Viking Ships!

Last year on our way back from Norway we only spent a night in Balta Harbour, Unst and then continued our journey home to Papay via Skeld. This year however we are waiting for the right weather to cross to Norway and so we have got some time to explore the island.
Today we walked north from Baltasound towards Haroldswick and its been nice to see the island from land instead of sea. We stopped in a scenic spot for a quick picnic of Stockans Oatcakes, Chilli Jam and cheese!
On our walk we found the Skidbladner, a full size replica of the Viking ship, Gokstad. At 24+ meters long and 5+ meters wide she certainly dwarfs Quickstep! A beautiful example of a clinker built Viking ship she stands impressive next to a reconstruction of a traditional Viking Longhouse.
The Gokstad would have seated 32 oarsmen and carried up to 70... so a bit more space than Quickstep too! The Skidbladner was restored with the help of locals, with the longhouse traditionally built by locals too, sourcing materials from not only the island, but Scotland mainland and in fact birtchbark from Norway. Walking down the brae towards Skidbladner and the longhouse makes for striking viewing!
Unst is rich with Viking history, home to many Viking longhouses, thirty or more in the islands.
We also did a quick interview for Radio Shetland explaining a little about what we are doing.
The weather, although calmer than previously forecasted, still remains windy and suitable weather windows seem to disappear as quick as they appear! So for the next day or two at least we will continue to explore Unst. Although the enforced stay is no great hardship!!