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The wind had blown hard all day and the sea had lost its cobalt tint and simply reflected the deep grey of the scudding clouds. My colleague Nigel and I left the office at 5:30pm, the last out, as usual, the night sky was so dark that full-beam headlights were needed to pick our way through the downpour as we left Lerwick.
Lonely Planet had published their list of the top ten places to visit in the world and Shetland was included in the list with the justification that it was"fiercely independent and the last wild place in the UK". We had driven over to the Scalloway Hotel for an evening meal and we had a discussion with the owner about the accolade. He was proud of the recognition even though he doubted whether Shetland could cope with any more tourists and vice versa.
We called in at Tesco on the way to our rented house in Gulberwick to collect some food and our daily bottle of wine. The rain was lashing down so hard that the doorway of the supermarket had collected a small crowd waiting for the rain to abate so they could run a few metres to their cars without being wiped out. I struck up a conversation with the man standing next to me who was watching my colleague and me with a forensic interest. I asked, "So what do you think of this place being the sixth-best place in the world to visit?" He chuckled and said he could think of worse places but was not sure that the tourists would find that Shetland had the capacity to look after them in the style that they probably expected. Uncanny how similar to what the owner of the Scalloway hotel had said. Shetland doesn't do bullshit.
The most regular visitors to Shetland in recent years, apart from the wildlife enthusiasts, have been the Inspection Agencies who obviously recognise what an excellent place Shetland is and have got into the habit of coming back each summer to check this. They may find accommodation difficult to find next year. I asked the man next to me what he did - a Police Inspector - and I got the impression he had already figured out what Nigel and I were doing on the islands, there are no secrets.
Lonely Planet had published their list of the top ten places to visit in the world and Shetland was included in the list with the justification that it was"fiercely independent and the last wild place in the UK". We had driven over to the Scalloway Hotel for an evening meal and we had a discussion with the owner about the accolade. He was proud of the recognition even though he doubted whether Shetland could cope with any more tourists and vice versa.
We called in at Tesco on the way to our rented house in Gulberwick to collect some food and our daily bottle of wine. The rain was lashing down so hard that the doorway of the supermarket had collected a small crowd waiting for the rain to abate so they could run a few metres to their cars without being wiped out. I struck up a conversation with the man standing next to me who was watching my colleague and me with a forensic interest. I asked, "So what do you think of this place being the sixth-best place in the world to visit?" He chuckled and said he could think of worse places but was not sure that the tourists would find that Shetland had the capacity to look after them in the style that they probably expected. Uncanny how similar to what the owner of the Scalloway hotel had said. Shetland doesn't do bullshit.
The most regular visitors to Shetland in recent years, apart from the wildlife enthusiasts, have been the Inspection Agencies who obviously recognise what an excellent place Shetland is and have got into the habit of coming back each summer to check this. They may find accommodation difficult to find next year. I asked the man next to me what he did - a Police Inspector - and I got the impression he had already figured out what Nigel and I were doing on the islands, there are no secrets.
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