Think of it: From the Norwegian west coast, it takes no more than 30-40 hours to sail to the “Auld Rock”, as the Shetlanders themselves used to call their islands, situated on the border of the North Atlantic Ocean. Until favorable winds allow to cross over, one can slowly continue north along the beautiful Norwegian west coast, turning a waiting time into a Norwegian cruise. Any point between Lista in the south to Statt in the north is equally fine for setting over to Shetland. And finally, would no weather window allow for a crossing that year at all, the planned sail to Shetland would turn into a summer among Norwegian fjords. Not much to loose, in other words.

If you do reach Shetland, you will be rewarded by a dramatic scenery, Norse history, fantastic wildlife, wonderful people and great music.

The cruising ground itself is gorgeous and not too challenging, actually. Contrary to Orkney and the rest of Scotland, for instance, you do not need to take tidal currents into account on Shetland. Tides are, of course, in existence, but do only provoke a possible hazard around the north and south caps of Shetland as well as in Yell Sound between Mainland and Yell. Navigation is hence easy, but preferably done at daylight, which is no problem during summer at this high latitude.

On our bikes, we first cycled to the chocolate factory run by a couple who moved to Unst some years ago, not knowing what to do on this remote place on earth other than they were sure about their desire to live here. They had a couple of months to figure out something and after a unbiassed brain-storming they decided to manufacture luxury hand-made chocolate. They knew nothing about chocolate manufacturing and since there was no one on Shetland either who could help them, they decided to learn it as a handicraft and began to experiment. Today, they make some 4.000 chocolates a week, every one of them done with personal love and care. (www.foordschocolates.com)

I must say, I got really got inspired by the people on Shetland! Possibly we, too, should try something totally new? If you don't know the profession, you can always learn! It seems never to be too late!

We really fell in love with the Outskerries on our way south along the coast of Shetland. The days of hiding away have gone, but there are still hidden treasures to be found in these waters around the Outskerries, which is filled with wrecks as numerous as their stories about gold and silver cargo.

A sign on the door told us that a key could be obtained at the Scalloway Hotel.

The walking distance to the Hotel was just long enough to justify a pint of draft, before heading back to the castle carrying a huge old fashioned key with an even larger key-ring named “Castle Key”. The pints in the hotel had changed the day into twilight and it was a spooky feeling to approach the ruin at dusk, to find the key hole and to open the old heavy door leading into the dark rooms that followed behind the arm-thick walls. The door closed behind us with a squeaking sound as we continued along the dark corridors leading further in. Suddenly, as if managed by a ghost, all lights went on. It is not every day we almost got a heart attack from a movement detector!

We left the cold outside and followed the music and entered the Douglas Arms in Lerwick. On Tuesday nights, traditional Shetland fiddle music is being played here, which we didn't want to miss. No visit to Shetland can be regarded as complete without a traditional music night! The music is swinging and very special, since it has not been influenced by any celtic traditions and hence totally lacks both the harp and the bagpipe.

For sure, The Shetland Fiddle is a great companion to a pint of “Auld Rock” ale, brewed by Sonny at his Valhalla Brewery on the northernmost island in Britain.