Iceland Day 12

Happy Canada Day to all my friends back home!

Today was the last official day of the tour. One thing I like about exploring Iceland is that since the days are so long, we get a later start in the morning. 10 AM works for me…haha! We had a short 15 minute drive from our hotel over to the Arbaer Open Air Museum.

There are over 20 buildings representing a town square, a village and a farm. They are all very well preserved inside and out. I really liked the sturdily-built sod houses. The church was even a sod one! One of the homes had an attached shed for farm animals.

I was amazed at the short doorways and extremely steep narrow stairways in most of the two story buildings. Yikes! It was almost like using a ladder in some cases.

There was a group of small kids touring the museum. For their enjoyment, there was an old-fashioned go-cart steered with feet and a rope. I was impressed with the ‘engine’ in the back – other kids pushing. They really got that cart moving!

Lunch was at a very popular eating establishment in Reykjavik. It’s called Baejarins Beztu Pylsur. And what do they serve you may ask? Hot dogs! It’s not a sit-down restaurant, just a stand in the downtown area. There are always line-ups and they even have their own Wikipedia entry!!

Our afternoon excursion was to the famous Blue Lagoon. I was expecting a hot pool much the same as the Mineral Baths at Myvatn. The Blue Lagoon is not only more famous, but bigger, with more to do, and at a higher cost of course. (6,500 Icelandic kronas =$55.82 CDN). It was so worth it though.

Upon entry, you were issued a high-tech waterproof bracelet. That was your key to open and close your locker, but there was also a swim-up bar serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. To ‘pay’, they scanned your bracelet, then after changing and before exiting, they re-scanned your bracelet and charged you accordingly. Due to the heat and steam, I ordered a raspberry slushy drink (crushed ice with flavoring) to help cool down a bit.

There was an area with tubs of ‘mud’ and a long-handled narrow spoon. You reached in and scooped out the white mud, then put it on your face for 10-15 minutes. It was great fun and I did it 3 times.

There were steam saunas and an extremely powerful waterfall you could stand under. It was like getting a massage, that’s how strong it was. There were quite a few people there but it is a big pool with lots of different areas. Like the Myvatn Mineral Baths, the floor of the pool was natural and uneven. It was mostly smooth but you had to watch your step as you could step on a sharp rock at any moment.

We headed back to Reykavik which was about a 40 minute drive. I hung up my suit and towel and headed out to the main shopping street to explore. Since it was after 6 PM there wasn’t much open but I enjoyed window shopping at any rate.

At 8 PM I met up with the rest of the group for one final get-together as some people had flights to catch later that evening. I ordered myself a fruity drink called “Holy Moly”. After our final good-byes I headed back to the hotel to blog and plan for tomorrow.

I’m on my own again! 

Iceland Day 11

After a nice breakfast at the hotel we sent off to explore Akureyi. 

The city is located at the end of the fjord Eyjafkorour and is surrounded by mountains. Akureyi has a population of about 18,000. It is an important port and fishing centre and enjoys an ice free harbor. A cruise ship had arrived during the night so the town was filled with sightseers. 

Transportation was by foot, and the terrain was quite hilly. I wasn't fond of walking on rocks and uneven ground in previous days, but pavement and concrete isn't the best either. A nearby attraction was the Akureyi Botanical Gardens. 

It is a free public park and is nicely laid out with lots of interesting nooks and crannies. Some of the plants were greenhouse grown but most of them are indigenous to the area. It was surprising to recognize so many of the same plants as we have at home.

Nearby was “old town”, an area with homes of some of the first settlers in the area. The design of the buildings was traditional Icelandic. I especially enjoyed the windows which frequently have beautiful lace curtains. Some of the homes were quite colorful and the wooden trim was beautiful.

The road led me to the main shopping area downtown where I browsed for awhile. I also stopped in at an art gallery which had a most interesting display of life sized wooden characters made from lumber scraps and found things. I especially enjoyed “Mr. Abacus Hat”.

