Fugloy, Faroe Islands
Flexibility and adaptation are what explorations are all about. When the road is blocked or wicked winds divert us from our goal we often find something better than we might have found had we been able to follow the path more traveled on.
Glaciers have gouged the thick basaltic plateau of the Faroe Islands into narrow fingers pointing to the north and east. We slid from fingertip to fingertip in the early morning light. Steep cliffs face the fierce northern seas that have carved stacks and arches along the edges. Snow streaks reached from the higher ridges and waterfalls cascaded a thousand feet or more becoming mist before they met the sea. God-light streamed through gaps in the dense gray clouds illuminating random patches of the charcoal deep where white caps freely danced. The clouds snagged on the island of Viderö and built to a lenticular form.
At the far northeast corner of the Faroe archipelago lies tiny Fugloy and it is here we tucked ourselves into an embracing cove for the morning. Imagine the surprise the seven residents of Hattarvik received as they looked out their windows at breakfast time. Never before has a ship our size visited their island.
One wonders what the Vikings thought as they approached these remote shores. Each island seems to rise straight from the sea. Few places offer harbor from a storm but once a toehold was attained a living could be made. Now sheep rest on terraces forged so long ago on boggy hillsides. Tiny lambs frolicked beside their mothers and meandered into front yards of now-a-days houses. Geese marched in family groups, their goslings fuzzy and yellow. Higher and higher we climbed beyond old stone walls and wire fences, beyond the soggy ground to a grassy meadow and the edge of the earth. Beneath us the cliff dropped fifteen hundred feet straight down. Fulmars hung on the rising winds. Hooded crows harassed each other. Oystercatchers were everywhere tootling their rhythmic tune. One feels small and insignificant in this land. Each individual becomes a dot upon the hillside. Below the houses are smaller than a child’s tiny building block. Zodiacs could be dust upon the sea except for their purposeful motion exploring cliffs and caves along the edges.
Today we say farewell to the Faroes, as we are now Iceland bound.
