Once this was

January 26, 2014


... one of the busiest fishing stations in Shetland. A little information plate tells you this when you arrive there. It creates a weird feeling to know this and to look around. We took a walk around, sheep our only companions. It is somehow sad to imagine that this place was once buzzing with life and now most of the abandoned houses are reduced to a pile of rubble and there is a lot of trash that is constantly being washed ashore by the sea. The whole place tells about decay and transience and also about us humans, about what stays when we leave a place.










We left the harbour behind and turned southwards where we wanted to see the Elephant. This is a rock, which has its name - of course - for a reason, but this reason doesn't become clear instantly.


And while we were chasing the elephant, we met this guy, who danced in the sea but too fast for the shutter - but at least I got your nose, seal!






While we walked, it became apparent why this rock is called the elephant...


But we saw another elephant, can you see him, too? It even has a rider on its back. To be honest, this picture always give me the creeps.








We also made a stop in Hillswick, a small village we visited on our way back to Lerwick.


On the beach of this village there is the St. Magnus Bay Hotel,  a wooden pavilion built some hundred years ago in Norway for an exhibition in Glasgow, which found its home as hotel in Hillswick.


We didn't meet many people on our way that day but that only added to the somewhat strange, melancholy and mysterious atmosphere of these places.

11 comments:

  1. Aah, it breaks my heart to see a place like that abandoned!

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  2. Those clouds seem to be so close, amazing :)

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  3. what a divine peaceful place! yes, i can see the elephant. amazing

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  4. Haunting photos. We recently visited the remains of a coal mining town in West Virginia. You could almost hear the echoes of miners, trains, coal cars; lives past. Beautiful, yet eerie.

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  5. Those skies are simply majestic. They catch my eye even more than the elephant.

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  6. Those colours and that immense space - it only makes me think of solitude. I can hardly imagine it full of people, when it used to be a busy fishing station.
    All I can say is that, no matter what, I'd love to spend a few days getting inspired in that wonderful environment!

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  7. These pictures, I love them! Also, when I spent 3 amazing days in Dublin, I took a bus to the coast to wander around a bit and got equally excited at the sight on a seal, hanging out in the waves just as your little dude does. And that 2nd elephant is unreal.

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  8. danke für deine netten worte
    vielleicht gibt´s bald postkarten, vielleicht : )

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  9. Wonderful blog! What a beautiful place, I really adore your "elephant rock", haha, what a cute name :)

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  10. what a beautiful place! so vast and enchanting

    ♥♥

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  11. beautiful post!
    would you mind to follow each other? :)

    greetings from Hong Kong :)

    www.basic-classic.blogspot.com
    https://www.facebook.com/basicclassic
    www.instagram.com/Andianti_

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