Day 86 - Faroes - day 2

Day 86 - Faroes  - day 2

The weather remains dry and we slowly head off west. In Iceland, on the one occasion we had wifi, I had booked a boat trip to Mykines for tomorrow, our last day. Mykines is the most westerly point of the Faroes and the boat leaves at 10:00 so tonight we need to camp somewhere near its departure port on the far side of the islands.

On route we take the detour down to Saksun and a walk out through a gorge to the beach that can only be reached by foot a couple of hours either side of low tide. The sun is out and the wind dies down and it is another perfect and very memorable spot. 

Saksun

After 2 nights without facilities, there is a weight of feeling in the van that a campsite would be a good thing, hair needs washing and a toilet with a seat wouldn’t go amiss. The only campsite on the island is a small patch of grass by the road, they charge £45 to stay the night and there are 3 one man tents on it and it is starting to look full. So flaunting the Faroese laws on ‘wild camping’ we move on looking for somewhere to park up.

Tunnel exit and down to the village

We drive to the end of a 12 Km dead end road, the last 2 Km being a tunnel, to a stunningly beautiful tiny little place served until 2006, by the postman who climbed over the 1700 ft sea cliff to the village 3 times a week. It’s sunny, the wind is really up and the camping spots are just that bit too close to the houses so reluctantly we turn and head back, parking up at a lay on the other side of the tunnel.

Jack - having got wet fillling a pan from a waterfall

View out from our camping spot

We set up camp, light the BBQ and unbelievably the police turn up. They show an active disinterest in us. There are only 2 police stations throughout the entire Faroes and tonight they show up but it is to chat with a couple of blokes in a van who are watching the sea for whales.

Whaling in Faroes attracts attention from activists – down at a remote harbour on the first day we watched 3 people try to tie up a boat in high seas. There was a landrover and a campervan emblazoned with ‘Sea Shepherd’ ( as was the boat) and so I asked one of the women what they were up to; they have 60 ‘volunteers’ on the Faroes doing whatever they do to stop whaling. The Faroese government permits the whaling of pilot whales and as she explained, with some emotion, their decision to still whale has been made unilaterally and therefore is internationally unlawful.

We found the 200 Kroner Faroes note picture

The bloke from the van was really interesting – he came across after the police had left and told us loads about the area and also himself. He had lived in the local village all his 50 years, a father of 6, a merchant shipper until 10 years ago when he had a foot accident after which he set up a flooring business. He came over to warn us about the wind that can come down off the mountain at ferocious speeds, more so in the winter. He also talked about the local islands and some of the folklore; eagles picking up babies in their claws and taking them up to the tops of mountains... we nodded when we were supposed to etc – we also asked him about the fish farms and he told us how the whole fish ram industry had died off 20 years ago through disease and how recently it had been revived.

He was a really interesting and nice bloke full of knowledge about the sea, islands, sea arches, traditions....He did however look genuinely concerned about the tent and the van and advised us to move down to the village. We were all set up so we thanked him for his advice and trusted we would be OK.

An unbelievably top day again but can't wait for tomorrow and Mykines

Day 86 Vidareidi ( Fo) to Akranesker (Fo )                174 Km     Total  12468 Km