Day 43: 21st March POSH

Today’s trivia is P.O.S.H:

“Posh” is commonly believed to be an acronym for “Port Out, Starboard Home,”
Referring to the best, cooler cabins on British steamships traveling between England and India. Passengers on these sides avoided the intense sun, making their trip more luxurious and expensive.
However, this “Posh” origin is considered a popular urban myth, as evidence lacks.
Alternative theories suggest “posh” originated from 1890s slang for a “dandy” or “swell,” rather than a maritime acronym.

The day started for u̶s̶ me up at 5am or so. W̶e̶ I went to Sumburgh Head Lighthouse to see if there were any more scout puffins about.

Yes, there were lots . .

The puffins aren’t really a big bird and arnt fussed about me being within 20m. Over the moon I got to see them before flying off for the day plus the only.one there.

Back at the hotel, 2IC was ready and waiting for breakfast. After showing 2IC the photos, 2IC said would have gotten up too😱 . . . .

As nothing is far in Shetland and being the tour operator, councillor, first aid office, bank manager etc etc I took 2IC to Sumburgh in the hope of seeing the puffins. But alas, they’d flown the coop for the day.

We drove to West Burra and crossed three bridges, resulting in visiting three more Shetland Islands to be under our belt . . .

The bridges weren’t too exciting though. The houses had a Scandinavian look to them.

We took a hike to the lighthouse at Ness of Westshore . . .

Along the way, lots of rubbish washed ashore . . .

Shetland isn’t as prestine as made out. The fishing industry has caused havoc for sealife and bird life. I didn’t see the oil industry, but I can only imagine😱. At least wind farmers and a undersea connection to the mainland is weening the island off diesel and gas power generation.

The lighthouse . . .

Then a stop at Scalloway Castle, but alas it was closed and under renos. Just typical of the rest of the UK.

Having travelled most of the mainland, it was time to explore Lerwick. A 🚽 was required, so stopped at Peerie Shop Café. They stuffed up our cake orders completely, but luckily the 🔥🍫 and marshmallows were correct.

Around town . . .

Then passed a cafe, Blyde Welcome, thought they may know something about ☕️. Which they somewhat did as the espresso wasn’t bad and 2IC enjoyed her cappuccino. That’s two finds in the whole of the UK so far!

We did a bit of window shopping on the inside. 2IC got some books, I got a Shetland bennie and Wise got a good commission!

It was then time to say Mar sin leibh to Jimmy and Tosh, but Jimmy wasn’t home . . .

and Tosh had closed up the station for the night . . .

I did manage to get photos at low tide too . . .

So we arrived at the ferry terminal 30min early and waited. Having learnt from coming over, when handed the boarding passes, I asked where are the drink vouchers and access to VIP lounge. Yes, I got that blank look, she went away and came back with them. We were in luck, not only were we VIP but also POSH (our cabin was Port Out, Starboard Home). Apparently a good thing.

As the lines were cast, the captain said it’ll be a relative smooth sailing with 1m swells reducing as the sailing progresses south. That’s 1m less than coming over🙏. So.I took two sea sickness tablets, just in case😱🤮😱.

The pilot handed over navigation to the captain and we were officially on our own.

Not sure that POSH is to our advantage with being subjected to the Scottish weather maybe we’d prefer SOPH!