ICELAND !!!

Edited Wednesday, September 12th.

So for whatever reason, in June of 2016, we decided to go to Iceland. I don't recall exactly why but I'm sure there was liquor involved.

Iceland has always been sort of a mysterious place to us. They don't teach you much about it in school (not that I remember much of what they taught me in school) and you only hear about it rarely when a volcano erupts and makes air travel difficult. It has been in the news though as the new "hot spot" for vacations so I guess we're just like the rest of the sheep and decided to see for ourselves what the fuss was all about.

Getting to Iceland is not particularly hard - no direct flight from Kelowna of course - but instead a quick jump to Edmonton and then directly to Keflavik International just outside of Reykjavik. The four hour layover in Edmonton wasn't fun but what can you do. We walked around for a bit and while it's not a bad airport it's not the best we've seen either.

Jump straight to Friday
Jump straight to Saturday
Jump straight to Sunday
Jump straight to Monday
Jump straight to Tuesday
Jump straight to Wednesday
Jump straight to Thursday

I've never seen such a deserted airport as this. Maybe everyone's left town and I wouldn't blame them!

Looking south.

Looking north.

A view from the "Lounge" - they want $40 per person for two hours use of this lounge. Pretty crappy lounge. Very little food to eat, no proper buffet as we've seen in other lounges, the liquor supply was grim - one bottle each of rye whiskey, vodka and the disgusting Bacardi rum, two bottles of Canadian red wine a few beer. Certainly not worth $80 for two people for two hours. Luckily it was included in our ticket price and the seats were slightly more comfortable than those below in the terminal.

A few more people in this part of the terminal.

In the lounge. This is about it. Not very big at all.

We flew Iceland Air and they are a pretty good airline. No complaints at all. It's a 6 hour flight from Edmonton to Rejkjavil and we'll arrive around 6 AM local time. The problem is it'll be like 12 midnight our time so it'll be a very long day.

Glacier water...yummmmm

Pretty decent meal on the flight. Three types of raw salmon. And a proper selection of red wines.

So when you fly to Iceland, or northern Europe for that matter, from Canada you fly in an arc over Greenland. It would seem closer to just fly straight to Iceland but that is exactly what is happening.

Greenland is a huge island between Canada and Iceland. It is also pretty much covered with ice - where Iceland is pretty much covered with green. One guide we had told us a story how both of the islands got their names.

It was the Vikings, of course, who discovered both islands in the 800's. They realized that the smaller island had far better weather for farming and that the larger island was pretty much covered with ice year round. To dissuade too many people from coming to the smaller island they named it Iceland and they named the larger, ice covered island Greenland.

Sneaky bastards those vikings! Plus they'd kill your ass just for fun!!!

The other interesting thing the guide told us is that the Vikings would stop, on their way from Norway (duh! that's where vikings were from), in Ireland and Scotland and pick up a bunch of women to take with them to Iceland as wives. That's why Icelandic men have a majority of Norwegian DNA and Icelandic women have a majority of Scottish / Irish DNA.

The other goofy thing about Icelanders is they do not have surnames like you and I! Like Jones or Smith or Bumstead. Instead they take either their father's or mother's first name to make up their last name - so a male born with a father named Michael and a mother named Grettel could chose to have a last name of Michaelson or Grettelson. Likewise the daughter would make the same choice and her surname would become either Michaelsdottir or Grettelsdottir. Dottir being the Icelandic spelling of daughter. So by that logic I would be Frank Fredrickson and Terri would be Terri Garrysdottir. Now if your dad was a bad dude you can always use your moms first name instead. Up to you. You have to make a choice at some point but the guide didn't say when. You just go on line when you're ready and register your last name. Pretty cool!

Flying over Greenland. The pictures do not convey how beautiful (and cold) it is.

These were taken at about 10:00 PM Kelowna time - and about 4:00 AM Iceland time. The captain of the plane actually got on the intercom and told everyone to look out their windows to see Greenland. Apparently its somewhat rare to have such a clear view.

A small video.

So we're approaching Iceland and it's all covered in clouds.

I was really hoping for some photos like those of Greenland but no luck. I took a video hoping that when we broke through the clouds we'd see a wonderful site but all we saw was more clouds.

Right at the end of the video the plane breaks through the clouds and there is a totally clear area - but there are more clouds below. This happened again twice on our descent - through the clouds and then a clear area perhaps 500 meters high and then into the clouds again.

The pics show what I'm talking about. We're in a clear area between the clouds.

Very cool.

So we landed and our initial view of Iceland is not pretty. Pretty gloomy actually. It gets better though.

We landed at about 6:00 AM local time - about 12 midnight Kelowna time. We won't be able to get into our hotel yet so what to do?

The Blue Lagoon is a thermally heated spa...very famous... just about everyone who comes to Iceland comes comes here for a dip. Most people do not come here at 7:00 AM in the morning though. We did and were surprised at just how many people there were here at that time of day.

It's essentially just a big hot tub.

And they have some special mud here that you spread on your face and it makes you look 10 years younger.

