Fugloy

There are 18 major islands in the Faroes, only one of which is uninhabited. Before today, I'd visited 9, including three of the six Norðoyar (North Islands). With a good forecast, I thought I'd take the opportunity to visit one of the small Norðoyar, so took the bus to Haraldssund, where a ferry goes to Svinoy and then two stops on Fugloy. Since it wasn't as sunny as I'd hoped, I was unsure which island to go to, and finally decided to stay on and go to Hattarvík, the second stop on Fugloy.

As I walked up the single-track road from the quay, a voice hailed me from a house above, and called, "You're the first tourist of the year!" As I walked on, I encountered a grandmother with two young children, the younger of whom greeted me "Hey!", and I responded likewise, using one of the few Faroese words that I know. He then continued, but I had to admit that I couldn't speak Faroese. I chatted briefly with his grandmother. Later he hailed me "Hello!" - they start young...

Then I had a Messenger notification: it was И, asking "Can we chat?" So, thanks to the wonderful Faroese mobile network, I had a Teams chat by the helipad on an island with a population of 38. Standing, apparently aimlessly, led to someone to shout up the hill, "Are you lost?", because the standard tourist walk isn't along the road. However, I soon left it and headed up Eystfelli (449m) and then a short distance to Sjúrðarberg (422m), which is the easternmost (accessible) point in the Faroe Islands. The strictly easternmost point being the base of the almost sheer cliffs at the summit. 

I dropped back down to the road, and made my way up the grassy, and then rough, slopes of Klubbin (621m), the highest point on Fugloy. It was a flat and bouldery summit - with a tall mobile phone mast - and the great views I'd hoped for were hazy, so it didn't feel worth the effort. I then descended to Kirkja, where I had 90 minutes to kill before the ferry arrived. This gave me the chance to visit the churchyard - where I found the grave of someone who had died three years ago at the age of 102. I found this impressive, as the climate can be very harsh (see extra). The views were clearer, too (see extra). I had a tantalising view of Cape Enniberg - far right - which at 754m is one of the highest promontories in the world, and reaching it is one of my aims on this trip.

At Haraldssund, I would have had two hours to wait until the next bus, but I hitched a lift back to Klaksvík with a guy who had been helping with some shepherding on Fugloy. This took some time because we were unlucky with traffic lights due to the road works associated with the new double-track tunnels being cut. Currently there are two single-track tunnels (2.1 and 1.7km - with passing places!) that aren't fun to drive! We had a good chat, thanks to his very good English, with sheep and sheepdogs naturally part of the conversation.