Klaksvik, Bordoy, Nordoyggjar, Faroe Islands

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Friday 2nd August, 2013. Klaksvik, Bordoy, Nordoyggjar, Faroe Islands

The Faroes or Faeroe Islands (in Faroese Føroyar) are 18 islands in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, northwest of Scotland and halfway between Iceland and Norway. The Islands are a self-governing island territory of Denmark, although they politically aim for higher independence. The Islands have a population of nearly 50,000, and a language and culture of their own. Faroese is the national language which is rooted in Old Norse. Although part of the kingdom of Denmark, the islands are not part of the EU. Wherever you are on the Faroes you are never more than 5 km (3 miles) away from the ocean. The countryside is dominated by steep mountains and there are about 70,000 sheep and some 2 million pairs of seabirds, including the largest colony of storm petrels in the world. The Faroe Islands are undeniably beautiful: green, rugged and wind-swept.

Nordoyggjar or "Northern Isles" is the term used to describe the 6 islands of Fugloy, Vidoy, Bordoy, Kunoy and Kalsoy, which makes up the north eastern corner of the Faroe Islands archipelago. The islands are very different and each has its own distinctive character. Together they make up a unit around the main town of Klaksvik, located on the island of Bordoy, which is where we had docked. Klaksvik is an important fishing port and has all the comforts of a modern town. About 4,700 people live in Klaksvík, the second largest town in the islands.

The Faroes are famous for their music and statues by well known artists like Hans Pauli Olsen and the late Janus Kamban. We found one called Fipan Fagra by Hans Pauli Olsen accidentally on our way into the town. It is made of bronze and granite and was erected to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the municipality in 2008. It is an unusual piece with a naked man wedged sideways between two pieces of rock.

We took a walk out of the town to take in some of the Nordoyggar (Northern Isles) scenery. It was very wet and windy and quite unpleasant. We took in the local architecture noting that many of the buildings in both the town and in the countryside were covered in turf. We had seen this before in both Norway and Iceland. Grass roofs in the Faroe Islands are the most conspicuous element of the local architecture and provide perfect natural insulation fot the buildings, keeping the cold out in winter and maintaining a cool atmosphere in summer (not that we were experiencing any necessity to keep cool at the moment!).

We made our way back into town, passing through a very pretty public garden with lots of flowering plants. We headed for the Klaksvik Museum which is housed in the old royal trade monopoly black buildings near the harbour. It was dry and much warmer in the museum. We spent a while in here looking at the exhibits, the most notable of which were a float made from the skin of a deceased cat and a fender made from some part of the anatomy of a whale (stomach or testicle - forget which). There was also an old blackboard/slate on which someone had amusingly written "i-Pad Ha Ha". Outside of the museum was a reproduction of a Viking boat. We took some photos of the fishing boats in the harbour and of the surrounding hills before returning to the ship. Another "country" knocked off the list!

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