On the subject of distant residing, this adventurous mother has embraced it wholeheartedly.
Felicity Aston, 45, went about buying a tiny island known as Vigur off the west coast of Iceland 4 years in the past and now she is the only resident alongside together with her husband Gizli and their six-year-old son, Thrainn.
The Brit, who’s a polar explorer and scientist, did not disclose how a lot she bought the 45 hectare island for, however on the time it was listed for $2.6 million.
The outcrop got here with a 10-bedroom home, various outbuildings, and full farming rights.
Felicity Aston, 45, bought a tiny island known as Vigur off the west coast of Iceland 4 years in the past and now she is the only resident alongside together with her husband and their six-year-old son
The Brit, who’s a polar explorer and scientist, did not disclose how a lot she bought the 45 hectare island for, however on the time it was listed for $2.6 million
She advised DailyMail.com that their most important supply of revenue comes from harvesting duck down, and welcoming guests
The down harvesting season typically runs all through June and Felicity describes it as a really labor intensive exercise. The household weigh a few of their haul
A few of the extra uncommon options embody Iceland’s solely windmill, which is a protected monument relationship again to the 1860s
A few of the extra uncommon options embody Iceland’s solely windmill (which is a protected monument relationship again to the 1860s), Iceland’s oldest boat in-built 1800, and the smallest submit workplace in Europe.
Felicity advised DailyMail.com that her most important supply of revenue comes from harvesting duck down, and welcoming guests – both for a short cease offs or for in a single day stays of their guesthouse.
Vigur, which is round 3km from the mainland, receives round 10,000 guests a 12 months from passing vacationer boats.
Whereas the windmill and submit workplace are two of the island’s most photographed options, the considerable nature is one other lure.
On the marine aspect of issues, seals can typically be noticed hauling out on the rocks and there are numerous whales, notably humpbacks, within the fjord.
The household additionally discover many fish bones washed up on shore, with some cod skulls proving to be very huge in dimension – typically twice the dimensions of a human cranium.
Transferring on land, there are round 7,000 breeding eider geese on the plot, greater than 100,000 puffins, a uncommon colony of Black Guillemot and ‘extra nesting Arctic Terns than anybody can depend.’
The down harvesting season typically runs all through June and Felicity describes it as a really labor intensive exercise.
‘Eiderdown is picked by hand – a number of fingers!
‘There are roughly 3,500 eider nests on Vigur and they’re randomly scattered throughout the 2km lengthy island, typically in nicely hid nooks and hard-to-reach locations.
‘Our days are spent scrambling and exploring each inch of the island, part by part, in search of out each single nest and accumulating no matter eiderdown isn’t wanted.
‘We’ll make a number of rounds earlier than we’re executed. Happily, Vigur is a ravishing and endlessly fascinating place to be outside amongst the birdlife and nature.’
Now that the eiderdown season is sort of over, Felicity says they’ll all take a little bit of a well-earned break.
For a change of surroundings, the trio take journeys to the mainland. The journey of their boat can take wherever from 15 to 45 minutes relying on the ocean circumstances.
‘There are roughly 3,500 eider nests on Vigur and they’re randomly scattered throughout the 2km lengthy island, typically in nicely hid nooks and hard-to-reach locations’
The outcrop got here with a 10-bedroom home, various outbuildings, and full farming rights
Within the winter the island additionally will get sufficient snow that Felicity could make a cross nation ski circuit across the island
Vigur is house to Iceland’s oldest boat, which was in-built 1800
Through the eiderdown farming season, Felicity says ‘our days are spent scrambling and exploring each inch of the island, part by part’
Whereas the adventurous couple ‘love’ life on Vigur, they admit that ‘it isn’t for everybody’
Felicity says of Vigur: ‘It has this unbelievable peacefulness to it and but it’s a riot of noise and life. Nature is so chaotic and brutal and but being round it’s in some way soothing!’
The household additionally discover many fish bones washed up on shore, with some cod skulls proving to be very huge in dimension – typically twice the dimensions of a human cranium
From the native fishing village it’s a 20-minute drive to the closest city, Isafjordur which Felicity says has a inhabitants of two,500 and ‘all the pieces you want.’
She revealed: ‘There is a grocery store, a bakery, a pub, a great place to eat, a {hardware} store, a storage and so forth.
‘There’s additionally a hospital however for something critical sufferers are transported to Reykjavik the capital of Iceland which is a 35-minute flight away.’
Felicity and Gizli, who have been beforehand residing in Reykjavik, came upon about Vigur after information of its sale made nationwide press.
There was a marketing campaign for the island to be purchased for the nation however the authorities issued a press release ruling that out.
It was then available on the market for about three years earlier than the couple began to suppose severely about ‘whether or not this is perhaps the longer term.’
Felicity defined: ‘Each me and my husband knew Vigur and we each felt the necessity for a brand new problem, one thing that we felt had legacy and that we may do collectively.’
After battling it out in opposition to different bidders, Felicity and Gizli found their supply had been accepted.
One of many hardest issues about residing on the island, Felicity says, are the winters as they’re typically trapped there for days at a time.
Being right here has taught me that you simply actually do not want a lot to be pleased. It’s wonderful what you are able to do with out
She revealed ‘We’re very snug right here however the seas round us might be enormous – the Denmark Strait is on the finish of the fjord, the Arctic Circle just a little to our north and we’re a lot nearer to Greenland than to Europe – so getting on and off the island is difficult work.
‘We won’t hold the boat within the water in winter so each time we use it now we have to tug it out of the water and up the seaside.
‘It is onerous after we are simply three of us. Each journey to the grocery store is a serious expedition – it will get tiring!’
Within the winter, the fjord would not freeze however ice across the shore drifts up from subsidiary fjords.
The island additionally will get sufficient snow that Felicity could make a cross nation ski circuit across the island and the drifts ‘typically construct as much as the roof of the buildings.’
Within the summers, the climate might be heat however Felicity warns that ‘you all the time want a great coat within the evenings,’ as Iceland has famously changeable climate delivering ‘all the pieces all of sudden.’
Whereas the adventurous couple ‘love’ life on Vigur, they admit that ‘it isn’t for everybody.’
Felicity concludes, earlier than heading again to welcome the stream of tourists ashore: ‘There’s, I believe, a necessity in us all to seek out our “place” on the planet, someplace we really feel we belong but additionally someplace we really feel now we have contributed or made a distinction.
‘For us, that’s Vigur. Being right here has taught me that you simply actually do not want a lot to be pleased. It’s wonderful what you are able to do with out.
‘Vigur has this unbelievable peacefulness to it and but it’s a riot of noise and life. Nature is so chaotic and brutal and but being round it’s in some way soothing!
‘Everybody who involves Vigur acknowledges that there’s something particular right here – however none of us have fairly put our finger on precisely what it’s. You will simply must see for your self.’