First you put the white stuff on and leave for five minutes.

And then the green stuff...I don't think I got enough because I still look like an old goat.

The cost of admission, which is over $100...but for that you get a robe and a towel and a pair of flip flops that you can keep, also includes one drink each. We chose the Icelandic beer...Gull. Not a bad beer to have at 8:00 AM A Bloody Mary might have been a better option.

A wee vid...

After the Blue Lagoon we had hired a private guide from a company called "Tours By Locals". ToursByLocals.com A Canadian company as it turns out. We've used them a few times before. Like everything else in Iceland ...it wasn't cheap.

The twenty minute drive from the airport to the Blue Lagoon was $123 Canadian dollars. Unreal. It was a private car and he said his rate was cheaper than taking a taxi. The same driver took us from the ship back to the airport at the end of our cruise and he said the average wage in Iceland is $78,000 US dollars. That's the average wage...it works out close to $100K Canadian.

The guide drove us around for about six hours and we saw quite a few things that we wouldn't see during the cruise.

The scenery in Iceland is amazing - even on a gloomy day. Somehow I did something to my camera so that it shows the time and date - I gotta get rid of that.

This turned into one of the nicer days we were here. You can see some blue sky in the background and we don't have multiple layers on.

This is a picture of Geysir. It's the original geyser...you know... like Old Faithful in Yellowstone. All geysers are named after this one. It blew about every four minutes. Perhaps not as spectacular as Old Faithful but pretty cool.

Another angle of the Geysir site.

The next few shots show where the first diplomatic government convened. In the year 930 the Vikings all got together and formed a Parliament. It was at this location.

Iceland sits on two tectonic plates. The North American plate and the Eurasian plate. You can this see in the map below.

And a more detailed map.

The result of this is Iceland is being pulled apart at the rate of about 20 centimeters per year.

The shots below are at the actual rift. The rocks on the right hand side are being pulled towards Europe and the rocks on the left towards North America

This site has been used in the TV series Game of Thrones.. Very cool site.

On the way to our hotel.

We made it to Reykjavik late afternoon. Our hotel was right in the waters edge and they were fixing boats right outside the hotel.

We had time for a quick walk around before dinner. It's a very nice downtown, lots of restaurants and bars and museums...we never went in. Next time .

A typical menu. Check out the salad prices. Insalata Alla Cesare 3,100 ISK - Icelandic Kronas - that's $37.40 Canadian dollars. I guess that's why you need to make $78,000 a year.

That was the end of day one - except for our dinner tonight (which,luckily, was the only one we would have to pay for as the rest of the we on the cruise ship. $203.00 Canadian for some small tapas and a bottle of Argentine Malbec that we buy in Canada for $15.00 Yikes!

Friday

Today we had a few hours to explore Reykjavik as we couldn't get on the boat until 2 PM.

Typical Icelandic summer wear...

In reality they have reasonably decent weather in Iceland June to September. This year however the summer weather has been terrible to date and all the Icelanders are depressed about it.

A nice Icelandic home.

And a fancy church. We were told that Icelanders are not very religious. I guess a few of them are though.

Not ornate as some we've seen.

A pretty respectable pipe organ though.

A statue of Leif Erickson outside the church. See if you can guess what his dad's name was.

Leif Erickson is credited as having visited North America long before Christopher Columbus.

On our way to the ship Terri makes a friend on the street.

We're finally let onto the ship at 2:00 PM.

The room is small but it's OK. This might even be the same room we had when we sailed on this ship 2-1/2 years ago with Seabourn.

Iceland does not have an army but they do have a formidable Coast Guard. We saw a few of these ships as we sailed around the island. I think their main job is to make sure their fishing grounds are not being fished by other countries.

The pool deck. Deserted as it would pretty much remain for the rest of the trip.

Life jacket drill.

Finally we're leaving Reykjavik and heading out to sea.

They're building Reykjavik's first Five start hotel here.

Finally the open sea and the dark weather we'll sea for the next seven days.

End of Friday.

Saturday

Here's a map of our journey around Iceland.

So this being the first real day of the cruise we're in Heimaey Island. And it's a beautiful day.

A couple of interesting things about Heimaey Island:

In 1973 a volcano erupted and the entire population had to be evacuated. The lava flow from the volcano almost closed of the harbour which would have made the evacuation impossible.

In 1627 the island was raided by pirates who took many of the islanders prisoner and sold them as slaves in north Africa. More about it here.

Some of the small islands we past on the way to Heimaey.

The entrance to the harbour

The harbour is so tiny our ship had to back in as there's not enough room to turn around.

Not the prettiest town we've seen.

There were a few excursions available here and, of course, we picked the one noted as "strenuous". A walk through a lava field and then to the top of the volcano that made it.

This is the volcano from about half way up.

And this is it from back at the ship. It doesn't look like much and I don't know how tall it was but it was a pretty good slog. Uphill all the way! There were only eight people on this hike and the oldest couple (not us) made it to the top first. My f$#$ing leg caused a few stops along the way. I'm getting it fixed soon though!

