Saturday, August 2, 2025

Day 27 Torshavn, Faroe Islands

Overnight our little ship moved from Klaksvik to Torshavn in the Faroe Islands.  Not a great distance as we didn't depart until 11pm last night and arrived at 7am today.  Torshavn is the capital of the Faroe Islands and our tour today was all about the natural wonders of Northern Eysturoy Island.  There were not many stops as the roads we were traversing were narrow, winding and today was not for anybody with an aversion to heights or someone that suffered from car sickness! The single lane roads clung to the sides of mountains with so many switchbacks that I lost count.  Drivers had to keep their wits about them for when a car approached from the opposite direction.  You had to pull off the road on to the nearest pull-over to let the approaching vehicle pass. Our bus seemed to have right of way most of the time.



The water was like a mirror as we followed the meandering waterways and our guide said that it was rare to have such calm waters.  The reflections were stunning and sometimes it was hard to pick landscape from reflection.





The coastlines are rugged but then you would come to a bend in the road and find a sheltered cove where there was almost always a small village with their colourful houses and turf roofing.  






Our tour included morning tea and we stopped at the little town of Gjogv. It is picture perfect.  Our tour guide takes us to a teahouse where we enjoy coffee, tea and cake.  The cake is very sweet but goes well with a cup of steaming black tea. 


This little village is enchanting and we spend around an hour and half wandering around on our own.  There is a stream that divides the town in two and we see kids splashing around in a pool in the middle of the stream.  



On the descent into the village I had spotted a path that took us to a lookout over the bay so that is where we headed after morning tea.  The path took a bit of finding that entailed climbing a grassy knob, but eventually we found it.  Philip of course couldn't help himself and went to the furtherest point on the lookout, where there was a diving platform for people to jump into the ocean below.  That would take courage!





Our walk brought us to a statue that our guide said is a tribute to all those husbands/fathers that had lost their lives at sea or by falling off the cliff while they were mustering their sheep. There were so many names on the plaques that made me very sad.


The sheep here have a cross with goats that enables them to cling to the sides of the mountains.  The only way to muster on the almost vertical hillsides is by foot with a sheep dog. It is a very dangerous task for the farmers.  The sheep come in all colours and their fleece is very coarse.  These sheep were not perturbed at all by humans.

Our journey back to the ship took us via the tunnel below sea level.  We passed by the roundabout that our guide had mentioned yesterday and it really was amazing and a lot bigger than I imagined.  It is an incredible engineering achievement.




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