The Ponies and Sheep of the Islands and All Around Ordaal House

Friday, October 28, 2016 ~ by Amy

Though we saw Shetland ponies near the ferry terminal, we saw far more sheep than ponies as we drove around the islands. There are thousands of sheep grazing the barren moors, the peat bogs and the dry heather covered hills. There are fences, but also frequent cattle guards and signs for sheep crossings. We were told that prior to our arrival they had had little rain on the islands so much of the land was brown and barren, including vast areas that I came to find out are peat. There were also acres and acres of closely cropped green pastures, all dotted with sheep of many colors. At a glance many seem white but there are a variety of colors and markings.

Colorful Shetland Sheep

Hanging in our bedroom at The Bothy was a framed poster of sheep markings. We ended up studying it instead of sleeping one night, challenging each other on our proficiency with the multiplication tables. According to the Shetland Sheep Society there are eleven whole colours of sheep and more than thirty recognized markings. That's a lot of variety! Here's a copy of that photo that I found online.

Colors and varieties of Shetland Sheep

I've always had a fondness for Shetland ponies. When I was little we had a Shetland/Welsh pony named “Tickles”. He was a spunky thing but I was very fond of him. My mom made me a small stuffed pony with flexible legs attached with buttons and a yarn mane and tail. The fleece fur was much the same color as Tickle's and she even stitched on a star on his forehead like Tickles had. I still keep him in my room fifty years later.

Here's what the official Shetland website has to say about this sturdy breed of ponies, “For at least 4000 years, in comparative isolation, these fascinating small ponies have roamed the exposed hills and moors of Shetland. From the 1840s, Shetland ponies began to be used in British coal mines as new laws forbade the employment of women, girls and, later, boys. Hardy, resilient and very strong for their size, the ponies made ideal substitutes as they were able to pass through low underground tunnels hauling truckloads of coal. At home, Shetland ponies were used as workhorses - cultivating the land and transporting peat from hills - an essential addition to crofting families.

Wild looking island pony

Shetland ponies are foaled in the fields, live in the fields and die in the fields. Ponies graze on hill ground, known locally as common grazing or 'scattald'. The acres of rough heather clad moorland may appear scant subsistence for any animal. However, Shetland ponies have developed good conversion rates for food and high milk yield for their foals. In some parts, where land and sea meet, the ponies can supplement their diet with nutrients from mineral rich seaweed on beaches. There is plenty of open space to roam freely and ponies can seek natural shelter, if need be, behind hillocks, old stone walls or peat banks.” www.shetland.org

After breakfast and several cups of coffee, we bundled up in layers to go for a walk. First though, we wanted to offer our squash peelings and leftover pasta to the resident chickens. Alyssa brought a dishpan full outside. Our hostess, Catriona, told us to just go out and say, “Here chooky, chooky, chooky!”, and they'd come running. So we did. But long before Alyssa could hand the chickens some food, the vicious wind grabbed a pile of squash peels out and blew them across the grass!

Alyssa feeding the chickens

We continued our walk around the Ordaal farmyard and down to the sea. The wind ripped at our clothes and it was almost impossible to stand up straight. Here, the North Sea flows into a channel called the Balta Sound (hence, the very original name for the village, Baltasound).

The sea flowing onto the land

Balta Sound

Sunshine on the sea and windblown grass

These boots I bought from Costco have been indispensable 

Alyssa trying to hang onto her hood

And the sunshine is back, but the windchill was still amazingly cold

Looking back toward the house we could better see how our 300 year old cottage tied in with the main house (which was added on only 200 or so years ago!).

Bench...a perfect place to watch for the Northern Lights or the sea

In the foreground, our 300 year old cottage

Screen porch, our shared entrance to the main house

Continuing our walk, we came across this small stone marker near a fence. No idea what it says or what/who it commemorates.

Stone marker

There are four Shetland ponies pastured adjacent to the farm. As soon as we approached, they came close to nuzzle us and be scratched behind the ears.

