I survived Up Helly Aa! Despite the odds, I can now say that I’ve crossed the North Sea twice and seen a Viking Fire Festival. I still seem to be recovering and have spent the past three days sleeping in much later than I intended. Because I hate really long posts, I’m going to do this in two separate entries.
Day 1
It was confirmed first thing by the tour company that the ferry wouldn’t be sailing that night as intended, but we would still be spending the night on board, hoping to sail the following evening. The weather seemed to be going from bad to worse and at South Queensferry we were told the road we were trying to take to Braemar was closed due to snow. Instead, we went past the monument where King Alexander III fell down a cliff in 1286, more or less triggering the events that would eventually lead to the uprising hundreds of years later. We stopped for lunch at St Andrews, birthplace of golf, though as it was bucketing down we mostly stayed indoors. The next port of call was Dunnottar castle, a fantastic ruin on the east coast of Scotland. The weather had eased slightly so we were able to get pretty close to it. We also made a quick stop in the fishing village of Stonehaven before heading up to Aberdeen and the waiting ferry. Although it wasn’t sailing, we needed to be on board at the usual boarding time. To make the most of the evening, our tour held an impromptu ceilidh in the ship’s bar area, with one of the tour guides playing the accordion and singing folk songs. I love Scottish folk songs and ceilidhs, I wish we had the same thing in Australia. I even learnt a new song ‘Rattlin’ Bog’ which has been haunting me as I try to sleep for days now. We also learnt what happens when you combine whisky, a deserted ship and a children’s dress-ups box. It wasn’t pretty but it was very funny.
Day 2
Now that the weather had eased slightly, we made our way to the Tomnaverie standing stones, where Douggie the driver and pyromaniac, lit some torches so we could have our own mini procession just in case we didn’t make it to Shetland. We had the area all to ourselves and with everything covered in a fine layer of snow it was pretty brilliant to pretend to sacrifice one another on a hilltop in the heart of the Highlands. Warmed up with whisky and fire, we made our way to Balmoral, where we saw the church the Queen visits when she’s in Scotland and the churchyard where John Brown, Queen Victoria’s ghillie (and probably lover) is buried. We also stopped at Braemar, which is an idyllic town on the east side of the Cairngorms. More snow was predicted so we couldn’t stay long, in case we got trapped there. So we made our way back to the ferry where we got the great news the ship was sailing – honestly, none of us thought it would. I’m pretty sure that if it wasn’t for Up Helly Aa it would’ve been cancelled. Once on board I tried bravely to have dinner – unfortunately for a ferry that regularly crosses one of the roughest seas in the world, it does not offer even a remotely light option. There was the choice of curry, battered fish, beef casserole, hamburgers or chicken in cream sauce. They don’t even sell crackers! I managed to keep my dinner down for about an hour, which I think was a valiant effort considering just how rough that crossing was. It was impossible to walk in a straight line and the reception area looked like a casualty zone with people lying about everywhere. After dealing with my dinner I felt much better but decided to go to bed fairly early. Sleep was interesting, especially around 4am when it got really rough and things started flying everywhere and it felt like my feet were about to go flying over my head.
Travels and Tea Leaves 