Faroe Islands were unknown to us until we researched this cruise but after today's cruise we certainly know a lot more about them. There are 18 islands that make up the Danish owned Faroe Islands with a population of less than 60,000. It is a very wealthy state with the main income derived from salmon farming. The government looks after the Faroese very well providing them with free education, medical, aged care and even an annual holiday to the Canary Islands! However they pay a lot in taxes. The road system is remarkable. As the islands are steep and rocky, roads are a challenge but the Faroese meet the challenge by tunnelling, in fact they have one of the best tunnel systems in the world. Most of the islands are linked by tunnelling under the ocean and into the rock bed. As you drive through the tunnels the walls are raw rock. This is a very cheap way of building a tunnel as it does not need the concrete reinforcement that we see elsewhere in the world. Faroe Islands also have the first and only underwater round-about that links four of the tunnels.
Today our tour took us to Eysturoy Island. The scenery is incredible and our heads swivel from left to right trying to take it all in. Every bend in the road brings yet another photo worthy view. We are fascinated by the thatch roofing that is in fact grass. How do they keep it mowed? They throw a couple of sheep up there to keep the grass down.
Our first stop is at Navia where they produce a myriad of things from wool. Their products are shipped world-wide and they have quite the reputation. Interestingly Navia also imports Australian wool for some of their finer wool knits. They have a couple of laser printers in operation that turn out products rapidly. We were watching this jumper (below) being churned out of the printer, all in one piece.
Knitting is very much a Faroese tradition where women meet for knitting. These two ladies are knitting in the traditional manner.
Next we visited a sheep farm where the farmer gave an interesting talk. I probably zoned out a little during the talk but everyone else held onto the farmers words. They still shear the sheep in the old style traditional way with manual shears.
Gota Village and museum is our last tour stop and we spend around an hour wandering through the village that has been beautifully restored to replicate living in the 18th century. One building housed a viking boat that Philip found interesting. The Vikings were incredibly strong and brave men to cover the countries that they did in these boats.
Outside the museum village we come across another of the sideways statues. Our guide tells us that it is meant to depict the strong winds that the islands endure - up to 220km per hour - that apparently blow you sideways.
We stop at a couple of places for photos as we make our way back to the ship in the port of Klalsvik. It was a terrific tour and our British tour guide was very entertaining, although at times I think it was only Philip and I with our Aussie sense of humour that understood his jokes. It went right over the heads of the Americans :-)
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