Vestmanna, Streymoy, Faroe Islands
We were warned that it would take us at least 30 mins to
disembark but it actually took 90 mins and we were the last but one van off the
ship (the last of our group). It was only 29 km to the campsite but it took
almost an hour through the mountainous roads. Fortunately even though it was
midnight it was light and a clear evening.
After a late evening we had a relaxing morning, walked to
the tourist information and around the town finally going to the supermarket
for bread. Vestmanna is definitely a very sleepy place. Just before lunch we
set off to Saksun where we could look at a nice church and have a good walk
along the coast and beach if it was low tide. Luckily we hit low tide so had a
good old hike for a couple of hours, looking at the rocks and birds and it was
really great. We were back at camp late afternoon to get ready for our Faroese
evening which was at the next village.
We had a guide to show us the Viking ruins and then a talk
in the church about the town (Kyivik with 400 inhabitants) and finally some
traditional buffet food, beer and chain dancing.
It was a brilliant evening,
very well coordinated and nothing we could have done on our own. So the second
evening out with our tour mates and both times on the loud/naughty table!!
We were up and out this morning to make the most of our only
full day in the Faroes. There are 18 inhabited Islands making up the Faroes,
we’re staying on Streymour the largest and today we were exploring Esteroy the
2nd largest. To get to this Island we had to cross a bridge over the
Atlantic but to the rest of the Islands you get there via a toll sub sea
tunnel, ferry or helicopter.
Once across the bridge, first stop was Eidi but the cloud
was still low so we had a coffee in the fog and then moved on to Ggogvy. After
a quick lunch we had a walk round the village to explore and then climbed the
mountain to the highest point in the Faroes 882m. Some of our group had seen
puffins up there but we just saw lots of birds and sheep poop.
For our next stop we went to Leivedir where there were some
Viking house ruins that had been rebuilt. After a very long walk round town not
finding anything, we took the van to each edge of the village and beyond, only
to find that we’d actually passed the ruins on the way into the village. Now
when they say rebuilt they mean the first 4 layers, then there’s a picture of
what they think the roof would look like!! Penny was not impressed, but Mark
was enthralled.
2025-05-22