Day 18 2/6 Day 1 Shetland Car Show - tour day 1

Day 18 Shetland : Day 1 Car Show tour

Today is the first day of the 4 day Shetland Car Show - the ferry arrives this morning with most of the offshore participants and we had been asked to get to the ferry terminal as the meeting point for a day of touring.  It is a cold and wet morning so we finish breakfast, rug up in warm clothing, and today for the first time we have to put the hoods up on all three cars.  This not Dale's preferred form of motoring and he is not happy as with the hood up on the Speed 20 as it is particularly difficult for the driver to see.  The navigator on the other hand is very happy!! This morning it is wet and getting wetter!

Waking up to a bleak and wet morning- a hoods up day!

A wet trip into Lerwick

We arrived in Lerwick at the ferry terminal only to find 1 car there?  They were as much in the dark with were everyone else was but we knew where they were headed and decided to catch-up....the weather is getting worse!  Fortunately the prewar cars were sent on a much shorter route, in and around Lerwick.  The post war cars were sent up north on 2 ferry crossings all the way up to the island of Unst.  That would not be fun in this weather.

Coming into Lerwick.

We went to the Scalloway Marine Centre which carries out marine research and also trains people for various marine and engineering trades including the merchant navy.  We were given unusual access to the facilities of the school which includes a virtual life size ships' bridge.  We were given a demonstration of various weather conditions and it is quite an odd feeling when visually the room seems to be moving even though you know it isn’t. The bridge setup is quite realistic, shows all the local waters and can be programmed for all types of weathers and situations.

Prewar cars at the Marine Centre

Screens in the "virtual" ships' bridge

 

The boys (Alan and Dale) loved the machine shop.

 

Ship's diesel engine in the engineering departments machine shop

We come out and the weather is not getting any better

We had lunch at the cafe inside the marine centre.  Then the tour headed to the Shetland Bus display which we had already visited on Tuesday so we decided to head off North to Simburgh in search of Puffins.

On the road North in search of Puffins

Some roads are weird - going through backyards!!

Weather was dreadful, force 7 winds and most of the Puffins either hiding in their burrows or out to sea picking up dinner. We did spot a few but thank goodness for telephoto lenses as they were some considerable distance away.  But we did spot some!

Coming into Puffin country....hoping they are home!

Yes we got lucky...this one appeared to be dancing...rain dance maybe!!

Has it stopped raining yet!!

Seal basking in the "sun"...Initially I thought it was a dead fish!!

The trip north involved crossing the island's main airport runway, they close the road whilst the planes take off or land, quite surprisingly the runway has a large white arrow on it telling the pilot which way to go (it’s a big drop into the sea if you go the wrong way).

Stopped at the crossing boom gates at the airport!

Gates are operated manually on each side of the road.

Landing plane crosses the road

Looking down the runway!

The arrow showing the direction of the tarmac

Tonight we decided to take Helen and Tony out for dinner and their choice was "Frankies Fish and Chips" not far from Lunna House.  It is extremely well known on the island and one does have to book to get a table!! Each day the menu has the fish being served and the name of the boat that caught it.  They are known to be very particular about the quality of their fish.  Not being a fish eater I did try the Haddock (similar in texture and taste to our flake perhaps a little softer).  I didn't mind it at all.  

The boat name and details responsible for the day's catch are always at the bottom of the menu.