Walk
to the top of the world.
Danw
was up very early and she wasn't adapt at being quiet, I heard doors
closing loudly everywhere. But then again I did want to set out early
myself too. I was likely to have to walk maybe most of both
directions to Hermaness today, because it was Friday and the bus
times were few and far between, unless you phoned to pre-book, and
that was dependant on knowing where you were in relation to those bus
routes. So I ate my breakfast and packed the bag to leave it in the
laundry room, out of the way, just in case there would be a full
hostel on my return, full paying guests. I hadn't seen the warden
and apparently they were away on holiday anyway, according to Danw.
The
walk was brisk at the beginning, the absence of my pack evident in my
stride and pace. I followed the coast towards the far end of the cove
and then back towards the main road and up to Ballasound. As Alan had
said yesterday, it was indeed a long and straight open and boring
road to walk, but the sun came out and I had to take off my coat and
a fleece jacket also, it was that warm. It was like a very nice
spring day back in old Blighty, and I couldn't hardly believe my luck
to be here with such fine weather. You know what's coming next don't
you???
Well
surprisingly not, for it continued as it had begun and I was singing
away and as happy as Larry. Before the two hour mark I had seen the
villages spread about below me in the bay and voe and the local
airport to my right. Well I say airport....loosly.... it is a strip
of tarmac in a field and a rusty metal shed....
I
visited the church, just to see what they looked like here in the
most northerly parts of the British empire. Same as everywhere else
actually. When I found the heralded shop come bakery come cafe, I
became aware that the power was off here, the shop in obscure shades
with phantom people sneaking about me. No power means no tea or
coffee, but the soup was still warm from earlier so I had a couple of
bowls of that for my mid morning lunch break. As with all the other
shops on the islands it was well stocked, but nothing that could
compare to Mary's emporium on Yell. The staff were very jolly and
made me feel welcomed as a stranger as I sat reading all about the
local life past and present in the self service cafe. It would seem
Unst had a past during the world war conflicts and was a very
strategic place for the military, guarding against the Germans and
their nasty little U-Boats. Knitting of course and fishing coming in
a close second and third respectively. Looking at the bleak
landscapes it was hard to see what Land Girls would actually be doing
here except looking pretty on tractors. Many people were also
scouting around the dimly lit shop, some foreigners like me. I bought
a few basics for the rest of the day, as my funds are very tight at
present and every penny counts. So I had to put back to bottle of
Macallan whiskey and the Havana cigars, the Beluga Caviar and the leg
of cured ham on the bone.
Seriously,
I did need to be sure I have stuff not only for the rest of today but
something for breakfast, as there is nothing here in Uyeasound except
the hostel and a few houses. But I would also have to carry it out to
Hermaness and back again as the shops would possibly be closed when I
got away from there this afternoon. Oh the logistical nightmares I
have to put up with......
The
people at the shop asked me where I was going and I told them. They
all agreed that I was on a mission to defeat if I thought I could
walk out there and back again before dark. They suggested I try for a
lift from someone along the road. Well I have had a bit of luck
recently with this, so took heed of their advice and set out to put
it to the test. The third person I saw came to the rescue, and I
wasn't actually thumbing at that moment either. He took me in his
van, about 2 miles along the road and set me down on the road out to
Hermaness. I carried on along this road and before you could say
Jemimah de catso villa franco de souza, a car pulled up along side me
and the man offered me a lift to the car park a mile or so away. When
I opened the door to get in I was further surprised to see he had two
beautiful young ladies with him. They were people I had just seen
briefly at the shop, two French girls on a trip here from Aberdeen
University. Remember I said that yesterday I thought Karel was a
lucky so and so because he had a French girl all to himself, well eat
your heart out mate, I have two.......
Seriously
they were lovely fun company as we all set out to see the end of the
world as we know it. What a way to go.... I mean the top of Great
Britain.
Apparently
they were stopping at a B&B and the driver of the car was the
owner who had kindly offered to bring them down here to see the
Hermaness nature reserve. They both spoke proper like what I does,
their English tainted sweetly by that haw he haw French, Allo Allo
accent that we Brits find so amusing but so seductive in the women
who speak it.
I
asked them if they minded me tagging along with them as they walked.
They said that they would be glad to have the company, and little did
they realise so was I. Not because they were girls you see, they were
young ladies but because they were fun and used to laughing all the
time. And because I was fed up of being on my own all day, most days
whilst I walked to some of the most amazing places on the planet. We
talked about many things as we walked and Ninon (pronounced Nee-noh)
clicked away like a Japanese tourist with her camera, and Julie
(pronounced Zjoo-lee) followed up the rear smiling and pointing out
how many sheep pictures her friend had taken so far. But to be honest
they are a cuddly bunch. The sheep not the French girls, but then
again.....
The
cliffs on the other side, the west side of the headland were
breathtaking. I mean even the young ladies were in second place to
the majesty and awesomeness of the weathered cliff faces, covered in
birds, grass, sheep and Spagnum moss. I struggled to take it all in,
as my appreciations grew for the beauty of nature all around me, and
the power of the Ocean below. The day could hardly get any better
than this. Sunshine, amazing views out over the Atlantic Ocean and
the remainder of the North sea to my right, and company and sheep poo
and wet feet from traipsing through boggy mossy marshlands.
I
helped the girls by taking some of those incredible shots you like to
have, but are hardly ever in, yourself. They appreciated it I think.
