Shetland, day 1
| Date | Trip |
| 04.07.26 | The Knab, Lerwick |
| 05.07.26 | Ronas Hill, Lanchestoo, Faan Hill, Sae Breck |
| 06.07.26 | Scalla Field, Hook Kame, The Ward |
| 07.07.26 | Sumburgh Head, The Compass, Fitful Head, St Ninian’s Isle, Ward of Scousburgh |
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 04.07.26 | The Knab | 41m | 31m | Shetland (mainland) | – | MAP |
Saturday: We had talked about going to Shetland for a few years, and this summer, we made a sudden decision to take the trip. As we didn’t know what kind of weather to expect, we chose the trip that included departure on Saturday and return on Wednesday. It would be a short stay, but we typically get a lot out of the days we have available.
Late Friday evening, we had packed and were ready for a very early drive to Bergen airport Flesland. Then I noticed that I hadn’t received a check-in notification from the airline (Loganair). I had to create an account to do the check-in and provide a whole lot of information. When I got to the “Visa” part of the schema, I started wondering – we don’t need Visa for the UK, right?
It turned out that we didn’t, but an ETA (Electronic travel authorisation) was required in order to enter the UK. I felt a sense of panic, especially when the documentation said it could take up to 3 days to get the approval. Our flight left in 15 hours!
To my defense, I have made quite a number of travels to the UK without needing anything else than a passport. But I should have considered “Brexit” and done proper research.
Sometimes, one has more luck than what is deserved and a minute after I submitted my application on-line, I got an “Approval” mail in return. Two minutes later, Anne had hers and we were utterly relieved.
Dear ARNT OEYVIND FLATMO,
Your ETA application has been approved. You can now travel to the UK.
We left Sogndal just before 5am Saturday morning and reached Bergen Flesland airport in good time for the departure of. We wanted some extra time to find parking, as it had was impossible to find available parking online the day before. The first parking area was full, but we were lucky and found a spot in another area, not very far from the airport.
The 12:40pm departure was slightly delayed, but at 12:30pm, we could board the plane. I started to relax. But not fully. What if there was fog on Shetland? Then what? I decided not to worry about that and just enjoy the flight.
The 1h:10m flight was perfect for me. It’s not enough time to give me the usual headache I get in airplanes (from the cabin pressure – equivalent to around 2000m elevation)
Shetland presented itself in the worst possible way – thick fog and rain. I was impressed by the fact that they actually landed the plane. They’ve done this before. However, the weather forecast was uplifting so now it was just a matter of getting to the hotel in Lerwick and wait for the sunshine.
I drove on the left-hand side of the road in Cyprus, but with automatic gear. This car had a manual gearbox, and it was also on the “wrong” side. I am good at worrying about all sorts of things, but this hadn’t ruined my sleep.
As long as I could focus on the road only, the driving went fine. Anne was taking care of the navigation, so all I had to do was not to crash the car.
Driving in Lerwick was a little more complicated, as more things were going on – which required more concentration. But eventually, we found the hotel and a place to park.
Our hotel was the Queens Hotel. A modest sign revealed its location.
The hotel was expensive, even by Norwegian standards. But that’s how it is. They told us that the hotel had been full up until now. Apparently, more episodes of the BBC crime drama “Shetland” had been filmed.
The booking experience was also very different. A few days earlier, I got on the phone with the manager and he confirmed that he had a room for us, for 4 nights. Then he sent me an invoice which I didn’t pay, as I had additional questions. But I couldn’t get hold of the manager again, so by the time we stepped into the hotel reception, I didn’t know for sure that we actually had a hotel room. Nor did the person in the reception and she had to call the manager to sort it out. But in the end, we got our room.
The hotel room took us decades back in time. You don’t pay for the facilities or standard. You pay to be here. Period. But we weren’t here to be picky about the room standard. The location was fantastic, right by the sea.
Just beneath us was a small beach where Anne looked forward to taking her morning baths.
Like on the Faroe Islands (and probably other places too) – if you haven’t made a reservation at a restaurant, you don’t get anything to eat. We were lucky and got a reservation at No88 Kitchen & Bar for 5pm.
But first, time to get to know Lerwick. And now, the weather was just fine!
We enjoyed Lerwick and especially Commercial Street. This was a place where we could go shopping!
The FIFA soccer world cup was ongoing, and another important factor was to find out where we could see the Brazil – Norway game in the knockout round the next day. It seemed like someone was rooting for Norway in Lerwick…
It would have been nice to explore the islands, but there wouldn’t be time for that on this trip. There was enough to do on the “mainland” island.
I had noticed on Peakbook.org that there was a point called “The Knab”. As we wouldn’t get to do any hiking today, the next best thing would be to at get least a named point.
This was a golf course, and I understood that this whole area was called “The Knab”.
There was a house (a rescue centre?) on the highest point (with a fence around it). We settled for something that looked like a summit marker and claimed ascent…
But it was only 20 minutes until dinner, so we had to get back to the restaurant.
The more we walked, the more we enjoyed the town.
At No88 Kitchen & Bar, we could finally “land” a little. All potential hurdles had been overcome and now we were here, with a room and a car. A “salute” was in order…
I hadn’t eaten Fish & Chips in 30 years, at least. And so that’s what we ordered. And it tasted so good. This would clearly not be my last Fish & Chips before we left Shetland.
After a long day, it was time to return to the hotel and get some sleep…
I was already looking forward to the next day. The plan was to visit the highest top on the Shetland islands – Ronas Hill (450m)
The Knab & Town walk: 2km, 60 vertical meters, 0h:34m