Paddles with an Anas acuta...... unashamedly biased toward the sea kayak of that name (actually the voyages of two boats, one 'traffic over gold', one 'quill')

Thursday 12 September 2013

Shetland: St. Ninian's and Fitful Head

 St. Ninian's Isle makes a good walk in windy weather,


 and Spiggie Bay a fine campsite.
 The Isle is also an interesting paddle, despite the motion. or maybe because of it, there was a wild atmosphere which made up for missing out on some of the caves.

The circumnavigation is completed by a portage across the tombolo joining it to the Mainland. Whilst we were there this beach was voted one of the 10 best bathing  beaches in the World in a travel magazine. A designation that had Shetland folk laughing since the water is so cold that no-one bathes there. Presumably the judges worked from photographs rather than personal experience.

Note the head torch, essential paddling kit in Shetland.

Yesterday it was a severely windswept 'best bathing beach'.



Heading south towards Fitful Head the triangle of Stack o' da Noup dominates the coast.
 The Wick of Shunni is a bay on a vast scale, this corner was the only landing place out of the swell.
 The Kame and the Nev rise to nearly 200m in a vertical wall of rock.
 This is the view from Fitful Head, domain of the bonxie,
 and the view north back along the coast.
Time for a well deserved tea at our camp at Spiggie.

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