Days 14 to 18 - all over the Faroes

200 miles on the bike

I read somewhere that an old Faroese legend says, that when the foreman in charge of making the earth, finished, he cleaned out his finger nails and what fell into the North Atlantic became known as the Faroes. Nothing could be farther from the truth, this country is wonderfully unique and mysterious. A weather beaten collection of 18 islands, none larger than the Isle of White, and most much smaller. Populated with handsome, intelligent, immensely generous and smiling people. Everyone I have met has been friendly, helpful, enthusiastic to show off their country and interested in me as a traveller to their home.

The weather and the elements hold the key to life on these islands. During the first 3 days, I had unbroken sunshine and got sunburn (unheard of here, as you only get 10 days of perfect clear weather a year.) However today I have had all the weather, sleet, fog, mist, rain and sunshine...oh yes and very strong winds (a cyclist’s Nemesis) all before midday. In fact a local told me that if Vivaldi had lived here he could have written the “4 Seasons” before breakfast! I can look up to a mountain road in the sunshine and curse the looming steepness, then 10 minutes later I am on it and in the mist.

Some people still live in turf roofed houses, but with wireless broadband connections, they water the grass on the their roof and I have heard in some places they mow them and even put their sheep on there to graze – someone might have been pulling my leg though!

The islands are mainly steep cliffs, poking out of the sea, rising in some places to over 2400 feet, there is very little flat land so the tiny villages cling to the side of the mountains. Roads hug steep cliffs and where they cannot cross a mountain, they go through a tunnel, where they can’t tunnel under the sea there is a little ferry.

There are birds everywhere, and I am here during the nesting season of the local Oyster Catcher (Tjaldur) an aggressive bird that has swooped and attacked me on occasion when I have stopped to rest too near to its nest. I have had to get my bike pump out on occasion to defend myself.

You are never more than a few kilometers from the sea, if you are outside you can always hear water, whether a bubbling brook, cascading waterfall or the crash of the surf against the rocks – it is everywhere constantly trying to erode these islands into the sea – but it will not succeed, they are made of the hardest basalt and will be here long after many other countries have given up.

The cycling is very hard, steep hills but quiet roads. An average day will see me tackle several 600 meter climbs and about 40 to 50 miles of distance, but I always seem to find time to stop and chat to a local and explore the tiny villages.

A highlight so far has been the boat trip out to Mykines (pronounced Michenes) it is known as the Bird Island, on account of the huge Gannet, Puffin and Kittiwake colonies that reside there. Only 9 people live on this island and all seem to be at the harbour when we landed in heavy seas, to greet us. This island can sometimes be cut off for a week if bad weather sets in.

So the next time you are looking at your world globe and wondering what that smudge or stain is in the middle of the North Atlantic halfway between Iceland and Scotland - it is the amazing Faroe Islands and you should visit them at your next opportunity.