Iceland Day 7: Isfjordur

 The sun actually came out in patches today. The first we had seen it since we arrived. Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever actually saw the sun, but I did see patches of blue and a bright spot through the clouds that must have been the sun.

Steve and I had no scheduled outings today although John and Tammy were supposed to go kayaking. That got changed to a another waterfall hike because of strong winds. (Have I mentioned how many gorgeous waterfalls there are here?) Because of the winds, the captain decided to anchor in the outer harbor rather than dock, so we took the tender into town after lunch and just walked around. 

That's our small ship out there in the bay.

I had ideas of climbing the Troll’s Throne on my own rather than taking a tour, but we discovered that although it hung over the town, all this water came in between. It would have been quite a walk just to get there. 

So much for that plan, but the information booth people told me where to find a contour path with nice views like the one above and this one of the Troll's Throne. According to the legend, a troll sat on the mountain and squashed it.

They have built a system of avalanche barriers like earthworks between the town and the mountain so that rock slides would fall into a ditch rather than on the houses, and there are paths both along the top and by the stream in the ditch. 

A couple small “forests” also seem to be planted where they would slow down falling rock—a delightful place to take pictures.

Iceland Day 6: Akureyri

 This was my major splurge of the trip. I have come to terms with the fact that I will probably never raft down the Grand Canyon, and this seemed second best. The scenery getting there was fabulous as we drove an hour and a half over the mountains into the interior, but it rained the whole way and the bus didn’t stop, so no pictures.

Eventually we reached the outfitters in Skagafjordurwhere. We changed into wet suits and boots, splash jackets and helmets. There were a couple family groups. No little kids, but teens and a grandmother who was older than I am!

 

I wore my long underwear and knitted hat under it all. No one had explained ahead of time that a “wet suit” means you get wet underneath and we should have brought dry clothes to change into afterwards. 

 

It stopped raining more or less for part of the trip in the West Glacier River Canyon (about 1.5 hours). We were three rafts. Only five people in our raft plus the guide, Kristi, who pointed out his dad’s land when we slid passed it. He’s a coach at the school and does this when they need an extra raft. Kelly and Dave had done white water rafting before so they took the front seats. Tumelo was in the middle on the left, and Grace and I in the back. Kristi would shout, "Forward!" and we paddled in rhythm with Kelly and Dave. Once he had us back paddle. A couple times he shouted “Get down!” To paddle we were sitting on the sides of the raft with our feet in stirrups to help hang on. “Get down” meant to drop to our knees in the center of the boat with paddles vertical. That order was given when we were about to drop into a trough and be doused with water! We never needed the “life rope” around the side that was pointed out to us before we began. (I don’t think my friend Ferne Weimer would have enjoyed this! We got flipped on a white water rafting trip in Tennessee years ago following a librarians' conference. For me that trip is a fabulous memory. For her, not so much.)

 

We stopped once where a hot spring poured out of the side of the hill, and the guides pulled out a can of instant cocoa. It wasn’t as hot as I drink my tea, but was fine for chocolate. No hard-boiled eggs.

 

Another time we stopped where there was a rock you could climb up and jump off, then swim desperately out of the current back to our beached rafts. Kelly and Tumelo both did it. I did not.

 

The canyon walls were high and black. Volcanic. This was the sort of scenery you pay to see with your effort. No driving in, having a look around and getting back in your car. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures because despite my Otter case, I was not willing to risk my phone. I borrowed this one from the Internet.

Totally awesome!

Oh, yeah. It started raining again half way through, but we were already so wet, it didn’t matter. Everyone was quite exhilarated before we reached the fork with the East Glacier River. Kristi said that was the more difficult trip with stronger rapids. A ways downstream we met our bus and pulled out.

 

Back at the base (half an hour later) we changed back into whatever was reasonably dry. My top only had wet cuffs, but I stripped off my long underwear and wore my hiking pants home. 

 

The brochure said there would be a chance for a dip in a hot spring. I had brought my suit, but it turned out to be an indoor hot tub. Most of us didn’t bother.

