What's so great about Shetland?

Having just spent a week exploring Shetland, I've totally fallen in love with the place.  

So, what was so great about it?  Was it the wildlife...

The stunning coastline...

The history...

The textiles...

The way the weather changes every five minutes..

The Shetland ponies...

Is it the fact that the roads were excellent, really quiet and with no pot holes?

It's all of these things and more, but I think what I love the most is that life is lived the way it should be. 

If you leave something somewhere, it stays there - nobody helps themselves. 

I read that on the beaches there's an informal rule - anything above the high tide line is to be left alone as someone has clearly already found it and left it to pick up later.  Anything below the high tide line is available for anyone to take away.

  I saw no graffiti and virtually no litter.  

Several bus shelters have sofas in them, but the ultimate bus shelter has to be this famous one on Unst with comfy seating and a telly.   There's a photo album inside showing some of its previous incarnations.  At the moment it is Nelson Mandela themed.

We visited a wonderful small woodland, Michaelswood, in which toys are left in various locations for children to play with.  We spoke to the lady who created this amazing place in memory of her son.  She said that cars and toys for the teddy bears' picnic don't go missing - kids put them back for the next person to use.

And here's a wonderful way to buy home baking (and very yummy it was too) - pop your money in the honesty box and write down what you've taken on the pad provided.

Johnshaven is hardly a hotbed of crime, but Shetland is really on another level from anywhere I've ever been.  If only the whole world was like this - no fear, no crime, everyone looking out for everyone else...