Day 24 21 August Djúpivogur (Iceland)

After yesterday’s brilliant sunshine, we were in for a wet and cold day with a 5ºC maximum. The wind chill made it much colder. However we were prepared and very rugged up. 

By the early Nineteenth Century, Djúpivogur was described as 'a tiny port with a Danish colonial trading base'.  It is still small with only 500 people living here. It is a very young population with 30% of the population primary school age or younger. Most people are employed in fishing or tourism.

The mountain called the Pyramid is meant be a perfectly formed pyramid shape. We couldn't confirm this as the mountain was obscured by cloud.

We had a bus tour to the Nykurhylsfoss waterfall.

The mountains were laid down in striations or layers of eruptions.

To fill in time between tours we visited Audunne's Stone and Mineral Collection. We paid to get in to only realise that we could get into it for free on our tour. His talk was interesting, and he is very passionate about his hobby/business. He did have some spectacular specimens.

One of the more unusual stories was about Hans Jonatan. He was an African man who had been a slave in Copenhagen brought out from the Caribbean. He fought as a sailor in the Battle of Copenhagen (1800) against the British but escaped and lived here and became one of Iceland's first people of colour. 

Until the Napoleonic Wars, the Danes controlled the Danish West Indies when they lost most of these. Their last possession, the Virgin Islands was sold to the US in 1916.
 

Monument to Hans Jonatan. It was a bit windy, so the camera strap got in the way.

We visited their local heritage museum and cafe. The building is the oldest in this part of the country and was built in 1790. We also stopped for a coffee to keep out of the rain. Happy to part with $27 for the privilege.

This is a converted fish oil tank which is now for cultural performances. In almost complete darkness this woman sang traditional songs for us and her voice and acoustics made it an extraordinary performance.

The Merry Bay Eggs sculptures. They are all individual eggs of 34 different bird species.

 

This egg is for a sea bird that nests on cliffs, so the shape of the egg means that it does not roll off the cliff. Clever birds!