Faroe Islands Day 4

Wednesday October 21st, 2015

Now, I guess I have mentioned that its kind of a rainy, overcast at any point type of climate. They call this the “Land of Maybe” as in the weather is so unpredictable that you can only respond with “maybe” when trying to plan out things that depend on the weather. One minute its looking quite dreary, then after five minutes of driving around to the other side of a fjord, its beautiful and sunny. That being said, I had yet to experience any kind of winds that I would bother writing about. The night before at dinner, the forecast I saw simply said “windy”. No problem, I had my high quality wind breaker running jacket.
***PROBLEM***
One fact that Jøgvan had told me the day prior, that for some damn reason I had not asked him to explain, is that a lot of pre-made houses that are built to withstand hurricane force winds are manufactured in the Faroe Islands. Now, why would a house that needed to go through a hurricane be made in small country not many people have visited? Well lets just say that I found out as soon as I woke up. In that I woke up because the wind was howling so loudly, it would be impossible to sleep through. Like it was off of a sound track and the wind I was hearing couldn’t possibly be a natural thing. I tried to walk from the hostel across the hotel parking lot and into the lobby so I could arrange for a taxi to get me later..and I barely made it. Every single step was a struggle, and had I let my body go limp I would have been launched backwards and probably rolled all the way down to the water. “How in the hell am I supposed to drive up and down these steep fjords?”, I thought as I sized up Bjørt’s tiny car. After much debate, I climbed in and headed out. There were some tense moments where I definitely felt the entire car jerk, but slowly I made my back north up to Gjógv, which I wanted to see during the daytime.

The fjords looked absolutely amazing during the daylight, the clouds providing just enough contrast to get some of the best photos I think I have ever taken. As I got close to Gjógv, it looked like a town straight out of a postcard. All of the homes were situated on narrow streets and each painted a different bright color.

I drove to the gorge at the end of town and hiked up the valley. I was planning on making it to the top, but the high winds dissuaded me. The views looking back were just breathtaking. These were the kind of sights I dreamed of when I was back home looking up photos in the Faroe Islands. It was definitely worth going out into the winds for. After I got back down, I walked to the seashore to pick up a few shells and take some more photos. There were a lot of birds flying above.


After my time in Gjógv, I wanted to go back to Saksun and walk along the beach. It was going to be close on time though, I had to return to the hostel and catch a cab to the airport. Thankfully, I had budget things just enough. My drive back through the valley was pleasant, and when I got to Saksun, I had my first animal encounters. There was a curious dog, I would say some sort of lab breed, hanging around the building I parked at. I don’t usually mind dogs but this one seemed really interested in keeping an eye on me and hanging back as I walked down the path to the beach. Then, in front of me, some gigantic sheep were standing on the path. Again, I have no experience with livestock or farm animals, so I had no idea what the hell sheep do if you attempt to walk past them on some narrow path. For all I know, I totally blew this out of proportion but getting bit by some heavy grazing animal, no matter how benign, was not something I wanted to deal with while trying to drive across an island to catch a flight.

Luckily, no killer sheep lunged at me, although they did pick up their pace and start walking behind me. I made it down to the beach without incident and took a few minutes to just reflect on what brought me to this moment in my life and enjoy where I was. The waterfall was across the lagoon from me, and I sat on some rocks as I took it all in.

Afterwards, I collected some black sand into a bag and then headed up the path. My time in the Faroes was at an end.

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3