You get everything on the Faroes

After a couple of days of good weather, or least good weather by the standards of the Faroe Islands, today was a little more challenging. It started off a little drizzly but somewhere on the drive between Aduvik and Funningur things made a turn for the worse, or the better, depending on how you like your weather.
Our first port of call was Funningur, a small settlement of about 70 people on the island of Eysturoy. The township sits at the bottom of Slættaratindur, at 880 metres, it's the highest mountain on the Faroe Islands. According to legend, for what that is worth, Funningur was the first place settled in the Faroes. There's a traditional wooden and turf roofed church which dates back to 1847. It's old enough to have a mens and womens section. We couldn't see inside the church as there was a service running, which is hardly surprising given it was Great Prayer Day in the Faroe Islands. It's a pity we couldn't get access as apparently the church has a very attractive interior and there's an unpainted Jesus figure inside which dates back to 1690 when the first church was built on the site. There's also a nice stream that cuts the village in two

After Funningur we took on the ascent to Gjogv. On a good day, it's probably a reasonably challenging drive with quite a few switchbacks and some nasty drop offs. Guard rails on the Faroes are often inconsistently placed and the road to Gjogv is no exception. When we hit the halfway mark, the road narrowed and just to make things a little more interesting it started sleeting. The road sits just below the current snowline and I can imagine that in winter it becomes impassable after heavy snow. We pushed on through the weather and eventually made it to Gjogv. It's the northernmost village on Eysturoy Island and gets its name from a 200 metre gorge that cuts in from the ocean. You can walk down some steps to the gorge, but always remember rule number 1 when standing near the ocean....don't turn your back on the water. I forgot that rule and ended up with a wet pair of shoes for my troubles. In times gone by, the gorge was the landing place for village fishing boats. Based on what I saw today, you'd need to be a skilled sailor to arrive dry.

There's a good walk not too far from the gorge. If you complete the walk, which takes a couple of hours there and back, you'll come across a sea stack known as Bugvin. I can't confirm the exact details of the walk as it was pretty wet when we started out and the steep part of the track was really muddy and had about as much traction as ice. We decided to leave the walk for another time, but quite a few people jumped the fence and walked across farmland to avoid the mud. That's probably pretty uncool as it just spreads the bog further, even if it gets you to Bugvin with a clean pair of shoes. Some of the tracks around here are being loved to death and there's going to have to be some serious work done if tourist numbers keep increasing.
The church in Gjógv is also worth a visit. It's relatively new, dating back to 1929. It was apparently the first church on the islands to be inaugurated in the Faroese language. Before the church was built, locals had to walk all the way to Funningur if they wanted to pay their respects to the big fella. You'd have to be pretty committed, or dare I say should be committed, to walk all that way on a day like today.

Gjógv has a rapidly declining population. In 1950 there were about 210 inhabitants but now there's apparently less than 50 hardy souls living here and the school has a grand total of 3 students. The population decline has been so rapid that at least half of the 50 or so houses in the village are vacant. It's only a matter of time before some entrepreneurial type buys up the empties and rents them out as Air BnBs. Speaking of entrepreneurial types, a resident of Gjogv runs a post office out of their home and it's open for business five days a week albeit only for 30 minutes every morning and afternoon. Apart from the post office, there's apparently a cafe in town, but it wasn't open today.
With Gjogv conquered we decided to head back down the mountain pass in search of food. The weather had closed in more while we were exploring Gjogv and whilst it made the driving conditions tricky, it added something to the overall atmosphere of the experience. The speed limit here is 80kmh max and the Faroese are pretty good at adhering to that rule. However, put them on a narrow road and you could be forgiven for thinking that they drive on the left hand side rather than the right. Handy hint, keep well to the right on mountain roads if you want to pass vehicles travelling in the opposite direction at a reasonable distance.
On the way down, we made an ill fated attempt to drive to Eidi, but the road is closed until 1st May and given the conditions, we decided not to push our luck as it looked like the road went over a snow covered mountain pass.
There's some good pull out places as you descend, with great vistas of the surrounding area. It was sleeting, as we went through the most exposed parts, so I kept well to the right just in case some of the locals were wandering onto my side of the road. The conditions were definitely atmospheric, but not so conducive to great pictures but here's a couple that turned out ok.