Julie's camera battery had died because the zoom had used so much of
the power, but Ninon just kept clicking away at everything like a
woman possessed. When we finally arrived close to the end of the
headland we could see the lighthouse clearly less than a quarter of a
mile away, which I believe is now automatic rather than manned 24/7.
I
made use of the good lighting to do a video which I hope will tell
the story of the arrival and my deep relief at not having to go any
further north now. Finally at the top of Great Britain, where our
land boarders end, I felt a huge triumph at being here after 14 weeks
of walking, and about 800 miles I guess of actual travel. I have done
a lot of to-ing and fro-ing as you may know not following any route
religiously and soaking up the mood and the spirit of the places I
have visited as best I can.
The
young ladies and I ate a snack for our lunches, and soon decided that
we had better begin the return journey, and I have much further to
walk than they. The day had produced one or two small and brief
showers but in the main it was still an incredible day, one that I
shall remember for a while. The way back seemed far longer than the
path out here earlier, but well I know that arrivals can be more
exciting therefore, the chance to misjudge the time and distances,
taken by the newness of all that you are seeing.
The
girls had decided not to phone the host of the B&B to collect
them, I think they wanted the chance to find an alternative return
method. Although I was walking with them I none the less didn't
assume that we had to return together, and it would be far more
difficult to find a solution where we all could be accommodated in a
vehicle. Without wanting to take charge of their situation I looked
for a way to help if they wanted it. In the finish, no cars were
going our way anyway, so it was out of our hands really. I saw a
minibus and believed it was one of those that do the small community
collections so stopped the driver to ask if they could give us a ride
to the south. The lady driving said that she was not going to be
going that direction for a while but if we still hadn't been taken by
the time she returned south she would help us.
So
that is what happened, just as the girls were seemingly getting
worried about not getting back or having to walk the whole of the
next 2 or 3 miles on top of what they had already walked so far, the
bus came along and took us all to Baltasound. The lady had a young
girl with her, and it turned out that the people who run the B&B
were her other grandparents, so the girls were to be taken directly
there. I said my farewells to Julie and Ninon as I was dropped off by
the kind and helpful driver, close to the main road junction. It only
took two vehicles to have passed me, before the third, a lady who
works at the shop I had visited earlier and her husband picked me up
and took me almost all the way back to Uyeasound on the south of the
islands.
And
here I am drying my socks and typing after a lovely hot shower, in
the comfort of my own private room (nobody else here) next to the
storage heater. Thanking my lucky stars, and the Universe for
answering nearly all of my prayers and request.
I
feel it might be time to go back to Lerwick tomorrow, but I shall
continue to let the omens and the opportunities flow to give me a
clue as to where to go next. I have pretty well covered the whole of
the Shetland isles now, some of it several times. The people have
proved again to be as good as any others I have met around great
Britain, though I do have some observations to outline, and this is
not specifically about Shetland.
It
would seem part of the common culture for many people, (fortunately
not everyone) to put themselves into a self imposed bubble. They live
in a self contained home environment, with every luxury one can have
on credit. They leave that periodically in the confines of a self
contained vehicle bubble, where again they have every device known to
man to accommodate their tastes and personal pleasure whilst
traveling. They enter into another pretty safe work environment
bubble, or shopping trip bubble and find few or certainly create few
opportunities to expand this bubble very far to include others,
especially strangers. They claim that they are independent free
thinking people but have such rigid views that they cannot see that a
stranger poses no immediate threat to them, except the need to maybe
invest some of their precious time and resources. And they let
precious few people close to, or into this bubble type comfort zone
world thingy, for a fear of things changing too dramatically that
they might actually enjoy a new experience and learn something new
from a stranger.
And
this is the basis for my walking project, IMAGINE.
Imagine,
walk with a stranger, make a new friend.
To try to help myself and anyone
else sponsor a willingness to expand our horizons and our comfort
zones and include rather than exclude others despite some obvious or
not so obvious unique natures and differences. To be a society built
on trust founded in knowledge rather than fear, and a world leader in
compassionate and sustainable peaceful endeavours to create something
rather than to destroy it all with our selfishness, collectively and
individually. Britain could be great again if we knew one another and
paid attention to the root of the problem rather than legislating to
get a few bad apples off the streets. Give people hope Mr Prime
Minister, give them self respecting careers with a future, and wages
that can equate to real living costs. See to it that they get the
best type of health care and education that our money can buy,
and not line the pockets of rich industrialists and bankers. Bring
prosperity back to our own shores by actually producing something
ourselves that can be made and distributed here, that doesn't add
stress to the environment and ecology of the planet in the pursuit of
filling greedy corporate pockets.
Like Gandhi said, be the change
you wish to see. So let Britain be the change and become great again,
with sound economic reasoning, not those given to back handed deals
with friends in high places. Make us proud by being honest in all you
do and not by being bullied into schemes that make only rich people
richer and the rest of us suffer the illness of our time, GREED.
Aww I feel much better now I
have said that, and gotten it off my chest. This is in fact a brief
but accurate summary of what the people of the nation are actually
telling me and talking about amongst themselves, but it still needs
to reach government ears and be acted upon. There is still time to
save the Nation further embarrassments by leading the way and not
following the rest into the drought that is coming.........
PAY ATTENTION TO THE PEOPLE.
Read Tolstoy...
