The Journey North

Well, it has begun. Or at least I have left home and travelled towards the far North! Three trains took us and our bikes to Aberdeen, via an overnight stop in Edinburgh, and now we are on the overnight ferry to Lerwick in Shetland. It suddenly feels more like a proper adventure. So far the sea has been like a millpond and after a couple of excellent pints of Dark Island from the Orkney brewery, we are tucked snugly into our beds in our cabin.

Early on Sunday we will arrive in a part of this country I have never visited. After breakfast in Lerwick, the cycling begins in earnest. A southerly wind should push us all the way to the top and the last milestone in the Journey North, the island of Unst. We have 2 more short ferries to ride along the way, as we ride first up Mainland Shetland, and then across the island of Yell, to reach day’s end just before we run out of land altogether. And all that just to reach the start of my my map adventure, on OS Landranger map 1.