Faroe Islands

For the very first time on the cruise, we had 'rough' seas during the night. I say 'rough' because we felt the boat being affected by the sea. Wendy had a disturbed night, but I managed to sleep through most of the ship's motion.

We had set the alarm for 6.30am so that we had time for breakfast before we boarded the Zodiacs at 8am for our ninety minute tour of the Vestmanna bird cliffs.

The ship was anchored near a towering mountain with huge vertical cliffs.

We were paired with another Zodiac driven by Hans-Peter and we went the short distance to the cliffs. The scenery was very dramatic. Our driver, Kate, took us up close to the cliff base, where we could see the entrance to caves that went deep under the mountain. We took the Zodiacs inside the caves which was great fun.

Hans-Peter's Zodiac, in front of us, entering the cave and, then as we exited, a good photo of the Silver Explorer framed by the cave.

We spent an hour cruising through the caves, along the cliffs and around the bay where the ship was anchored. Then we sailed into the bay which was surrounded by high mountains.

At one point, we came alongside Hans-Peter who was describing the biology of kelp.

We then sailed across to the other side of the bay, where there were more caves we could navigate through, leading us to an incredible narrow channel through two towering cliffs. It was very exciting and challenging Zodiac cruising. It was 10 degrees C and overcast, but with tiny patches of blue sky and stunning scenery, we were thrilled to be there. We saw waterfalls and impressive rock stacks of varying shapes and sizes, along with many, many birds flying, sitting on nests and landing on the water, including quite a few puffins, fulmars, oystercatchers, Arctic terns, eider ducks, kittiwakes, gannets and guillemots. It was delightful to be so close to so much birdlife.

Heading back to the ship, alongside another of the Zodiacs.

We returned to the ship at about 9.30am and I went up on deck to have a coffee and take photos of the shoreline.

We went to lunch, where we sat with Ann and Jim from Troon in Scotland as the ship set sail for the Shetland Islands. We are scheduled to arrive at Fair Isle tomorrow at 12.30pm.

Leaving the Faroes, obscured by mist and low clouds. Exactly the same as when we arrived yesterday morning.

In the afternoon, there were two lectures by Luke and Hans-Peter. We failed to get to either as we were exhausted, so we spent the time in our cabin. We listened to Hans-Peter's lecture on rivers, lakes and water.

As the sea became more choppy, I felt slightly queasy, which meant I missed the Venetian Society cocktail party, where Kate, now assistant expedition leader, listed the 'frequent guests' who had sailed the most days. Jack and Ann from Texas topped the list while Declan and Anne were on 151 days. This evening there is the Venetian Society Dinner and we have been invited to sit at Kate's table. It should be a whole lot better than our last Venetian Society Dinner when our 'host' was the Italian engineer on the Cape to Cape cruise, a year ago.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel well enough for dinner, so Wendy went on her own. She was joined on Kate's table by the Sadlers and Trevor and Steven. Wendy had a very pleasant evening and learned more about Kate's family. She is the middle of seven children and her father was originally from Estonia. 

We should be at Fair Isle in the morning.