The agenda for the rest of the day was the drive back to Reykjavik which was a 5 and a half hour one. The scenery in Iceland is really quite amazing – rugged, sparsely populated and truly beautiful.

We had a late supper in the restaurant attached to our hotel. I ordered the Arctic char again and it was prepared in a much different way this time – minced on top of miniature sliced potatoes on top of bread, garnished with green apple pieces. Yum!

Iceland Day 10

Well I learned something about myself in Husavik this morning.  I could never ever make a living as a sailor in the Atlantic!

Husavik is a beautiful northern coastal town on the shore of Skjálfandi Bay and is known as the whale capital of Iceland. We arrived just in time for a three hour tour (everybody sing, "a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour!"). Our boat was a beautiful old wooden schooner with about 30 passengers. 

On board we were issued heavy duty waterproof coveralls that also served as life jackets.  To put them on, we had to take off our shoes to get our feet through the legs. That's where I made my first mistake - not doing my "waterproof" hiking boot laces back up tightly.  What I didn't count on was the boat taking on so much water and soaking my right boot and sock completely. Wool gets pretty heavy when its wet. And just like rafting and snorkelling, that water is unpleasantly cold, to put it mildly.  

My second mistake was in my choice of seats. I thought that the middle would be a smart choice. I could easily get to where the 'whale action' was or so I thought and it wouldn't be as rough as the bow. As I sat on the end of a bench, the boat began to pitch with such violence that I fell right off and onto the floor. If the floor hasn't been so wet I would have stayed there!

The third thing I did wrong was to leave my Gravol and my motion sickness bracelets tucked away in my suitcase back on shore. I'm not a complete landlubber. I’ve been whale watching on the ocean before in Canada and toured the Galapagos in a small yacht, so I thought I knew what I was in for....NOT! I was good for the first hour or so but then I began to feel quite queasy. Keep your eyes on the land they said, and I tried. They passed around cinnamon buns at the end of the excursion but the thought of food made me ill. I sure wasn’t the only who had a hard time on that trip.

On the plus side, I saw whales…lots of them! They were humpback whales and they were really swimming, jumping and breaching. My plans were to get some good photos but it was all I could do to stay upright as the boat was heaving up and down. I decided my safety was more important than the ‘National Geographic’ shot I had hoped for. My SLR would have got soaked if I had used it, so that was another reason to keep it tucked inside my jacket and get a few 'grab' shots with my point and shoot.

When we returned to shore, it was lunch time. I managed to keep a bowl of Icelandic meat soup down, that,  and a big glass of ginger-ale. The town of Husavik is very picturesque. The harbor is beautiful, there is a lovely old wooden church on the main street, and the mountain behind the town is almost covered with lupins.

We headed towards our next stop for the night, the city of Akureyi. A welcome stop along the way was Godafoss. The sun came out and the falls were spectacular. The height is only 12 meters but the width is 30 meters. The water splits in the middle and goes down 2 sides.  

After Reykjavik, Akureyi is Iceland’s second largest urban area. Our hotel is lovely, and is only a few blocks away from the downtown area where we had supper and browsed in the store windows. Like in Reykjavik, a huge church towers over the town and is a beautiful landmark for miles around.

I hope I don’t dream of the ocean tonight! 

Iceland Day 9

Today was spent touring the Lake Myvatn area of northern Iceland.

The first stop of the day was at a place called Leirhnjukur (say that fast 3 times!). It was only about an hour’s walk but we walked on every type of terrain possible…gravel, hard rock, boardwalk, lava, and snow. Signs warned you to stay on marked paths or light brown clay as the ground had hot spots. Steam was rising out of many places and there were several milky green-blue pools along the way.

This place had the funniest sign I’ve seen yet on this trip….see below. Walking in soft snow was easy for this Canandian!

Although we weren’t really hungry, lunch was on the agenda and we stopped at a nice place nearby. It was so good, we came back there later for supper as well. I had a slice of hotspring bread with smoked arctic char. It wasn’t too filling so I had dessert – a chocolate, date merange concoction with whipped cream. Oh my! That filled up the cracks.

