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For Monday, 14 August, we had reserved a daytrip to Koltur by RIB. Koltur is only populated by one family which makes it the least populated island on the Faroes,
ex aequo with Stora Dimun, and bar Litla Dimun (which is the only unpopulated island in the archipelago).
Koltur from Streymoy:
We had been given a rendez-vous at 10 a.m. at Gamlaraett, the port were the ferry sails to the island of Hestur (one village) and Skopun on Sandoy.
Hestur:
However, at 9:30, we received an email telling us that the departure was moved to 11 a.m. and the place to close-by Velbastaður. This meant that we had some time to kill so we drove up to Kirkjubøur, where we intended to visit the famous half-finished cathedral. However, at 10:05 a.m., I realised that I had a missed call from the tour operator. I called him back and he asked me whether we were coming or not. Everybody was ready for take off at Gamlaraett... 5 minutes later we were back down at Gamlaraett. It appears that the email was a dud. We put on our waterproofs and life vests (supplied by the tour operator), and off we went with an Italian couple, two German guys and an Irishman.
Our destination, Koltur, from the boat:
Instead of taking us to Koltur directly, our skipper took us to and into a seacave on the Streymoy shore and added to the ambiance by playing some nordic music on the boat stereo.
The cave which is actually a tunnel, you can see the light at the other end:
Inside the cave:
After this, the skipper put on "Sweet home Alabama" on the stereo at full power and hits the hammer - full speed over to Koltur in less than 15 minutes... Here we are in front of the Koltur cliffs.
Instead of taking us to the pier, the skipper drives to the sandy beach below the old village and asks us if we want to enter the island "viking style". Obviously, everybody agrees and so he lands the boat on the beach and we climb down avoiding the swell.
The beach with the old village Heimi í Húsi. If you look close you can see two people walking in the village (on the right, next to the first house from the right)
The skipper leaves us and tells us he will be back on 3:15 p.m. We take off the water proofs and climb up the beach to the village, where we meet the farmer and his wife. The farmer welcomes us and stays for a wee blether but they take the helicopter which arrives soon after.
This means that our little group is now on its own on the island for a bit more than 4 hours. The group splits up. While the Italians and the Irish guy head up to the hill, the Germans chill on the beach. My wife and I give the village a closer look. It is a typical medieval Faroe settlement, restored and serving as a museum. Interesting.
Looking over to Hestur, with a few nice sea stacks:
Looking towards the hill. On the right, you see the new house where the farmer lives.
The only local guy left on the island:
In da house:
Bed in a closet:
So far so good but the weather was far too nice to stay inside so we headed out on the island. A picture of the village from just above. Lord of the Rings, someone?
It was time to quit the village and to discover the rest of the island. On the way to the new house:
The regular pier:
The new house:
Next to the new house on a peninsula there is another old settlement, Norðuri í Gerði. We tried to go there on our way back from the cliffs but were scared away by hundreds of aggressive arctic terns. Granted, they are less impressive than bonxies but they attack in great numbers. Makes you feel like in the movie, "the Birds"....
I wanted to climb the hill, Kolturshamar (478 m). But the wife had other plans after the exhausting walk on Mykines the day before (see the report here:
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=76484). As a compromise, we decided to go up half the hill and to picknick and relax up there. So we crossed the islands high ground to the southern cliffs as the best way to climb the hill is to climb up the south cliff.
Here we are on the south cliff looking up the hill.
On the way up - the cliffs in the background just behind the island are the cliffs we climbed a few days ago above Leitisvatn (see this report:
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=76461)
Soon, we met the first puffins.
And some strange rock formations.
And a rope for climbing down the cliffs. To collect eggs?
At this point, the missus decided we had climbed enough for today so we sat down to have a bite and watch the views.
Looking back down to the old village:
Up the remaining part of the hill.
And, most spectacularly, down over Steymoy (left), Hestur (middle) and Sandoy (right):
This truly felt like paradise. The temperatures were agreeable (t-shirt weather) and the atmosphere was peaceful. The puffins were close by. I had taken tons of puffin pictures on Mykines so I did not even really feel like taking some more but when one puffin came really close I still snapped a few shots which turned out some of the best puffin pictures in my by now huge libary...
After a lazy hour we decided to go back the same way to the new house. As easy as it may seem to cross the high ground of the island, we managed to struggle to find the right way but eventually came down on the second settlement, pictured below, where we got attacked by the arctic terns. As we were to learn later, they also attacked our fellow tourist friends that had climbed the hill on their way down.
The second settlement.
Back at the new house, we discovered a sign indicating the two island hikes. I post them here for interested walkers.
Our fellow tourists, i.e. the Italian couple and the Irishman, demonstrated that it is feasible to climb the hill and get back down to the beach in time for the boat.
As we had some time to kill we went back to the old village (the one without the terns) and took some more pictures.
Settlement with beach. The most mediterranean scenery anywhere in the Faroes.
The Italian guy mistook the sea for the Mediterranean and went for a wee swim. It was fabulous to hear his screams when the 9° C cold water hit his crown jewels. He was brave though, with a "Forza Italia" he immersed. No pictures of this, only of the beach:
Soon after, the skipper was back and it was time to don the water proofs.
As the guy chose to land at the beach instead of the pier once again, it was time to climb the boat with a courageous jump by avoiding the swell. Managed by all, some with more grace than the others.... no pictures, again.
The skipper brought us back to Gamlaraett quickly with a small detour to the Hestur cliffs and a few 360°-ies at full speed to amuse the audience. A great time was had in splendid weather!