Ordaal ponies

Though all mares, a couple of the ponies playfully nipped, kicked and reared up at each other, pawing the air. I doubt they meant any harm but it showed their playful, spunky side.

Dancing ponies

When we could stand the cold wind no longer, we went back to the cottage for a delicious lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches.

Cottage door

Since we planned on exploring the island after lunch, we kept an eye on the rapidly changing weather.

Kitchen window

View out the window of the sun and rain

 As we drove off, the sky opened up and dumped on our car, nearly obliterating the landscape. Knowing it would change, we followed our cutely drawn but rather faulty island map and went to find us some castle ruins.

Map of Unst

An Evening at Ordaal House

Thursday, October 26, 2016

When we pulled into the driveway marked “Ordaal House,” we looked around for a logical place to park so my Mom could knock on our hosts’ door and let them know we had arrived. She knocked, but there was no answer. We waited and there was still no answer.

With Airbnb, hosts decide how they want to let you in to their guesthouses, and let you know via messaging on the website, depending most on whether their own house is located near the guesthouse or not. They might tell you to knock or call when you arrive and expect them to show you to their guesthouse, or tell you where the keys to the guesthouse are located, or give you a keycode to open the guesthouse door. Most of our hosts on this trip have personally let us into their guesthouses and shown us around. We thought that was the case with our stay at Ordaal House, but double checked what our hosts, Rob and Catriona, had said since they didn’t seem to be around anywhere. Just then, a silver car came speeding in to the driveway, and a middle-aged kindly looking man with a scruffy, graying beard jumped out of the car and came to meet us. He apologized and said he had to run and get his daughter from school.

We followed him around their house and to the guesthouse entry, which shared an enclosed porch with their back door. The enclosed porch was full of clothes drying on racks and other odds and ends. It seemed to be their storage place for stuff they didn’t know what to do with.

The guesthouse was nice, with a sitting area, full kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms. It was another place with little heat, but he assured us that if we needed more heat we could simply flip a couple switches on a tiny metal stove with an artificial fire. We did need more warmth, especially after carrying our luggage in through 50mph winds and very cold, damp air. The stove did create a bit of heat, as it must have had some type of heating element and a fan.

With the butternut squash, red onion, penne pasta, dried sage, Double Gloucester cheese, and Shetland Dairies butter we had purchased at the local shop, my Mom started making supper. It was the first meal she had cooked since we started this trip, and it was delicious. The smell of red onion sizzling in butter filled the kitchen, and it was rather nice to not have to depend on just snacks for supper.

After supper, we eventually sat down to do some blogging and look at what we wanted to see the next day, our full day on the Isle of Unst. We heard a knock on the door- it was Rob, telling us that we might get to see a bit of the Northern Lights! We were excited because when we had first arrived, he told us that they had seen the Northern Lights the past two nights, but tonight would be too cloudy to see them. Well, it seemed that the clouds had cleared for us, because the dark blue sky was full of stars. It was extremely cold and windy outside, and I was already in my pajamas so it was even colder. We managed to stick it out for a while, and my Mom gave me her sweatshirt since it was so cold. I had brought my phone with for a flashlight, which we definitely needed as we tried to make our way around the house, hoping to see some of the lights on that side. We waited, but couldn’t really see anything but beautiful constellations and the occasional shooting star. Because of the wind and cold night air, we decided it was about time to head back inside. Upon entering the enclosed porch and shutting out the vicious wind, we turned around and saw what we thought was a greenish glow on the horizon. It was so hard to tell because our eyes were having a hard time adjusting in the dark, but we think we did get to see a bit of the Northern Lights after all! We also got to see a freakishly large, dark cloud zooming through the sky and changing shape as it moved. It was quite the experience.

I kept an eye out the windows the rest of the evening in case there was more to see, but it clouded up soon after we went inside. We worked on our blog again for a little while, then made our way upstairs to get some sleep. 

On to the Shetland Islands!