A shot of town from the top. Many houses were lost during the eruption which lasted for months. Some are now covered by 40 meters of lava.

This shot shows the extent of the lava flow and how it almost blocked the entrance to the harbour

A small island offshore. Look close at the small white dot on the flat part of the island. It's hard to see - go to the highest spot and then let your eyes wander down and to the left.

Same shot - maximum zoom. It's a hunting lodge. Accessible only by climbing up the side of the island. At least that's what our guide told us. She said a lot of these little islands have these houses. I'm kind of wondering what there could be to hunt on such a small island.

More shots from the top.

If it looks cold its because it is cold. On the way up it pissed down rain on us for about five minutes. It was over as quick as it started. Good thing we bought good rain jackets for this trip.

Another shot showing the extent of the lava flow.

On the way down we stopped by a very lucky house. The lava almost destroyed it but stopped just in time. The rocks behind the house is actually the lava flow.

This how the house looks today.

On the street there's a pictorial story of the eruption and the house and how it was saved. You have to zoom in. The text is in Icelandic but the pictures tell the story.

So that's pretty much it for Heimaey.

Sunday

After Heimaey we had big sail to our next destination - Seyðisfjörður - that's how it's spelled in Icelandic.

I think it's pronounced something like Say-dis-fee-or-dur.

We sailed all night and all the next day arriving at 7:00 PM

Some fantastic scenery along the way.

One of the bartenders.

It's probably the nicest day we've had so far - or will have for that matter. Lots of people on deck.

It's sunny but it's still cool.

Approaching the fjord.

And it's pissing down.

But it cleared up quickly.

So that's it for Sunday

Monday

Monday were in Seyðisfjörður all day and we go on another brutal hike. Up to see a waterfall. Hengifoss Waterfall

The two shots below were teken in the harbour of Seyðisfjörður

So we go on a 1-1/2 hour bus trip to the waterfall. I wish they would build these damn waterfalls closer to the ship. Who can I write to about this?

Beautiful country.

There are small waterfalls on the way up.

A close up of the unusual rock formation.

We made it all the way. This was about as close as we could get without going into mountain goat mode. It was quite the climb. There were a few young pups that beat us up but even with my f$#%$ing leg we were still in the first group to make it.

This shot is from back at the parking lot. Look at the red arrow. That's the waterfall we were just at. I don't know the exact elevation we gained but it had to be 1,000 feet. Definitely a tough hike. Great fun!

A Trip Advisor web page about the falls.

Some shots on the way back.

The bus stopped at a beautiful lake so we could take pictures.

Our bus.

Another fantastic waterfall on the way back to the ship. Iceland is covered with waterfalls.

So another 1-1/2 hour bus ride and were back on the ship and ready to go to the next adventure.

Tuesday

Tuesday we're in Akureyri in the very north part of Iceland. It's cooler here.

We're going on a bus (again!!!) and we're going to see a bunch of things; a waterfall - no big hike this time, a lake with some birds, a lava field, and a smoldering, bubbling mud hole. Whoopeee!

The shot below shows our little ship (far right) compared to a huge cruise ship (far left)

A couple shots of the waterfall we visited.

After the waterfall we went to a lake.

And if we look cold it's because we were cold.

Then to an ancient lava field.

Pretty cool scenery at the lava flow.

Then a bubbling mud hole.

Wednesday

Wednesday finds us in Isafjordur on the Northwest corner of Iceland. Another foggy dull day.

We have a chance to check out the town before our excursion begins.

A boat has been hauled out of the water and is being repaired.

Not much to see in this town. Note the summer clothing the locals have on.

Another shot of our ship.

The excursion today is a boat trip to a deserted town. This was a very remote town where people lived in virtual isolation all their lives.

It was kind of a boring excursion.

The beach at the deserted town.

One of the few intact houses remaining.

The next shots are just of the local scenery.

The white house at the end of the road is the only inhabited building. The family that lives there has created a restaurant that caters to hikes and campers that visit the area. We all had coffee and some pastry at this house.

All the slow pokes coming down. God! I've never seen people who can walk so slowly.

Another shot of the restaurant house from a different angle.

And that's pretty much it for Wednesday.

Thursday

Terri wasn't at 100% on Thursday,our last day on the ship, so we just stayed on board. She stuck close to the room and I wandered around.

A nice cruiser came into the harbour in the morning. A Ponant ship I think. Very elegant. We shall have to give them a try.

The next two shots show what the weather was like the last day. Low clouds, gloomy. I couldn't live here in the north of Iceland.

Some folks we met and had a drink with on the last day. Victor and Aurelia. Terri is feeling better now as can be seen by the wine glass in her hand.

A goofy shot.

And a normal one.

I went to get a drink from the bartender at the rear of the ship and he was looking at something on the shore. I asked what he was looking at and he said all the white sheep.

Photo below.

I hated to point out to him that it was actually bales of hay he was seeing.

That's pretty much it.
I'll ad a few videos when we get back to Kelowna.