Day 13 - South West Mainland
Another day of full sun and we set off to explore the south west of Mainland.
We drove south to St Ninians Island which is uninhabited. This is joined to the mainland by a sand causeway, called a tombolo. In the summer months it can be crossed at anytime but during the winter months the sand gets blown away and the 2 parts of the sea meet at high tide. It has some lovely views over the cliffs and smaller islands in the area. As we walked towards the causeway we were surprised to see 2 mobile saunas on trailers. They were locked up but we did wonder when these were used and who by. We walked over the causeway and onto the island.
There were hundreds of rabbit holes in the sandy soil but although we saw plenty of droppings, we didnt see any rabbits. There are sheep but today they were on the opposite side of the island to us. There was some really nice scenic views all around.
We did see 6 puffins swimming in a cove and a great northern diver struggling with a fish that was about half its size.
After our walk we had a coffee in the car and sat there for another hour or so as it was so quiet and peaceful. A few camper vans had set themselves up here and there were just a few cars and motorbikes. We saw the shepherd take some more sheep over by quad bike & trailer.
We then made our way further down the coast to Scousburgh Sands beach, a very sheltered sandy bay with high sand dunes all around and a narrow opening to the sea. We were the only ones there so had a walk along the beach.
Nearby was the RSPB reserve of Loch Spiggie which is a large lagoon. There is a small visitor centre/hide. The hide contained several pairs of binoculars and a large RSPB british bird book. There were a lot of arctic terns around, some mute swans and an Oystercatcher taking a bath.
We drove around the lagoon and the road went uphill. We stopped again at the top as there was a lot of ariel activity from Great Skuas, Ravens and Gulls. We also saw some turnstones feeding in the field.
Our final stop was to Quendale Mill. This is a museum of the last working watermill on Shetland. It showed all the components of the mill and the process of producing flour from the cereals grown on the islands. I found out that Bannocks (the bread rolls I bought yesterday) are made from Bere flour along with eggs, sugar and milk. Bere is a type of barley that grows in poor soils and was part of the staple diet in the Shetlands until after the 2nd World War.
We then made our way back to Lerwick. On the way we saw 2 churches in the middle of nowhere.
Paul has got a sunburnt nose which is peeling and looks ridiculous.
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