The Faroe Islands

Unspoiled, Unexplored, Unbelievable

Wednesday 6/26/24

We’re sailing in the north Atlantic.  While the ocean doesn’t look choppy, I can feel the swelling which gave me a bit of motion sickness.  I tried to get out of bed a few times, but ran back to bed and laid down since I feel more motion vertically vs horizontally.  I finally had to take a motion sickness pill, chew gum, got out of bed about 3 pm to get ready for disembarkation.

Tiffany and Kurtis stayed onboard and continue to sail to Iceland while we got off the ferry in the Faroe Islands at about 5:30 pm.  We will catch up with them in Iceland next week.

We camped at Torshavn Camping, which was only a mile from the ferry terminal.   Thank goodness it was really close since I didn’t have much energy to commute far today.  The weather was cold and dreary, the more reason to stay in.

Thursday 6/27/24

Paul visited the National Gallery of the Faroe Islands with historical background of the islands, while I stayed in to catch up on the ETX website.

Thanks to Tiffany & Kurtis for sharing their Google map’s highlights of the Faroe Islands.  We found the Kirkjubøur village, one of the oldest and most historic villages on the Faroe Islands.  The St. Magnus’ Cathedral that was built with basalt stones in the 1300s, once a gothic structure, now the ruins are the largest medieval building overlooking the bay with several historic dwellings in the vicinity.  The lay of the land is truly magnificent and magical with low hovering clouds, mystic fogs, and the wandering Faroese sheep and horses grazing on the lush green hilltops, all harmoniously orchestrated like a painting.

Did you know:

“There are more sheep than people on the Faroe Islands: the islands’ 54,000 inhabitants are well outnumbered by the more than 80,000 sheep who reside here.” 

Ref  https://thefurrow.co.uk/

We drove BAT into town for dinner, but parking was impossible, so we left the downtown area and drove further away, ultimately found parking in an area where we weren’t sure was permitted to park, but we took a chance and walked back into town to dine at Etika Sushi– it was better than I had expected.

Friday 6/28/24

Sightseeing Day! We did quite a bit of island hopping today.   Taking off from Torshavn, we crossed one of the longest undersea tunnel – Torshavn – Runavik/Strendur.  The tunnel is about 620 feet below the sea level.  I got a little spooked thinking about it, like what if it cracks and flood the tunnel, we’d be fishfood.

We covered three islands today: Eysturoy, Bordoy, and Kunoy.  Some of the scenic route has not only smaller tunnels, but a one lane tunnel with priority for oncoming traffic.  Obviously, the tunnels are quite dark so if you see oncoming headlight, you gotta find a pull out area, turn your headlight off so the incoming vehicle can pass, then you can resume.  I’m NOT liking this because BAT is too big for this tunnel.

We finally ended the day in Fuglafjørður and found a campsite right by the bay.  On the way in, we saw a beautiful waterfall, so after we got BAT situated, we walked back to the waterfall and were rewarded with some amazing pictures.

Saturday 6/29/24

Another touring day around the northern tip of Eysteroy Island.  While there’s no undersea tunnel crossing today, there was a lot of mountains climbing on a one lane narrow and a bit windy scenic road.  We stopped at Elduvik, a very very remote village by the sea, for lunch.   We debated whether to camp here for the night, but decided to press on since it was only 3pm, too early to camp.

The road didn’t get any easier with a much steeper climb up the mountain on the narrow one lane road.  I have to play with my phone to distract myself from looking at the cliffs while Paul negotiate a two way traffic on a one lane road around the mountain top, and in the fog.

By the time we got to destination, it was raining but the howling wind made the weather even more miserable. We finally camped at Gjogv, another small village by the sea.  Camping right next to us is a couple on motorcycle — camping in the tent.  Oh dear, I really feel for them.   Hope they don’t get drenched and blown away in this high wind.

Camping to our left is another couple in a van.  The husband was cooking dinner outside the van, and then after dinner, he stood outside enjoying the fine summer weather of the Faroe Islands (yes, I’m being sarcastic as it was still raining and windy.)

Times like this I feel really fortunate that we’re inside BAT, sheltered from the elements, cooking indoor, hot shower, spoiled with Starlink’s highspeed wifi and electronic gadgets.  What more can a girl ask for? (Maybe a handsome chef if that’s not to much to ask?! 😊)

Did you know:

There’s a James Bond’s tombstone from the movie “No Time To Die” that was filmed on the Faroe Islands.  The dramatic nature of the Faroe Islands provides the backdrop for the plot-twisting finale of the James Bond film.  Local villagers from the Kalsoy Island have erected a gravestone on the spot where the superspy faces his ultimate confrontation in the last scene where the whole compound blew up.

The motorcycle couple pointed this out to Paul the next morning when the weather cleared up a little bit, and we can see the Kalsoy Island from where we camped.

