Faroes: Beautiful one day, perfect the next

Today was the day for exploring Vagar and hopefully, tracking down some puffins. We saw lots of puffins last year on Shetland, so this morning we took a bird spotting boat trip in the hope of tracking down some of the Faroese variety. The boat explored some nice parts of the coastline and we travelled under sheer clifflines. It's hard to believe that people settled these islands and survived in such inhospitable conditions. We did pass one village which has been 'deserted' for at least 20 years. During WWII there were 80 people living there. What makes the story most remarkable is that there is no road access and there's no harbour, so the residents only access was on foot. I did say it was 'deserted' but there's a few houses still standing and apparently descendants of the original residents have turned them into holiday homes. Anyway, I have digressed from discussing puffins. They were few and far between on the cliffs today, but there were a couple of spottings. The boat trip lasted for 90 minutes and it was ok, although that's probably a harsh judgement as we aren't so good on group tours. If you come here it starts from Vestmanna Tourist Centre and it does get pretty heavily booked so check ahead, especially in peak tourist season.

With the boat trip over we decided it was getting near lunchtime. We had read good things about a place called FiskaStykkid in Sandavágur. The fitout of the restaurant is tres cool and the building was originally used for drying salted cod before it was exported to Italy. The makeover has preserved the heritage of the building and there's lots of pictures from back in the day showing the locals hard at work, you guessed it, drying cod. The owners have also completed a significant extension to the building, which is also tres cool. The extension is a function area with one hell of a view. Now it's all very well to have a great looking restaurant, but the most important thing is the food. We had the salmon salad and bacalao crêpes (beetroot crepes with salted cod). We decided to really indulge with a waffle and cinnamon roll for dessert as some serious walking was going to be undertaken in the afternoon session. The verdict on the food........even better than beautiful building. They also serve a couple of good beers, for which they get bonus points.

After our great lunch it was time to get walking. First on the checklist was Trøllkonufingur or Troll woman’s finger. No matter which was you say that it sounds vaguely offensive. The walk starts just behind town and the track, well it's actually a path, cuts through farmland and is super easy to access. It takes about 20 minutes from the carpark and we were taking our time. The Trøllkonufingur stands 313 m out of the water and presents a pretty dramatic picture. It's another one of these crazy stories about a witch trying to tow the Faroes to Iceland. I've heard a few of them now, so I've given up on the details. Needless to say the witch failed to complete her task and she's now cast into stone for eternity, which is probably less stressful than carting that rock to Iceland. It's a pretty spectacular natural sight and well worth the minor effort to get there. Apparently 11 brave or maybe foolish souls have climbed the rock. The last time anyone made it all the way to the top was a party of four in 2016.
There's also a nice church in the centre of town which dates back to 1917. If you ever decide to climb the Trøllkonufingur, you might want to drop in here for a few prayers before you make the ascent. I can't guarantee, it will work, but it's worth trying. The church contains a nice rune stone dating back to viking times which gives it even more credibility.

Next stop was Bour a very small village located in a stunning place. I won't say much more than that because I kind of feel sorry for the people who live there. When we walked through, we felt that we were encroaching on the lives of the residents. There's a couple of tourist coach bus parking spots just above the village so I can only imagine what goes on here in peak season. There's a sign just outside Bour asking visitors to respect the privacy of the residents, so clearly there have been problems. My advice is to tread lightly and to make your visit brief.
After that it was onto Gasadalur. It's home to a very nice waterfall, (see the pics below) and some great coastal cliff walks. There's also a cafe in town, but I think it's only open from mid May to September. If you're into sheep, there's plenty to take your fancy in Gasadalur. However we weren't there for the sheep, apparently the grassy knoll at the back of the town is something of a puffin hotspot. We trekked our way to the cliff edge and sure enough there were quite a few puffin nesting spots, but it seemed that mum and dad had gone to sea for the day. Plans are afoot to revisit later one evening this week.