I really don’t understand why cruise companies refer to Dover, as London (Dover). Yes, you can get to London, it it’s nearly 2 hours away, with unpredictable traffic conditions. There were tours arranged to take in the sights of London, but that would become a very long day. Getting to London independently would also be a monumental ask – 35 minute walk to station, three trains every hour – one high speed (expensive) taking just over an hour; one slow to London Victoria, taking 2 hours and one slow to London Charing Cross, again taking 2 hours. I could see ‘cruise runner anxiety’, making a high pressure return to not miss the sail away time.

Having ruled myself out of an expensive and not so relaxed trip into London, I opted for the safer ‘day trip’ to the nearby city of Canterbury. For £7.90 I could buy a return train ticket for the hourly service to Canterbury West Station. There was a more frequent bus, which would have cost £6 return, but it took longer to make the journey.

Canterbury West appeared on the map, to be quite a distance from the City Centre, but as it happened, as soon as you exited the station, you crossed over the main road, and you were walking along the city walls, with signage to the Cathedral, so it ended up being an easy 15 minute walk.

A little history of Canterbury:

Canterbury is a medieval city and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the county of Kent, England; it lies on the River Stour, 55 miles southeast of London.Canterbury is a popular tourist destination, with the city's economy heavily reliant upon tourism, alongside higher education and retail. In 2021, the city had a population of 55,087 inhabitants.

The city wall founded in Roman times and was rebuilt in the 14th century; other notable buildings in the vicinity include the ruins of St Augustine's Abbey, the Norman Canterbury Castle, the King's School (the oldest extant school in the world) and Canterbury Cathedral. The Cathedral is known for its architecture, its music, and for being the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury and it receives a million visitors per year. For me, being stingy, I refused to pay the entrance fee to look inside the Cathedral, so my photos are only of the exterior. The surrounding streets within the wall, are narrow, cobbled and quaint. Being Summer and school holidays, there were events happening on the streets including mock historic battles. My sightseeing turned to a bit of shopping and lunch; I had a shopping list which involved a visit to a large Boot’s the Chemist. Of all the days to choose, the large Boot’s in the City’s shopping Mall, was closed due to an electric fault! The ‘alternative’ Boot’s was back in Dover, so I headed back there – this was a much smaller branch with smaller inventory, but I was lucky as it had one left on the shelf, of what I was looking for!

The walk back to the ship at Dover’s Western Docks, was not pleasant. This particular day, there was a far right ‘anti immigration’ march and demonstration. They were meeting in the town centre and marched along the promenade to the Western Docks, the same route I was going…. They were chanting “Ban the Boats”; did they mean our ship?, as that was the way they were going. There was a large Police presence fearing violence, as the main roads were blocked. I noted a large number of people of Asian decent feeling intimidated by the shouting/chanting. I followed behind with my bags of shopping. At the entry to the port, the police formed a blockade; I didn’t get it at first, that I was supposed to approach the baracade, show my ID, and ask to be let through. Instead, because I didn’t recognise the entrance, I followed behind the crowd looking for the entrance; when I saw where the protesters were being directed – i.e. NOT where I wanted to be, I asked a Policeman where the Port entry was. After checking that I was a legitimate cruise ship passenger, he directed me back to the baracade and told me to ask them to let me through.

I made it through, and was back on track, walking within the port to the cruise terminal. Having returned onto the ship, I heard that crew leave ashore was cancelled due to this gathering, in case of delay and the personal threat to their safety.

Once the ship set sail again, we set sail north to Shetland. This was a new port for me, and one of the ‘bucket list’ destinations for this cruise, as in World Cruise 2023, the port stop was cancelled due to the swell, which impacted the tender boat operation (the ship being too big for the port area).

Shetland, north of mainland Scotland, is an archipelago of 106 islands just with 15 inhabited. The population is 23,000, of which there are 10 sheep for every person! Native Shetland sheep come in all ‘shades of grey’ (not just 50) from white to jet black.

No point on the islands is more than 2.5 miles from the sea. Shetland settled 5000 years ago by Neolithic people; they built round houses and cut down most of the trees, which like Iceland, have been overall unsuccessful in reforestation. The Bronze Age people then came; and 1200 years ago, it was the Vikings. The Vikings left their mark on the islands with the Norse heritage, and the absence of Scottish Gaelic as a second language. In 1469 the islands of Orkney and Shetland were offered as a dowry for Royal Wedding, as the then King had little money. It was to be repaid overtime, but by 1707, it hadn’t been reimbursed, so the Islands became part of the UK.

Much of the land on Shetland is peat bog; the peat is harvested, dired and then used for fuel. This removal has left brown scars on countryside.

The Island’s main industry is fishing and aquaculture; salmon, herring mussels and oysters. The Dutch are very keen on harvesting the herring. The discovery of oil in North Sea transformed the infrastructure in the islands; money came in improve roads, build more houses, schools and even a golf course! As far as tourism goes, it is an evolving industry, limited by extremely variable weather; much emphasis on quality hand made woollen clothing.

Our tour today headed north from the Capital, Lerwick, to Braewick. Here we stopped at Braewick Tea Shop where we drank a nice cuppa with some homemade shortbread, all with views over the cliffs not dissimilar to that seen along the Great Ocean Road, back home in Victoria. We made a further stop near the cliff tops to glean ocean views and travelled back to Lerwick, alongside low fjords, locally called ‘Voes’.

Lerwick has a very compact centre, with shops and cafes limited to 2 streets. Lerwick is a name with roots in Old Norse and its local descendant, Norn, which was spoken in Shetland until the mid-19th century. The name "Lerwick" means ‘bay of clay’.

Our tour guide informed us that she, and many islanders, had been ‘extras’ on the TV series “Shetland”, which was filmed at various locations within the Islands. She pointed out many buildings and scenic spots used in the series. Lerwick is the focus of most events in Shetland, including the largest of the annual “Up Helly Aa” Fire Festivals which takes place on the last Tuesday of January every year. It marks the end of the Yule season, and incorporates torchlit processions by squads of costumed participants (known as guizers) that culminates in the burning of an imitation Viking galley.

Following the purchase of a few souvenirs, it was time to reboard Crown Princess via the Tender Boat operation, as we continue north west to Iceland.