Yes we are on the boat, still an hour to go but I think it is going to be busy so we decided on food earlier rather than later.
So we will be piling off tomorrow morning at 07.30. We will head straight off from Aberdeen and have Breakfast in Dundee. About an hour and a half depending on traffic once we hit the rush hour at the Dundee end.
Today I took my older pupils on rhe Swan. She was built in 1900 and was rescued from Hartlepool in the 1990’s
She was built as a Herring fishing boat. One of 400. She is now one of 8.
It was a gorgeous day and we coveted 11.2 nautical miles.
Once we got round the island of Vaila then we did hit a bit of choppiness!
Brace for Bouncing
So I made it onto the boat and it is heading out two hours later due to the rough seas. It is now a 15 hour crossing instead of 12. We are missing out Orkney altogether.
Here I am being stoic!
This morning I was off to my Union Branch meeting. Well I thought I had better show willing as I have changed unions. I came home replaces a few more bits of floorboards and sliced some shields for the Knights.
After lunch my good lady and I hurtled off to the South end of the island to visit Jarlshof. This is a Historic Environment Scotland site. It shows that a settlement has been there since the Neolithic…some 4000 years.
The name Jarlshof was basically made up by Sir Walter Scott. He had visited Shetland around about 1814. His book ‘The Pirate’ has a location, which was basically the ruined 16th Century Manor house, which he named… you guessed it Jarlshof…the house of the Jarl.
In reality in 1814 the only bits to be seen was the ruin. In the late 1800’s a massive storm rolled in and eroded the sea front and voilà…dwellings appeared from under the sand.
On ‘Out and About in Shetland’ I am uploading a number of videos… they are taking FOR EVERRRR!
Sort of!
Well according to Google Maps I am here…
What three Words had me down as: Suggestible. Mimicking. Nations.
Either way, we are far enough off shore to not see the shore!
We are about two hours out of Orkney where I think my seat partner will join me (whoever they are). As you can imagine, we don’t have super fast wifi on a boat in the middle of the North Sea. It has taken so long for the second photograph to upload that we are now: Schoolrooms. Sock. Differing.
Well, that is it, we made it to the boat and are safely on. You can tell it is the last weekend before the schools go back as it is heaving. I have already spotted three teachers. We are back in the pods so it won’t be the most comfortable night’s sleep.
On the way down I was in a pair of seats by myself, on the way back I am pinned on the window by another person. If I am lucky they won’t get on until Orkney.
It is really nice to let someone else do the driving. I left Prudhoe at 08.30 and got into Aberdeen at 14.00. Okay we did stop off in Dundee to grab some sandwiches, and a slight detour caused by a strange Google Maps glitch.
It’s a 17.00 sailing so in a tick I am going to fight the throng and grab some food before it gets too crowded in there.
We may have a view of some dolphins/porpoises as we leave the harbour.
Expected arrival at Lerwick tomorrow morning is: 07.30. I reckon it is going to take us five hours just to empty the car.
Well this was a bit of an impulse buy. I have already got tiny epic dinosaurs and like it. Yes I could have got it on Kickstarter and considered it. I missed the deadline and then forgot about it.
This game is supposedly…Easy Entry, High Strategy, Low Downtime, Short Playtime and High Replay-ability.
I also picked up a leather hide to make turn shoes. There should be enough for the whole family.
It has been a long day today and to be honest I am ready for home now. Four and a half hour drive. A quick bit of shopping then on the boat by four at the very latest.
We are heading off North in a few minutes, unfortunately, some oik (who wasn’t me) decided to have a shower at 4.00am. There are big signs all over the bathroom thus…
Somehow they forgot. The whole hotel woke up. Luckily it is only an hour’s drive to Darlington. And another hour up to Newcastle. Tomorrow is the drive from Prudhoe to Aberdeen. Probably 4 hours if I have no breaks. The ferry leaves at 17.00 and cars need to be there an hour ahead.
Today was a visit to the Royal Armouries. We used to visit quite a bit around twenty years ago. The Museum is pretty much the same but the outside bit has totally changed causing me much consternation on where to park. In the end I was in the multi story car park. Which was a bloody nightmare in first finding a space and then finding the car didn’t fit the spaces.
My phone died when I got in, so I only managed a few photos…
I did end up spending some pennies on a new book…
We are heading back to Northumberland tomorrow and then heading North to catch the ferry on Saturday night.
Tomorrow is a stop off in Darlington to pick up a beastie for my daughter then into Newcastle for leather for me and a comic book shop for my eldest.
Today we did a hop further down country. It took a couple of hours to go door to door.
We got to the Thackeray with only a minor wobble with the sat nav trying to take us through the back of a hospital.
The museum itself is on a couple of floors with the ubiquitous cafe and gift shop.
It has a good bit where you choose a character and follow them through Leeds in the 1850’s… it wasn’t a good end for a few of them.
They had a pretty good selection of exhibits and information throughout.
I really wanted to find some more of these
I had a hunt in the shop to see if they had any, sadly not. I forgot who did them, but it was to support health reform.
Bogenwald 