 

Lunch (at 3 PM) was homemade bread and a bowl of hot lamb and vegetable soup. Delicious. Tasted like Scotch broth. Then an hour and a half back to the ship. Beautiful scenery seen through the rain. 

So many wonderful waterfalls but no time to stop.

Note the sleepy rafter to the right.

Hot shower in the room and a steak and fries for dinner. Early to bed, although we heard this morning that the crew talent show was excellent.

Iceland Day 5: Seydisfjordur

John and Tammy and I did the excursion to Hengifoss Waterfall, third highest in Iceland. It was an hour and a half drive away, up through the Fjardarheidi Pass full of gorgeous waterfalls that the bus did not stop at for photos.

Then along Lagarfljot Lake, whose lake bed is 328 feet below sea level. It was a steep climb and then a way along the stream. 

There were several falls along the way. Our destination is the falls at the top left. (That's my "don't get shot by hunters while hiking during hunting season" hat.

Temperatures all week were in the '40s and '50s, but this day wasn’t too cold and it didn’t actually rain, so although it was overcast and not ideal for pictures, it was great weather for Iceland!

You can see that some of the rocks have fallen since this boardwalk was built.

Our guide was a “real Icelander” with a half ponytail and beard, traditional sweater and a leather coat and cap (in his left hand). Tammy got this picture when he was talking to John. (And yes, our hike started on a level just above the lake in the background.)

I chatted with a young South African man named Tumelo. He was very attentive when I needed to take breaks. I encouraged him to go on without me and enjoy his adventure. Turns out he works on the ship as the fitness instructor. Nice friendly guy who grew up in Cape Town and moved to Jozi. I was the last person back to the bus, but I got there before the time they had said we should be back.

 

On the way back we stopped in Egilstadir, one of the newest towns in Iceland, which grew up on the ring road where side roads take off. There was a lovely arts and crafts shop where I bought my daughter Katie’s Christmas present, but since she will no doubt read this blog, I'm not saying what it is. (Sorry, Kate, not a $200 sweater.)

Iceland Day 4: At Sea

All day at sea. Wonderful food. (If I were more of a foodie, I would write down all the specifics, but...) Dreary skies. The idea of driving round Iceland is losing its allure. We spent a lot of time in the Level 8 lounge at the front of the ship where we could see where we were going. 

Enjoyed this hot tub a couple times when there weren't sightseers around it.

The good thing about the weather was that the deck 8 promenade was never crowded. :-)

John looked green at dinner, but it was Steve who threw up when we got back to the room. I took a Dramamine and went to bed.

Iceland Day 3: Heimay Island

We arrived at Heimay Island about 9:30 AM, coming through amazing rocks into the harbor. 

John and Tammy and I went for a walk. (Steve wasn’t interested in braving the rain.) I wore the rain coat I bought at REI in Gatlinberg over my new Iceland sweater and stayed quite warm and dry. We steered right out of the port toward one of the cliffs, over a hump to the other side of a peninsula. John had the forethought to download a detailed map of Iceland from his GPS while we were at the hotel with free Internet. Tammy and I looked longingly at a steep path up the mountain, but we had left our poles in our rooms. We found a contour path that eventually petered out under a rocky overhang. Beautiful cliffs even in the rain.

 

Our afternoon tour took us back to the same area along the road to this spot where the annual festival happens. This is a replica of a dwelling from about AD 1000 whose ruins were excavated on the other side of the road.

Next stop: a puffin rookery.

With a few sheep running around the hillside.

 

 

As we returned to the bus, a car horn sounded and the sheep went running for the gate: the owner arriving with treats.

The museum of the 1973 volcanic eruption on the island was most impressive. The entire population of 5000 had to be evacuated to the mainland. The museum is built around a house in situ that was excavated after 40 years. You can still see clothing and broken glass in the rooms along with piles of black tuft that filled it. 

Our tour guide was the assistant principal of the elementary school who grew up here and returned to raise his family after a few years on the mainland and a couple in Denmark. He told us about needing to rescue the pufflings that wandered into town, drawn apparently by the lights. If they weren’t released into the ocean they would drown in the polluted harbor or die in holes among the buildings with nothing to eat. It becomes a game for a few weeks for families to go around town searching and catching the baby puffins and releasing them. He also told us that his mother-in-law has too many horrific memories of the night the volcano erupted to listen to the audio-tour of the museum.

