“Sail Island out of the fog, now you are a ship with peaks as mast trees. You head out with mountains far out on a world journey” - poetry by Christian Matras from the collection of Faroese poems.

Fresh Air, wind, high mountains, fascinating fog & breathtaking views are certainly a few of the things I experienced on my first trip to the Faroe Islands.

These group of Islands are located in the Atlantic Ocean situated between Scotland and Iceland. The archipelago consists of 18 islands, 17 of which are inhabited. The name of the islands (Foroyar) is translated as ‘the island of sheep’, which is no surprise as there are three times as many sheep as there are people.

But I wasn’t really there to see the sheep (we do have plenty here in the Lake District), the highlight of this trip for me was to see the bird life on the island of Mykines and in particular the Atlantic Puffin.

Our day started with a ferry journey from Sorvagur, a small town on the island of Vagur. The boat had a capacity of about 80 passengers and an inside area to sit down. However, I wanted to feel the spirit of the journey and feel the wind and sea spray on my face. So, I opted to sit (standing is like being on a fairground ride) on the top deck. The journey time to Mykines was 45 minutes and on the way we sailed past the magnificent sea stack Drangarnir and the islet Tindholmur, named after the five peaks of Ytsti, Arni, Litli, Breioi and Bogdi. Arriving in Mykines, the westernmost of the islands, we disembarked our vessel and headed up the steps to the small village. Gaining more height up the grassy path, it levelled out and we walked past the memorial monument that was erected for those who died at sea. It was here that we had our first glimpse of the puffins. Only a small group sat quietly on the side of the cliffs. It was only when we descended into the area known as Lambi, that we encountered about 200 of them flying around us and hundreds more just sitting on the grassy slopes. It was incredible to see and very rare to experience birds as closely as we did here. They stood right in front of me. I am not normally lost for words but I was completely and utterly mesmerised.

The Faroe islands really are truly majestic, challenging, extraordinary and staggeringly beautiful.

MY TOP TIP...

Make sure you take a hat, as you WILL get a small gesture from the birds although it is supposed to be lucky!

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