KOLLAFJORDUR AND TORSHAVN – FAROE ISLANDS – Sunday 2nd August 2015
A misty day, we can see mountains all around us, sadly not the peaks, but at least we are berthed against a proper quay, so can just walk ashore. Only one snag, Kollafjordur is a small village with no facilities, shops, hotels, etc, just an old fishing factory and a few houses. The main town, Torshavn, is 14km away, in the next Fjord, a 25 minute bus ride! So everyone packs into a shuttle bus and away we go. We are only berthed here for five hours so what a strange place to drop anchor.
Torshavn is a lovely little town, georgeous harbour surrounded by very old houses with grass roofs. It will not take too long to explore so Paul and Liz take a hike up the hill to a park spotted on the town map. The park is full of interesting sculptures, including a stained glass man on horseback slaying a dragon. Sam and Dave strike out for the other side of the harbour which would give a panoramic view of the old town. Kath and myself explore the harbour and surroundings.
Not many shops open, in fact none at all. Cafes and restaurants also closed. In fact the town is closed – it is Sunday morning! We spot a building saying hotel so enter the lobby, turns out it is a shoe shop being refitted – no coffee here, although the workmen have a chat and offer to make us a cup.
So after a couple of hours of exploring without spending a single danish krona we head back to our shuttle bus and enjoy the scenery as we are transported around the Fjord and back to the boat. A beautiful area, but why bring 500 people here when everything is in closed mode? Why are we berthed so far away from the main town, when Torshavn has a perfectly good harbour?
Usual great evening meal, we include some nice Portuguese Red wine, having sampled it at the captains table two days ago. Just imbibing this when Paul shouts “Whale” and points to the portholes. Everyone rushes to the window portholes and there out at sea, a long way away, the shape of a whale is clearly visible spouting water, then it upends showing us his iconic tail as he dives for cover. Who would have thought such a view so far away would cause such great excitement. I think we were lucky the boat did not turn on its side.
Liz was beginning to feel the effects of a rolling sea. Inna immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion and started a rumour that Liz was pregnant. Kath is now paranoid about the staff calling her “Granmama”. Once the confusion had been cleared up, Inna was very kind and dashed off, returning with a stick of ginger. “I have killed the decoration!” she declared as she presented it to Liz. It turns out that one of the buffet table decorations was made out of ginger and Inna had snapped a piece off. She instructed Liz how to use it. Whatever the way, it did the trick.
Since we all get younger tonight, as the clocks have to be set back one hour, we once again put in an appearance at the disco. Not quite last to leave but we used up our extra hour valiantly.
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Six Sail to Iceland 