Friday 30th August – Akureyri, Iceland.
Akureyri is the second largest town in Iceland, It’s at the top of the island. It is right at the base of Eyjafjörður Fjord, a glacial fjord, and is stunning.
I went on a whale watching trip up the fjord. The sail up the fjord was so pretty. Saw a hot water foss (waterfall). How bizarre.
The whale population is changing dramatically with changing conditions. August September in normally peak whale time with the Fjord being full of them. This year they were year in June. Sad their patterns are being changed with water temperatures changing.
Saw a few Humpbacks and a Minke whale.
Northern Fulmar’s were everywhere. They are the same family as Albatross and need to run to be able to fly.
Lion Mane Jellyfish. These are the biggest jellyfish – growing huge.
When school goes back in August – all school kids go out for a few fishing sessions. It’s to keep them in touch with the heritage of the area.
Then a wander around town. And a local beer.
Saw a lovely winter jacket in the 66 North shop. But did decide that it wasn’t really worth $1850AU.
I finally found Trolls in Iceland.
Great day.
Saturday 31st August – Reykjavik, Iceland.
Then a fantastic two days from Reykjavik.
Today was one of those wonderful half sea days as we travelled down the east coast of Iceland in the Greenland Sea.
It started with choir practice. The leader is the head singer and was great. Lots of vocal exercises etc.
Then off to the suites brunch with lot of wonderful food and drinks.
Great food and fun.
At 2 pm we arrived in Reykjavik.
8 of us hired a van and off we shot as soon as the ship was cleared. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive past stunning scenery.
We drove down to the black sand beach on the South Coast at Reynisfjara, near Vik.
That is after a stop in the town of Selfoss as the guys needed traveling beers.
It poured rain. Then it drizzled. Then the sun came out. Then it rained. Lots of photo stops at lovely things along the way. The temperature ranged from 4 to 8 degrees.
By the time we got to the beach it was pouring. Really bucketing down. We parked and rushed into the cafe. It snowed. It sleeted, it hailed and it poured.
We had lunch and waited until it the weather lightened. Then off we went. Of course it rained and the wind blew.
The beach was beautiful. Last time I was here there was some sunshine so it looked totally different. Last time you could see the orange and reds in the basalt columns.
But in the rain and hail it was so black. And so
dramatic. Stunning.
It was pretty weird to be on a beach and to have white solid stuff pelting into
us. The wind was strong and most of it was at 90 degrees slamming into us. Biting
the bits that were not covered.
I also cannot remember many times where it has been raining but so cold. Normally it’s raining or cold. But this was bitter cold.
The sky’s opened again, really heavy, so we sat on the cafe waiting for a break so we could run to the car.
It didn’t come and we got soaked again.
We then headed back past so many amazing things.
A lighthouse way up on a headland. It was a bit of a goat track up, and the view…… didn’t exist due to the whiteout fog and rain. But the drive up was lovely.
Along the side of the Ice Cap for a long time.
We visited two of the amazing waterfalls.
We got back to the ship at 11.30 pm. No Aurora Borealis were to be seen as it was raining off and on so the cloud cover was solid. It is a very lucky thing to be able to see them:
needs to be dark, with a clear sky, they need to be happening, and they need to be where you are.
We knew that we couldn’t see them tonight…. but we still kept scanning the skies.
Sunday 1st September – Reykjavik, Iceland.
It was up early this morning. We had lots of things to see. We were in the van and off to see the Golden Circle by 8am.
First stop was Thingvellier National Park. One of the sites where the Eurasian plate and the North American plate are ripping apart at a rate that is hugely fast by geological terms – 2 to 3 cm a century.
A walk around the Kerid volcanic crater. 170 meters wide, 270 meters in circumference and 55 meters deep. It’s a 3,000 year old volcanic crater lake with the full caldera still in tact – making it pretty stunning. It was once a cone-shaped volcano which erupted and exhausted its magma reserve. This made the foundation fall in on itself and gave it the great shape.
That had a great sign telling us what would could and couldn’t do.
“Don’t swim”.
“Don’t walk on the ice”.
Well I’m certainly not swimming where there is ice!
