Scottish Highlands and Islands ....

[Micky]

The next day I got the Adventure Cub out and rode down to the South Lighthouse ....

Nearby is the Fairisle Cemetery ...

Bro Dave's wife ...

And a memorial to the sailors of the Spanish Armada who perished here ...

Their Flagship, the El Gran Grifon was found on the sea bed not far from the North Landing. The report says it was to the south of the island but locals say it was to the north!

Continuing round the loop of a road, past several crofts, we have the bank of solar panels contributing their share to the islands electricity ...

Past the shop and Dave's croft, past the new bird observatory not yet completed, to the North Landing lighthouse ...

The fog horn is out on top of the cliffs, but the path is deemed not safe ...

More on its way ....

 

[Micky]

Sheep Rock in the distance ... an unmistakable landmark

The road to the lighthouse ... the Adventure Cub is in its element

The new bird observatory, not finished yet. The old one burnt down ... a wiring fault in the roof. When completed it will have a full time resident Warden and people will come from around the world if the sighting of a rare bird is made.

The Cub is put away and young/old Jimmy Stout calls for a wee dram. He's the son of the Jimmy Stout who witnessed the Heinkel 111 crash landing. He too is a widower like Bro Dave and myself. He didn't stop too long or it could have got messy

From the walk ...

All the electricity generated on the island is sent to this huge bank of batteries ...

An islander is employed to look after them, keep them topped up. They have their own distilled water manufacturing process. If a battery becomes faulty it can be isolated and removed/replaced! Electricity is drawn from these batteries but kept 'topped up' by solar and wind power. If they drop below 40% then the diesel generators kick in

It's Sunday ... I'm booked off of Fairisle on the Tuesday Good Shepherd sailing. But the skipper Neil Best is making an unscheduled crossing on Monday ie in the morning. Bro Dave says that I need to be on it because if not I might not get off the island for another week! I get my gear together ... we're good to go. Another wee dram then eh

Such is island life ...

 

[Oldfatguy]

Great report & pictures.

OFG

 

[Daytripper]

I walked up to Vaarsetter from Dave's Croft, to the crash site. All that remains are the two engines and part of the tail assembly ...

It had been a sunny day. Dave's sunshine recorder ...

We aint finished yet ....

Very cool! As an aviation buff these sorts of historical artifacts laying on the ground where fate left them are always very fascinating to me. There are quite a few WW2 planes crashed over here in Alaska. Some are US mfg fighter planes that crashed (usually by weather) which were being flown to Fairbanks by US pilots (including some women pilots) as part of the Lend Lease program and picked up by the Russians to go fight on their front lines. Parts on the Aleutian Islands are Japanese and US planes destroyed fighting in what is now known as "the forgotten war" because so little of it made it on the historical record.

 

[Micky]

There is a wonderful book available "A Higher Call" by Adam Makos, telling the true story of ....

Quote ... "Five days before Christmas 1943 a badly damaged Allied bomber struggled to fly over wartime Germany. At its controls was a twenty-one year old American pilot. Half his crew lay wounded or dead. Suddenly a Messerschmitt fighter pulled up on the bombers tail ... the German pilot was an ace, who with the squeeze of the trigger could bring down the struggling bomber."

This is their story, the story of 2nd Lieutenant Charlie Brown 2nd Lieutenant Franz Stigler, the two pilots whose lives collided that day. It was an encounter that would haunt them both for forty years, until, as old men, they would seek one another out and reunite. Adam Makos spent several years travelling between the two, checking facts and details, before putting the story down on paper.

 

[Micky]

Back on the case ...

So Sunday evening it was "All systems Go" The Good Shepherd IV would be sailing in the morning and that could possibly be the only sailing for the week. So I would be leaving one day earlier than originally planned but at least I'd had a few days quality 'catch up' with my Bro.
Dave had airstrip duties the Monday morning so I got my Adventure Cub out of the shed and got it loaded up.

Said goodbye to ol' Shep ...

... and let myself out.

I was the only one for the ferry. One car loaded for Shetland, and one Adventure Cub. Another rough crossing with the Cub well lashed down behind the front deck, sheltered from most of the breaking waves over the bow. I was the only passenger, people must have known ...

25 mile ride up from Grutness for the overnight ferry from Lerwick to Aberdeen. Again the bike was well lashed down by the North Links crew ... take note P&O you can't absolve your liabilities! No cabins were available so I had to make do with a reclining seat in a 'quiet' room. Pah, there's no such thing as a quiet room on a ship sailing through the night. I catnapped.

I knew my way out of Aberdeen and was soon heading south the next morning for the last night in Bonnie Scotland. The day was bright, the roads were clear and I was singing along, Last night in Bonnie Scotland?

You guessed ...

And a superb home made curry to go with it

A couple of nights at the Buccleuch Arms to chill out and take in the enormity of my likkle escapade on the Adventure Cub. It never missed a beat, hummed and sang along the highways and byways of the back roads where possible. More miles covered by ferries than on the road.
Down through the North Pennines and Yorkshire Dales ...

To The Bridge Inn at Grinton. A pleasant place, warm welcome, but the Chef was grumpy

I like to see the old pub signs ...

Friendly local bar ...

Adventure Cub padlocked to the table at the rear, outside my room ...

I must be getting old ... evening dinner and the child is allowed her iPad on the table

Dinner was OK ... nothing to complain about, just food, but served without the love of his job, for that's what it was!

That's it folks, back home and back to reality for me ... to plan the next 'adventure'

Thanks for following

Micky

 

[Kritou]

You see, there you go again making assumptions - the young lady is most likely a UKGSer subscriber following M’off …

 

[Micky]

Never thought about it that way

 

[Oldfatguy]

Looking forward to your next adventure.

OFG

 

[BoonDonkey]

Thanks Micky
That was a charming tale.