Wild in Fair Isle...

Our ferry to Fair Isle was an MFV - Motor Fishing Boat - built speecifically for the role 40 years ago. In the 1980's I drove a similar but bigger version as a patrol vessel in Carlingford Loch, Northern Island. The Good Shepherd which carried us to Fair Isle was very uncomfortable. We had the 'breakfast Special'of scrambled eggs and smoked slamon not long before boarding and once out of the lee of Shetland this ended up in a bag as I 'chundered' my way across. Worse weather was expected overnight - we were wild camping as the hotel had been burnt down a few months ago, the Skipper suggested we hunker down behind a wall to prtect from the expected southerly gale. It was a wild wet night and it was still raining in the morning.

Fair Isle houses 50 ish people, a kirk, a chaple, a small shop, 2 light houses, an airport or should I say an air strip, 1 road which is hilly and a dock. We checked it out in the rain. The skipper saw us and invited us into his house for coffee, we bougt food which we ate in the shed at the airport and retired to our tents by 2pm.  The weather  cleared by about 5pm intime for us to cook up some noodles ans curry sauce. It is a wild rugged island, remote but I guess peaceful in many ways.

We were down at the dock by 0630 to catch the ferry to Sunborough. They had taken the boat out of the water - apparently safer when adverse weather is expected. One of the passengers with us was a young girl - maybe 10, who fell and broke her arm the previous night so it was strapped, she now had a 3 hour uncomfortable boat ride before a 25 mike ride to Lerick. The trip back was OK. Stern seas but still rolling a lot, however I kept my breakfast to myself.

We landed at the southern end of Shetland where there is a large airport - serving the oil industry I guess. we headed towards the light house to find another answer on our Cycle Quest. There is a Sperm Whale skull near the lighthouse apparently washed up a few years ago. Unusual as most whales in the area are Minke.

We headed north via the west coast via St Ninians Isle which is connected to the mainland by a shell-sand tombolo - sand spit - this was another answer on the cycle quest. It was a fantastic coastline, white sand and dramatic.

The terrain certainly tests the legs and the wind has been 20knotts since we arrived but from the south - we are heading north so are now getting help. We are in a 'Comumity' run campsite on the east coast at levenwick, 15 miles south of Lerwick. The wind had just dried out our tents, we had just done our washing and were going to hang it out and it is raining again. we've done about 70 miles cycling so far - most of it up steep hills. All is well.

Wild Night in Nesbister...

Well what can I say .. definately a very wild night and certainly not one to be camping in. We ended up in Nebister Bod on the west coast north of Salloway. The Bod system has been developed by the Highlands and Islands Council, they have refurbished old dwellings for tourists to stay  Some to a high standard and some to very basic conditions. Nebister Bod is one of the later, a mile long hose pipe to the outside for water, a chemical loo and a candle or 2 for lighting  - no electricity. The instructions for sorting the loo was to tip it into the sea when we leave. We decided to bypass the loo and use the beach below high water mark - save disposing the chemicals and with the added luxury off wet seaweed instead of loo paper.

We arrived on time in Lerwick after a good overnight crossing. After a coffee and a visit to the tourismo we headed over to the west coast and Scalloway. This was the old capitol of Shetland but declined when the fish disappeared. However it was the headquarters of the 'Shetland Bus'. A special ops thingy during WW2 dropping agents and rescuing distrerss folk from Norway. There is a good musem in Scalloway next to the castle. Pat and i were very interested in the 'Shetland Bus" firstly as naval men but also 'Shetland Bus' was the book we studies for English Literature 'O' level in 1964. P.S. Both of us passed!!!!

We discovered that our proposed campsite for the night had closed which left us a little stranded but we stumbled across Nesbister Bod online and booked the last bunk (the 3 others had already been booked) and Pat volunteered to kip on the floor. It transpied only 1 person turned up, the other 2 had posponed there stay. We shared with Hazel, a forties something lady from Hitchin who had been on a weeks sea kayking course and was spending another couple of weeks on Shetland.  Brave lady to be in an islolated stone shack, on the end of a spit, surrounded by water with no escape with 2 old fuddy duddys of unknow moral standing.  She was good fun and hope she enjoys the next 3 nights in the bod.

