We set out for our next adventure, two weeks touring the Faroe Islands in a rented camper van. The first leg is less fun, getting ourselves to Pearson Airport in Toronto where the waiting begins. We flew Icelandair overnight with a connecting flight in Keflavik.
Departing from Terminal 3, we actually got moved to the "infield concourse", a much smaller and quieter terminal where we had the place to ourselves. I also ended up sitting beside a rock legend! Knowing that our second flight had much smaller carry on limits, we broke our usual rule and travelled with checked bags, which at least allowed us to bring more clothing and food options than normal.
As Icelandair names all their planes, we flew our first leg on a 737 named "Baula", landing early morning and four time zones later in Iceland. After clearing passport control, we opted to sped our layover with some coffee and then found some more substantial sustenance.
For the second leg, we boarded a much smaller Dash-8 propellor plane named "Hallgerd Long-Pants" after a legendary heroine in the Icelandic sagas. About two hours and one more time zone later, we circled some rugged green rocks in the ocean below and came in over the hanging lake Sorvagsvatn for a smooth touchdown at FAE, the Faroe Islands international airport on the island of Vagar.
The Faroe Islands consists of 18 separate volcanic islands in the middle of the north Atlantic, north of Scotland between Iceland and Norway. Many of the islands are physically connected by bridges or subsea tunnels, and others by ferry or helicopter.
We picked up our shiny new VW camper van at the airport, and once we completed the online process and figured out how all the important things worked (lights, wipers, fridge, etc.) we made the short drive east to the nearby village of Midvagur. Sleep-deprived after our overnight flights, we stopped at the Bonus to stock the van with groceries for the days ahead.
From there, we checked in at Giljanes Camping and Hostel where we would camp for the night. We even met Felix, the resident feline who basically runs the place! To help adjust to the five-hour time change, we forced ourselves to stay up and took a walk around the shore to neighbouring village Sandavagur. Eventually, we set up the bed in the back, succumbed to slumber and called it a night....well, actually two nights.
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