Thursday, October 27, 2016 ~ by Amy

At 6:00 am, a very pleasant woman's voice came over the Hjaltland intercom, letting us know that we would be arriving in Lerwick, Mainland Shetland Island at 7:30 and that breakfast was now being served. We had had a rather rough night with the boat tossing side to side and stem to stern. We never quite fell off our bunks but came close. Thus, we were not ready to get up at 6:00, or even at 7:00 when she'd given her second announcement and our alarm had gone off. Because we had paid for valet parking, we didn't have to get off the ferry until 9:30. We dressed and then had a light breakfast. Again, we had prepaid for an “all inclusive” breakfast but the thought of eating meat after rocking around all night was disturbing. At last, at 9:30, we made our way down the walkway, picked up our keys and drove off. As we left, we could see the underbelly of the ferry yawning open where our car had been parked.

Aberdeen ~ Lerwick Ferry with car door open

NorthLink Ferry, Lerwick Harbor

As we drove out of the lot we saw a welcome sign in several language. As has been true anytime we leave a tourist area, there was a reminder for driving on the left. I realized then that it has finally become natural for me to walk to the right side of the car and to drive on the left. Undoing a forty-year habit of driving on the right, from the left side of the car only took about a week!  

Welcome to the Shetland Islands!

The Shetland Islands are the northernmost point of the UK.  There are four main inhabited islands, getting smaller as you go north ~ Mainland, Yell, Fetlar and Unst.  We would be staying two nights on Unst. To get there, we would drive north up to the top of the mainland, take a ferry to Yell, drive all the way up Yell and get on another ferry to Unst.  One thing that drastically changed on our ride over was the weather.  When we left Aberdeen it was only cloudy with a few showers.  As we drove north on the mainland we could feel the wind pushing our car sideways and showers of rain and hail pounding it.  Another thing that changed was the scenery.  The land is shockingly desolate..almost a lunar landscape for miles and miles.  Surprisingly, it is well populated with sheep. They roam everywhere, even on the roads.

Barren Shetland Island in the mist

Loch of Girlsta

Dales Voe

With more time than we needed to drive to the next ferry point, we attempted to find a castle that was clearly shown on the map. It didn't take long before we were sure we were lost. We somehow missed all of the inhabited area of the island and found ourselves out on narrow, barren roads, with almost zero visibility due to driving rains. Eventually we found our way back to the 2 lane road heading north and found the ferry terminal at the Booth of Toft.  Our Airbnb host on the Island of Unst had booked our crossings. She allowed time for us to tour around before our crossing from Mainland to Yell. We got there early so just took an earlier crossing. It didn't seem to matter whether we had reservations or not.

Sheep on the road ~ Toft ferry terminal

We drove onto the ferry deck. When the guy came to take our tickets I asked if we needed to remain in our cars. He encouraged us to get out an go up onto the waiting area. There was nice big windows and comfortable seats with a vending machine or two nearby. We were just getting comfortable when a guy came up the stairs and asked rather crossly, “Do you have a silver Mercedes?”. It took me a second to realize that he was talking to me and that I was indeed guilty as charged. “Well, your car alarm is going off!”. We ran back downstairs and shut it off. A trucker leaned out his window and told us that it was caused by the motion of the ferry. He suggested that we leave it unlocked. We did, and ran back upstairs. Just as we reached the top we heard it go off again. This time we just sat in the cold car and waited until we docked.

Leaving Ulsta, we drove north toward Gutcher, near the top of the Island of Yell. Once again we tried to follow signs to something historical...this time, The Old Haa Museum. Once again we couldn't find it. Their signage leaves much to be desired. Suddenly I saw a little church beside the road and pulled off in front of it. The sign on the building proclaimed it, “Church of Scotland, Saint Magnus, Hamnavoe, Yell.

Church of Scotland, Saint Magnus, Hamnavoe, Yell

I assumed that it wouldn't be open but figured that we could at least explore the enclosed cemetery. Surprisingly, both the outer gate and the front door of the church were unlocked. No one seemed to be about but I felt welcome to go in anyway.  

