I am the first “vehicle” off the boat and having already got my bearings, head up to my hostel on the hill (I seem to have memorised the city map from having read the Lonely Planet guide to this country through 3 editions and never having visited!)It is 6:30am and the city is quiet, I’m checked in by 7:00am and already explored most of the city by 9:00am – quite small really, it is about a 2 square miles in size. I wander through narrow streets, punctuated with traditional turf roofed houses, the air is incredibly crisp and clean, each lung full clears the sleepy fog from my mind that has accumulated with all the recent travel.
Over a coffee in the harbour I plan my itinerary for the next week making sure I visit all the places I first read about 12 years ago. My biggest worry are the tunnels, there are lots of them here and some are single lane, unlit and unventilated – some are 5kms long, I can’t hold my breath that long so will need to seek advice from some locals.
Pauli turns up and tells me everything I need to know, the ways around the tunnels, the steep hills and where the best weather is. He has also arranged a fishing trip that evening with a friend of his and a local fisherman, and would I be interested in coming along. Amazing, I have been here 2 hours and already have been invited out fishing – I think the Faroese are the some of the worlds best fisherman, 97% of exports are fish! Meeting locals is the only real way to experience a country and its culture.
I take another walk through the old historic part of town, the Tinganes peninsula, where the town was originally established. The roads, houses and wharfs give away the history of this city. There are old guns, now rusted, sitting aloft the fort – some may have even been manned by the British during the war to ward off invasion.
The Faroes have been through the hands of the Irish Monks, the Norsemen, the Norwegians and the Danish. Since 1948 they have been a self governing region of the Kingdom of Denmark, they have their own Parliament and flag but are not part of the EU, everyone here speaks Faroese, Danish and very good English.
I return to the harbour for 9:00pm and board the “Scottir”, a traditional Faroese fishing boat, owned by Johan, a Scotsman who came here in 1959, hence the name of his vessel. I am wearing every piece of clothing I have, as I guess it will be cold out on the water and we are leaving late. Pauli is aboard along with 2 other friends.
Within 30 minutes we are out of the harbour and fishing between Torshavn and Nolsoy island. A line is thrown overboard with about 100 hooks on it and no bait. The line is rigged up to 2 arms that are suspended out either side of the boat and the line is then reconnected so it forms a complete loop, half the line in the water out the back of the boat and the other half across the back of the boat, under the piece of line on the boat there are 2 buckets. After 5 minutes of “jigging” the line, Johan starts to pull the line in by hand and on the end of each hook is a Coal fish, about 10 inches long. This is too easy, the waters are rich with fish here. I ask what will he do with the fish, they are for bait he replied, later in the week he will use each one to try and catch large Hallibut. Within an hour we have caught hundreds of these fish. We see many different sea birds, puffin, oyster catchers, cormorants and a pod or two of Porpoises.
As the weather is still stunning and the sun has only just dropped behind the mountains (it is past 11:00pm by now) we take a sail around Nolsoy Island and view the bird colonies perched on the steep cliffs. Coming back into harbour the sea mist is thick and thankfully this old vessel has the latest in satellite navigation. I am tucked up in bed a 12:30am and it is still light enough to read. What an incredible 1st day on the Faroes. Wonderfully kind and generous people, if this is only the start of the trip then I might be in for a real treat.
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