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 |
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 |
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
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