And then the Geysir park. Geysirs are amazing.
Strokkur – the main one was having a great day. Erupting about every seven minutes. At one time it blew three times in a row.
It’s a big pond that seems to breath. Every minute or so it would suck in water causing ripples to happen.
After a while a huge bubble would form…about two metres across. Then boom. It exploded ten metres up into the air.
The explosion left a huge gaping hole where water rushed back in….. and it all happened again.
There were lots of smaller vents and pools.
Then off we headed.
Bláskógabyggõ district and Gullfoss – the iconic Icelandic waterfall. The one you always see on adds, often in winter covered in snow. And there is a reason why this is the one. It was hard to comprehend. It’s fed by the second largest glacier. The Hvítá river is so wide and the canyon is so deep. It’s a two stage waterfall and sweeps around a bend. First drop is 11 metres. the second is 21. It’s so big you need a helicopter to see it all at once.
Ginormous. The volume of water flowing was unbelievable. This place had the best series of board walks and is one of the most visited places in Iceland – and it was obvious why.
At the bottom of the board walk it was so wet and so cold. Really freezing. Would be great to come back and see it in a few months when it will be freezing over and covered in snow. Rainbows in the mist were great.
Then back into the van for the next stop. Past amazing stuff of course.
The round sheep still fascinate me.
Back past the split int he land masses. We saw people diving over the split. It is meant to be amazing…. but ho has time for that.
The language is amazing. No chance of getting any pronunciations correct.
And then back to the ship to drop our car off. What an amazing 24 hours of sightseeing. When we collected the car they told us it would be really busy ad would take a long time to return the car.
We arrived back and congratulated ourselves that there was no queue.
But then we discovered what they meant – and we do believe this was a scam.
They came out and said “Sorry, we have to charge you an insurance fee. Who is your insurance with?”
They decided that there was a chip in the windscreen that we caused. “No, you hear it when a stone chip happens”
“Oh but the damage wasn’t there when you took the car”.
When I asked to be shown the photos taken before we took the car, he said that they were in the email I was sent. We could pay now.
Maybe many people don’t have internet access (thanks Vodafone) but when I showed him the emails – there were no photos. Oh well we would just have to pay. No”, we said. We need the photos.
So in he went to get them from the computer. Ten minutes later he came out and said that something had gone wrong and the photos were missing. And that we were lucky! He would let us off this time.
Ha. I wonder how many people have paid for the tiny chip on the car we had. I bet a few others have!
It was the back onto the ship for a quick sleep before a fancy Pinnacle dinner.
And it was great. The best Lobster Bisque with huge hunks of fried lobster. Sashimi, scallops in a Dom Perignon sauce, lamb chops and so much more.
And quickly back to sleep for a nap before the alarm went off at midnight.
Because the app told us that we had a good chance of Aurora viewing tonight. The sky was clear!
AT midnight it was lots of clothes on and up to the helipad to meet the gang.
…… AND…….. they were there. Not super strong but easy to see.
To the naked eye that are more grey with flashes of green and tinges of pink.
They look like a flag or a banner being waved on a stick. They kind of hang and flutter.
Occasionally they would spiral up and twist.
SO ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED!
I have seen the Aurora Borealis!
I shall never make an Aurora photographer.
I blame a moving ship, minus temperature, wind on the helipad, hand held camera and a very slow shutter speed – but you get the idea!
And I am often quoted as saying that the thing I hate about travel is that everything you see make you add another thing to the list…… well now I must do a northern winter trip to really see the lights!
SO HAPPY!
Monday 2nd September – At Sea
Today we sailed across the across the Greenland Sea.
Trivia, C&A do, food, time wasted trying to get photos to work.
Relaxing. Much needed.
After diner in Chops, we went back out to watch the lights. They were not nearly as bright tonight but still great. The clouds came down by about midnight so off to bed.
And when I woke up at 3 am I looked out and they were there again. So clothes on and up to the helipad. Cold and windy.
Not nearly as bright as the night before but still wonderful.
It was a bit freaky being up there alone at 3am. But all good. The back to bed.
Next Page Greenland.