheep and peat., originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Most of the pictures I've posted so far make Shetland look a pretty romantic place. In reality, however, it's a very bleak, windswept landscape. It's covered in vast expanses of treeless peatland - with sheep. I think that's because they're the only animal that doesn't get blown over by the wind.

Uyeasound harbour

Uyeasound harbour, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

... and this is the view from my room.

Most northerly...

Most northerly..., originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Prepare yourself for a few 'most northerly' facts over the next two days. I have just travelled to Britain's most northerly inhabited island, Unst, and this is my a picture of where I'm staying. In fact, I seem to have the place entirely to myself! The conservatory is beautifully warm.

More wildlife

More wildlife, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Yes, they do have the ponies here too!

Birdlife

Birdlife, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Another view of Sumburgh Head. I was confidantly promised by a lady al Jarlshof that this was where I'd see my first puffin. The Shetlands, more than anything else, are famous for their birdlife, and puffins are the pick of the lot. So off I marched. The cliffs are swarming with birds, fulmars, kittiwakes and razorbills, but no puffins. Standing next to a sign that read 'watch here for puffins didn't seem to help. In the end I was about to give up. Then I caught sight of a chubby creature on a little outcrop, whipped out the binoculars and - wow - there it was. The one and only puffin on the shelf.

A nue-foo a clippins

Well, my first day in the Shetland Islands is already proving something of a challenge. When I arrived at 7.30 the weather was fantastic (see previous post). I checked into my youth hostel, dropped off all my stuff in the luggage store, and marched confidently out onto the harbour.

Then the weather changed snap! - like that - and I found myself getting drenched without a waterproof piece of clothing in sight. Five minutes later I was to seen cowering behind a slide in an empty children's playground, cradling a beautiful baked potato with chilli (no, I haven't got a picture).

The Shetland Islands are a scraggy bunch of rocks in the north-eastern reaches of the Atlantic. They aren't exactly sheltered (hence the changeable weather - apparently it snowed last week) and they aren't easily reached. A local poet, Rhoda Bulter, tried to describe the islands like this:

Sometimes I tink whin da Loard med da aert,
An He it aa pitten togidder,
Dan He still had a neu-foo a clippins left ower,
Trimmed aff o dis place or da tidder,
An He hedna hert to baal dem awa,
For dey lookit dat bonnier an rare,
Sae He fashioned da Isles fae da ends of da aert,
And med aa-body fin at hame dere.

First morning

First morning, originally uploaded by British Traveller.

Pulling into lovely Lerwick. Everyone is up on the outer decks, gazing at the landscape. And a sleepless night is rewarded with cliffs, seabirds and a full English breakfast.

And we're off...

And we're off..., originally uploaded by British Traveller.

I'm leaving Aberdeen harbour, in the evening, in spite of a temporary generator failure. It's started raining. I've got a chair to sleep on. But i'm off! Faced with a pulse-racing twelve hour journey to the Shetlands! I'll keep you updated in the morn. Bye for now!

Preparations

It is the day before I set off on what I'm starting to fear might be an over-ambitious, poorly planned venture! The basic concept is this: I have the summer of 2007 to explore the island on which I live. In October I venture into world of the City of London to start a new job, probably never to emerge again. So this is my opportunity to experience whatever Great Britain has to offer to the full.

Fortunately, I'm in good company. In 1724, Daniel Defoe (of Robinson Crusoe fame) published an account of his Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain, 'interspersed,' as he put it, 'with useful observations particularly fitted for the perusal of such as desire to travel over the island. By a gentleman.' I haven't read it. It's pretty long and comes in multiple volumes. But it at least reassures me that the idea is feasible.

So tomorrow, Friday 18th May, I am getting on a train to Aberdeen, followed by an overnight ferry to Lerwick, the Shetland Islands, and then moseying my way southwards as quickly as it suits me. I should make clear a couple of parameters. Firstly, this is a journey across Great Britain, not the British Isles - so I'm not going to Ireland. Secondly, I am only covering the adjacent islets. In other words, the Shetlands, Orkneys, Hebrides, Man, Anglesey and Wight, but not Jersey or Guernsey and certainly not the Falklands! This is a tour of the island of Britain, not the country of the United Kingdom.

And so, with the preamble complete, welcome to Travel Britain, a tour through this wonderful island I call home. By a gentleman.