Sunday 6/30/24

We landed in a little village named Tjornuvik.  As we meandered around the village, we discovered a little outdoor waffle cafe with about eight tourists sitting around a picnic table so we decided to join them.   Hans is the owner here and very friendly.  We heard from other tourists that he used to live in Iceland, but due to the recent volcanic activity, he moved to this summer-home and operates this little Café (more like a stand with a picnic table).  The waffles were served with fresh whipped cream and the local rhubarb compote and coffee.  Eight Eeuro for half a waffle and coffee – a bit pricey but we are happy to contribute to the local economy.

We met a very nice family from Iceland; they gave us some tips for the various lagoons to visit.   We asked about the Blue Lagoon but they said it is overly crowded, where you’ll be shoulder to shoulder with other tourists.  Great insights from the local residents.  We complimented the family for their very handsome looking wool knitted sweaters.  It turns out one of the ladies knitted all the sweaters for her family, as pictured; they say it’s a very Icelandic feature of the Icelanders.  I later found similar sweaters for about $200 each.

When the family left the Cafe, another gentleman from the area came by to chat with us with very good English as he was a former teacher.  He helped explain a lot about the area and some history.  I think his name is Charlston.

My heart flutters for moments like this where people from various countries genuinely share their knowledge of travel over a cup of coffee in the middle of one the oldest Viking village, blessed by a bright and sunny day.

As we got back to BAT parked near the beach, the Icelandic family that we met earlier said they came here for their son to play on the beach.  He was splashing in the water!  Omg, just washing my hands in the basin was already ice-cold water, but this boy was playing in the water on the beach.   He must have the Viking blood in him! Just amazing!

Our travel experiences are truly enriched by the people, the culture, the local cuisines in the respective regions, and of course the beautiful tapestry of the earth and its elements.

We camped at Giljanes Hostel & Campsite that evening.

Monday 7/1/24

Today BAT took us to the popular tourist attraction – the Múlafossur Waterfall in the secluded Gásadalur village on Vagar island.  The picture-perfect cascade waterfall plunges into the ocean more than 100 feet from the sheer cliff.

Before coming here, Paul heard about this waterfall and wanted to do a boat tour here but I declined because I was worried about motion sickness.  I’m sure the view looking up to the waterfall from the boat would be amazing, but the view looking down from the top is just as grand (that was my justification 😊.)

While we were taking pictures of this iconic spot, including a few drone shots, a tour bus dropped off a big group of Chinese tourists, and they all rushed to the waterfall to launch their drones.  It was quite a scene to watch.  They didn’t take the time to enjoy the view, just immediately, pull out their drones and start launching them.  Everyone of them had a drone!

We left the hectic drone area and walked towards the village nearby when we saw an ad on the trail for a local Café, so we hiked up the hill in search of the local specialties.  The village only has about 25 houses, one of which was the Cafe.  We each had a slice of cake and coffee, while enjoying a little chat with the owner about the area.

It was a short excursion today since the Vagar island is quite small.

Tuesday 7/2/24

We left the Vagar island and ventured into the Sandoy island.  While exploring the island via a scenic route, we ended up on a very one lane narrow & windy road, which triggered my anxiety.  Luckily there weren’t too many vehicles traveling on this road.  I keep asking Paul to find a place to turn around, but he said he’ll turn around in the village up ahead.

And we finally arrived in the village, parked, and had lunch there.  As we were about to leave, a group of people approached BAT in admiration for its size.  I offered the lady to come up and check out the living unit, and pretty soon all six of them toured BAT.  It turns out they’re a family from Germany traveling here for their summer vacation staying with some friends here.   Their friends said that we were very lucky with the weather here this week.  I would not have known that since it had been mostly cold (in the 50’s Fahrenheit, foggy and rainy in the Faroe Islands since we’ve been here.

We took a little stroll into the village and then headed to our campsite for the evening.   Camped at Camping Sandur, a very small campground.

Wednesday 7/3/24

We did a last bit of touring in Sandur Island and then headed back to Eysturoy Island so Paul can redo his video of the Roundabout Tunnel under the ocean since he can’t locate the video footage taken earlier in the week.   Talk about an expensive 30 seconds video since we have to pay 2 tolls for the round trip through the tunnel, that’s $50! 🤨

That sums up our tour of the Faroe Islands.

We boarded the ferry about 6pm for Iceland.  The weather was cold, windy, and raining.   The water looks choppy.   I knew this was going to be a rough ride.  Within 5 to 10 minutes after the ferry took off, I started to feel the motion sickness coming on, even after taking the motion sickness pill, so I rushed back to my room to lay down, while Paul stayed in the lounge talking to a very nice Icelandic couple who gave us some tips on traveling in Iceland.

Boy did it get rough with the motion.   Even Paul admitted that it was rough.  I can feel the swells laying in bed.   I had to chew gum throughout the night to help balance my ear drums and to avoid the nausea/vomit.

Thankfully the ferry arrived at 9:30 AM the next morning.  I survived the rough sea! 🙏