Iceland Day 2: Reykjavik

I went for an early morning walk and discovered this map of Iceland that we all went back to see later. 

There was also a road map that reminded me of seeing the road above Skagway from a cruise ship excursion and deciding we wanted to drive to Alaska. How cool it would be to drive around Iceland! 

Reykjavik is just above the first peninsula jutting out on the left. We'll be sailing around the peninsula in the night to Heimay Island in the south.

We walked around the pond you can see through the windows in the photo above and ran into the Icelandic poet Thomas Guthmundson. We had a good discussion. I think he got my point.

We left the hotel for the ship about 12:30. Coming aboard took a while as they organized to check health documents. A lady we were waiting with commented that a lot of the ships don’t bother with checking vaccinations and covid test results anymore as if she thought it was a waste of time. I refrained from saying we would not be coming on this cruise if these documents were not a requirement. 

 

Our rooms are gorgeous! 

There was some problem on the lower deck we paid for, and they upgraded us to this, complete with a bottle of champaign and a half dozen chocolate-covered strawberries.

 

This morning was cloudy, but since we have been on the ship it has mostly been a fine mist of rain. I guess we will leave the hot tubs on the deck for another time. We had lunch about 2. Wonderful salad bar. Dinner this evening was a two-and-a half-hour affair with John and Tammy. I had the ahi tuna appetizer, roasted butternut soup, braised scallops with bacon-wrapped potatoes and a passion fruit sorbet. Steve had the prime rib. John ordered a bottle of wine which they shared with me in payment for my proofreading his latest book. 

 

So now we are settled in bed with the chocolate that was on the pillow when we returned to the room. The waves have picked up and I can feel a gentle swaying. Hopefully we won’t regret not being in the cheaper room lower down in the more stable part of the ship.

Iceland: Day 1 Reykjavik

[Wi-fi on this trip was expensive and poor quality, so I am posting these after our return.]

 

When I was eight or nine, I read a story in my school reader about a group of children in Iceland going for a picnic. The children lowered a metal basket of eggs into a hot spring to cook for their lunch. Ever since, I have thought it would be wonderful to visit Iceland. That’s where we are headed.

 

Steve found a great deal for business class seats on Icelandic air. The meal (salmon for me, short ribs for him) was delicious. Real headphones blocked out general noise well enough to make it hard to know when the attendant was offering me something. I read a novel by Icelandic author Hollard Laxness until I drifted off. No sleeping pill because it was less than a six-hour flight.

 

We are traveling with our friends, John and Tammy. John says it is his goal to return home still friends. We will be catching a Windstar Cruise tomorrow, but we have one night in Reykjavik. The trouble is that they don’t let you into your room at 6 AM, which feels like 1 AM to your body. We had thought of spending the day at the Blue Lagoon hot spring, but we didn’t think early enough. It was all booked out for the day. And for the day the cruise returns. We’re trying to book a different hot spring. We’ll see.

 

Instead we walked around. We headed toward the gorgeous, modern National Cathedral with a statue of Leife Ericsson out front, given by the Americans in 1930. Made us feel right at home.

 

 

 

From there we angled down to the harbor

 

And the orchestra performance hall, glittering like fish scales.

 

 

As we wandered back, we were all feeling like zombies. We still had hours to kill before 3 PM check-in, when we found this place for lunch.

 

 

This makes 90 countries in which Steve has eaten pizza. Definitely NOT the worst pizza he had ever had in his life.

 

 

As we wandered, I kept poking my nose into shops  and stalls selling sweaters. I have a weakness for nice sweaters and that is the one souvenir I would like to bring back. A shop around the corner from our hotel had one I liked. Not cheap, but as I popped in other places, the price was typical. Some of the designs look Nordic rather than Icelandic to my inexperienced eye. Others looked clunky and uncreative to me, the knitter. Not exciting enough to spend that much money on. I ended up coming back to the first sweater that had caught my eye. I’m sure it will appear in pictures during the week.