We have been looking for clues to the British Cycle Quest - there are 402 in the UK and 6 in Shetand, we have found 2 and should find 2 more before we leave. We are now back in Lerwick awainting the departure of "MV Good Shepherd IV" so Fair Isle. After driving rain and gales overnight today is calmer and the sun is out. On Fair Isle the hotel has burnt down so we will be wild camping for a couple of night.

The folk up here are very friendly and helpful, the divers great and give us plenty of room when passing and we have not be peeped or cut up. Tis all good.

Distance 29 miles so far - may not sound far but boy, Shetland have some steep and long hills added to a strong southerly wind has made the cycling challenging.

                Arrival in Lerwick

   Our first cycle quest landmark thingy

our 'bod' is the building out on the spit

          Memorial to the 'Shetland Bus' folk
 

Aberdeen

11 hours on a crowded train does nothing for the flexibility of ancient legs. Stiff knees and cramping quads eased by the 1 mile ride from the station to Pat's friends.

I guess the journey was OK. Cross Country train was a little on the older side but adequate. It left on time and arrived on time - amazing if you consider it must be one of the longest train journeys in the country.

Pat led me, in the drizzle, from the staion to Ros & Normans pad where some smoked salmon canopes followed by a pheasant and beef casserole awaited, washed down by a couple of glasses of red. Mmm -my slimming world corset has been loosened!!

Today has been a sorting day, repacking after the train journey and buying the stuff we forgot to pack. Pat has had a quick turn round having just got home from a month in Kenya 4 days ago - just time to do the dhobe!

There are some fantastic granite buildings here - one of the best is Masrischal College, University of Aberdeen.

The statue is of Robert the Bruce and sitting on the bench is a 'pie lady' who snuck into the pic.

we catch an overnight ferry to Lerwick tonight then cyclie in the rain tomorrow.

Scotland - 'ere we come!

It starts again - another year, another tour and another adventure. Pat, my cycling buddy and I are meeting up in Aberdeen on Monday (19th August) to explore the 'Scottish Isles'. We have about a month and are hoping for half reasonable weather. Amazingly, there is a straight through Cross Country train from Newton Abbot to Aberdeen - it has space for 2 cycles. I have used this train before and the space is minute and only suitable for child's bikes or slim road bikes. I am hoping I'll be the first bike onboard. However 'tis a 10 hour journey.

We are catching the overnight ferry from Aberdeen on Tuesday to Lerwick in Shetland, scooting across to Fair Isle and then to Orkney then ferry back to Aberdeen. We train across to Glasgow and then Oban before catching the ferry to Castlebay in the Outer Hebrides. We head north until the land runs out at the Butt of Lewis before heading for home via Ullapool, Inverness then Aberdeen for the Cross Country train to Devon. We decided on this way round in the hope that the midges in the Outer Hebrides will have lost their bite by early September and we can sleep easy in our tents with out being eaten alive!!

Pat joined me in July for our annual Adventure with Martin Symons (https://www.martinsymons.co.uk/) - this year was the 10th anniversary ride across England - we followed Hadrian's Wall Cycle Route from Bowness-on-Solway to South Shields. 

Last year I cycled around the Cherbourg Peninsular with my son-in-law Ian - that's me relaxing in camp - at least the sun was shining then!!

The good news for both of us is that we have slimmed down since our last 'big' ride which should make the tackling of the Scottish hills a tad easier. 

We made it - Oh Yeah!!

Saturday  23rď September

We stayed in the wrong part of Rotterdam, the port area was far nicer as we cycled through. However anywhere on the sea side of Rotterdam would have been better. The cycle down the last part of the Lek/Rhine was great - fine weather, gentle following wind and good tracks. We were having coffee when I spotted the older couple just about to start their day - they had a bad night, their accommodation turned out to be someones garage, they hardly slept and are going to complain to Booking.com as it was not as advertised. Shame, it turned out he was 84 and found any slight incline difficult but he was still cycling. They stayed just 5 km outside Rotterdam in a great place with canals and cafes and there was a huge music feastival taking place - probably why they were shoved in a garage.

We were sucked away from our route by some duplicate signing and were then stuck the wrong side of a motorway but managed to get back to the Rhine at Maassluis. We then followed the water for the last 15 km - fantastic. We passed the largest moveable structure on earth, the Rhine barrage, about 5 km up from Hoek van Hoalland is the barrage which is protect the Rhine flooding during storm surges. It is deployed if a 2.6m or more surge is expected, it was thought it would be deployed about every 10 years but since it was built (1995 I think) it has only been used once in anger in 2007. Each year in August they practice deploying it to ensure it works. It lays flat and moves from each side of the river to block it off, if the 2 sides were placed vertical on top of each other it would be taller than the Effel Tower.