The church smelled of old wood and hymnals. A wooden plaque on the wall below the balcony listed Reverend J. Fallowsdaill as minister in 1562. It seems that by 1956 they abandoned the idea of painting names on the board while J. Scott was still serving.  

The thick stone walls were highlighted by the beautiful wood wrap around the windows.

Deep walls, accented by wood casings

New and old gravestones stood shoulder to shoulder in the stone walled cemetery. Many of the inscriptions were too worn to read. The Commonwealth war graves were noted on a single obelisk.

  

Cemetery, Church of Scotland, South Yell

Everywhere in Scotland, but especially on the islands it seems, there are the remains of stone castles and buildings. Many are unmarked or named and can be explored if you can find a road to them. We tried to reach this building but only ended up in a farmyard so we turned around and went back to the highway.  

Typical ruins alongside road

As we neared the ferry at Gutcher, we spotted a little cafe/store. We still hadn't eaten lunch and had time to kill so we went in. It was a cute little shop with all kinds of interesting things, a tiny lunch counter and a half dozen tables. The two women running it gladly modified their menu to make us a tuna melt and a grilled cheese. Both plates came with the requisite sides of salad, coleslaw and “crisps”.

Tuna melt with salad, coleslaw and crisps

Biscuits and sweets

 As we were looking at the packaged cookies, one of us commented about something about candy.  A guy nearby sort of made fun of us for our accent and for saying candy instead of sweets.  He said that we were obviously American.  I admitted that we are and asked him what I was supposed to have said and he said sweets.  I pointed to some desserts in a case and asked what they were and he said they were also sweets.  Not so defining.  I know what I want.

"American hot dogs" I'm curious what's in that can

The name says it all

We got our car in line for the ferry at 3:30 and soon were loaded. We stayed in our car this time to avoid running when the alarm goes off.  

Ferry to the island of Unst

The crossing only took 10-15 minutes and then we rolled off the car deck onto the island of Unst.

Welcome to Unst!  The most northern point of the UK

The first thing we saw as we drove away from the Belmont terminal was a field of Shetland ponies!

Shetland ponies ~ Unst, Shetland Is

As we drove north up the island, we could see it was pretty much the same as the other two...very desolate looking and mostly uninhabited. We followed our hostess' directions into the town of Baltasound, really just a tiny scattering of small buildings. A little sign pointing down a side road stated simply, “SHOP”. We pulled off to get some groceries. We had been told in advance that there were three shops in town that would carry most anything we need except gourmet produce, etc. The shop we walked into was amazing. It was crammed wall to wall with the most random stuff. The aisles were extremely narrow. They had little metal hand baskets that you could fill but no cart would have ever fit through the aisles. Cartons of six eggs were packed in with dry goods. Small heads of lettuce were by bars of soap. You could buy anything from mud boots (wellies), to casserole dishes, to sprinkles for your cupcakes. It reminded me a little of Marv Husa's store in Belden, North Dakota when I was a child, except probably less organized. And then, fully covering the checkout counter was an array of freshly baked bread.

Christmas corner ~ H. Henderson's shop

Plenty of housewares ~ H. Henderson's shop

We couldn't find any garlic but got a red onion, a butternut squash, a bag of dried pasta and a bottle of freeze dried sage. These would be dinner for 2 nights. Also a block of Scottish cheddar, a pack of sliced ham, six eggs, a loaf of wheat bread, a small bottle of milk, a tub of Shetland butter, a couple of bags of candy, a silicone spatula and 2 boxes of dry cereal. This would be 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches. All of that came to only 23 British pounds. That's a little over $25 US dollars for 6 meals for 2 people. Not bad for being on vacation where we'd normally spend at least that on lunch out.

From the store, we made our way down the narrow roads to our home for the next couple of days ~ Ordaal House.   

Ordaal House ~ near Baltasound, Unst, Shetland Is, UK