"A sunday afternoon in Nólsoy (off season)" Nólsoy by gordonilla

I decided to visit the island of Nólsoy, on a Sunday afternoon. This meant taking the ferry across to the island; as ever public transport has a different timetable for Sunday service. I believe I took the 13.00 ferry - it arrived in the harbour of Nólsoy at about 13.20 and then at 13.25, it returned to Tórshavn. The next scheduled ferry was due back at 16.45, so I had an afternoon away from the big city lights of the capital!

The ferry cost 40 DKK during this visit - it is a return ticket, oddly they only collect fares on the way to Nólsoy. There is no collection on the way back so it is very unlikely that they get many fare dodgers on this route.

The one problem that I encountered was that there was absolutely nothing open during my visit to Nólsoy. I had collected a tourist information leaflet from the hotel, sadly it was in Danish, but I was able to translate enough to identify that the Tourist Information Centre and Cafe were open all year round. Sadly this was not the case, I realised that this was the case just as the ferry was pulling away from the dockside.

(On the following day, I asked the Tourist Information office near to the hotel about the amenities and tourist information relating to Nólsoy. It seems that the service is privately operated, and they have high expectations for what the can offer.)

Luckily the weather was dry, and as it afternoon progressed it did get a little colder but the wind dropped and it was fairly pleasant. However after several hours of walking around the village and along the cliff tops - I made my way back to the harbour to wait for the ferry and spent an hour or so reading in a quiet corner of the harbour.

Ocean Fresh

I have a liking, even a longing, to spend time by the sea, or in this case the ocean. It comes from always having lived on the east coast of Scotland whilst growing up and then again as an adult. Everywhere I go; I try and visit the nearest body of water.

In the case of Nólsoy, I walked through the village and walked up some nearby hills and then found myself face to face with the ocean. It was wild and blustery, but very invigorating; or at least it was in my opinion. Several people have commented upon me enjoying this, and all I can say is that we are all different. I enjoy seeing the wildness of the sea at close proximity.

I understand that early in 2008, there was a huge storm that actually caused a great deal of damage and destruction to the cliffs and coastline. The issue with this is that it appears to have caused significant change to the breeding grounds of Puffins. Although there are similar cliffs further up the coast, the birds have never nested there. I was advised by the Tórshavn tourist office that there was a genuine concern that the puffins may not return to their traditional nesting grounds.

The Gate of Honour

The weather on my visit was not very warm, nor sunny. It was even threatening to rain; however I found a secluded spot to sit and await the ferry. Initially it was to keep out of the wind and any rain, but I then realised that the location had a great view of the harbour with the tide coming in.

I also was able to capture the view of the boat through the Gate of Honour. The Gate is made out of a whale jaw, and was created in the 1970s to welcome and commemorate Queen Ingrid of Denmark's visit to Nólsoy. I understand there are similar gates elsewhere on the Faeroes (Oyrarbakki and Tórshavn to name but two).

As I was waiting for the ferry, I found that I was very relaxed and peaceful in mind; and even managed to do a great deal of reading of the book I had brought with me. I think there is much to be said for visiting small and perhaps isolated islands.

• Pros:Peaceful and isolated
• Cons:everything was or seemed to be shut!