Magic Faraway Place

Splendid isolation, dramatic views and startlingly friendly birds.

- Juhi Sinha

This is the northernmost point of Britain. Just off shore, to the north, lie the rock outcrops of Muckle Flugga and Out Stack. Next stop, the Arctic. To the east, less than 200 miles away, lies the fjord town of Bergen in Norway. Due west, and across the restless Atlantic, lies Greenland. Then, a chance to meet the puffins in the Hermaness Nature Reserve, who according to one guidebook are tame enough—and game enough—to pose with you for a picture!

With a profile like that who wouldn’t want to visit Unst, the last outpost of Scotland’s Shetland Islands? It was certainly inducement enough for us. And one spring morning in May this year, my husband and I landed in Lerwick, the capital of the Shetlands located on its largest island, Mainland.

Legend has it that the Hermaness Nature Reserve is named after a giant called Herman. Apparently he and another giant, Saxa, fell in love with the same mermaid who promised to marry whichever one followed her to the North Pole. They both followed her and drowned, since neither could swim. The rock outcrops of Muckle Flugga (from Old Norse, Mikla Flugey, meaning large steep-sided island) and Out Stack are some of the ‘stones’ thrown at each other during their fight for the mermaid.

Today the reserve is famous for its variety of bird life, mostly seabirds— guillemots, kittiwakes, gannets, great skuas and puffins. The reserve is on Unst, which is a mere 12 miles in length and five across. Its population is all of 600 people. A shocker to us Indians, who have attended weddings in India featuring twice the number of guests!