We cycled through Hoek down to the Strand and along Pier One which is along the east bank of the estuary to as far as we could go. The end, we could go no further, Gilly and I had followed the Rhine from  source to  sea.

It was a great journey, seeing the Rhine grow from a small lake in the Alps into a vast comercial river and then discharging into the sea has been one of the best rides we have done. Our bikes behaved and we survived with no injuries although Gilly's knees played up occaisionally. I had one near death experience, I was 'car doored' but screamed very loudly as it was opened on me and the old bloke in the car shut his door in fright and I just slipped past and Gilly, who was behind me, was OK.

If you like river cycling, this has got to be up there withe best.

Total Odo 1441.7km

Rotterdam - penultimate stop

Friday 22nd September day 28

We are now in Rotterdam, The Netherlands second city. We have had a couple of interesting days getting here. On Thursday we headed for Schoonhoven along quiet roads ontop of the dykes. We were on the right bank and had view to our right down onto some very fertile and rich farms and a busy river on our left. This branch of the delta is calledvthe Lek and is much slower than the main Rhine. We crossed the Amsterdam Canal almost as we left and then then the Lek Canal. This latter canal was very busy and joins up with Amsterdam Canal. There is a huge amount of work going on reinforcing the dykes and expanding the canals. Navigation was a little difficult. 

We met an older couple in our hotel (probably 10 years on us) who have been riding the Rhine Route, they have struggled with their route finding uptil now, we feel they would have struggled today. But it give Gilly and me hope that we could be still active in 10 years. 

At the start of our journey we walked up to the soyrce of the Rhine at 2345m above sea level - tonight in Schoonhoven we will be sleeping at -2m. We have passed huge sluices controling the water level. 

Schoonhoven was a great place, small canals and cobbled streets and we stayed in a fantastic B&B. We prefer the anominity of a hotels but this one has a room divorced from the main house and was great. The town was small enough to walk around. Possibly the best town/village we have stayed in. 

Schoonhoven Distance 49.71 Odo 1374.6km

Today was interesting. We crossed by ferry to the left bank and followed the river on the dyke for 20 km. It is being restored and there was some heavy machinery working. We arrived at Kinderdyke and the windmills late morning. We have been there a couple of times before - the windmills were built to drain the land, they are now redundant as there is a new modern pumping station. We crossed a small branch of the delta by ferry and then caught a fast catermaran into Rotterdam. This was a 30 minute ride and was interesting sailing into the centre og Rotterdam.

Rotterdam Distance 23.77 Odo 1398.4km

The homeward leg

We had a good night in our appartment and were looking forward to a pleasant ride via the Airbourne Museum just outside Arnhem. We arrived at the museum at 0930 just as a school party were going in. We were told it does not open until 1000 - 'tis OK for school children but OAPs who have cycled 1000 miles to see are sent away - we thought a cuppa would go down well and then go back - cafe opens 1030. I was a bit miffed, if banks and other businesses can open at a reasonable time I am not sure why the museum is a special case - all the staff were there. So we gave it a miss and pedalled on. The weather forecast was good but cold, just 1% chance of rain - we were the unlucky 1% - peed down most of the morning. The tracks were good but took us around the houses a bit so we peeled off and followed a couple of local routes. This is a hilly area, Arnhem is on a sand ridge and our route today was undulating - a bit of a shock to the system after the flat German plains.

The Rhine has split into a couple of rivers as it wends it's way to the sea. We have decided to follow the central arm. We have 3 more days cycling, Schoonhoven tomorrow, then Rotterdam on Friday and to Hoek Van Holland on Saturday and the overnight ferry. Tonight we are in a place that I have no chance of pronouncing - good luck to you if you have a go. We cycled through the worlds only drive through windmill on the outskirts of town.

The wind was in our faces for the first time this afternoon. I hope it drops as we are heading west now untill the end. About 20km from here we met a couple of riders - we chatted about what we were doing etc. and what they were doing - we are taking 3 days to get to Hoek they are getting there tonight - phew that will take some doing. I can only assume they were German and yet again I feel inadequate.

Wijk bij Duurstede Distance 54.31 Odo 1324.9km