After lunch we visited Dimmuborgir. It is a walking path around some fascinating, solidified lava formations. One of them was called the ‘kirkjan’ (which means church) and we posed for a group photo. The trail was an easy walk for a change.

We had brought our swimsuits and towels and headed over to the Myvatn Nature Baths, which are thermal pools. The water was quite hot in places and bearable in others. I was surprised to find that the pool bottom contained rocks and sand or mud. It was not a traditional pool with a man-made basin. There were large natural rocks for sitting on in various places around the pool and I parked myself one of those for quite a while. The mineral water is supposed to heal all kinds of ills. It sure felt good on my tired feet.

After that we made a quick stop at Namafjall – a geothermal area with fumaroles and mud pots. Fumarole gas mixed with steam rises out of the ground like a mini-volcano. It smells very sulphury. They are very hot and super interesting.

Supper was on the agenda again then we headed back to our hotel. The light was wonderful and I snapped a few good ones. Our hotel is right by Skutustadagigar (say that fast 3 times). I walked amongst the pseudo-craters formed by steam explosions when burning lava encounters lakes or wetlands.

At the end of the walking path, a pretty orange-legged bird warned me not to get too close. I took some shots from a respectful distance and headed in for the night.

Iceland Day 8

Our stay in the town of Seydisfjordur was a short one. But before we left the area, visiting a farm was on the agenda. 

Seydisfjordur is the innermost point of the fjord which is big enough for large ship traffic. Today there was a ferry in port which was headed for Norway.  We drove out towards the ocean for quite awhile. Pavement turned to gravel, gravel turned to bigger rocks, then the road disappeared into a fast moving river. Our guide actually got out and had a look at the rushing water to see if crossing it was doable. I was aghast as I was sure it wasn't a good idea. He came to the same conclusion. 

So we went back a bit, parked the van, then set off on foot. It was a 4 kilometre walk to get to the farm. We alternated between a footpath and a rocky road, crossing several fast moving streams in the process.  Some had bridges, some did not. I was so glad of my hiking boots and superwool socks today. 

We walked by thousands upon thousands of purple lupins in bloom. The landscape was gorgeous with the fjord moving out to sea on the left and rocky hills to the right. 

The farm is literally in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea where the nearest neighbour would have been...not close enough to easily borrow a cup of sugar. The farm is actually a kind of research facility. Students are working on soil research and they are trying to be completely self-sustainable. There are chickens, pigs, and a garden. 

We were served a delicious bowl of vegetable soup together with bread and butter. I'm getting quite addicted to Icelandic butter...what a treat! And with all this serious physical activity we've been doing, I don't feel one bit guilty. After we ate, we set off again on a hike across to the ocean cliffs for some bird watching.  

We had to pass by some of their nests which the birds really don't like. They show their displeasure by dive bombing whoever is in front. It's important not to lag behind or you will become the new target. They don't just swoop a little like the barn swallows back home. They are quite capable of doing some real damage. A good way to protect oneself is to hold up something high up on the air. Some people held lupins on top of their heads. Haha!

At the cliffs we saw many nesting birds of one type or another, including puffins. Their wings are short in relation to their bodies and they really seem to work hard when they fly. 

When we returned to the farm, I was so glad we were getting a jeep ride back to the van. It was not so much the distance I objected to but the terrain. The jeep actually went through the raging creek where the van had turned around. 4 x 4 transmission makes a big difference!

We drove back through Seydisfjordur one more time and joined up with the main highway once again. The weather turned rainy as we left east Iceland and headed toward the north country. 

A welcome stop was at Dettifoss and Selfoss. A 15 minute walk brings you to some pretty impressive falls.  Dettifoss is the bigger one while Selfoss is a series of smaller ones. 

The countryside has changed. There are lots of huge rocks close to shore. It's 7 PM and I’m starving. The vegetable soup I had 7 hours ago  is no longer sustaining me. Must. Eat. Soon.