Day 26 23 August Akureyri (Iceland)

Our overnight sail was a little rough but we arrived in Akureyri, the "Capital of North Iceland", which is an important port and fishing centre. The area where Akureyri is located was settled in the 9th century. It has a milder climate, and having an ice-free harbour is important. In the early 21st century, fishing industries have become more important. It has one of the warmest climates in Iceland, despite being only 100 km from the Arctic Circle.

 

We had a long bus tour today. We visited the majestic Godafoss Waterfall, and despite the photos, it was very windy and wet. Bone-chillingly freezing; even our eyeballs felt chilled! You cannot really convey the degree of cold in the photographs.

 I think my thumb is frozen.

Brrr...it so cold maybe these are called the God-forsaken Falls?

The Hverir Geothermal fields are here with their boiling mud pools and fumaroles give a lunar landscape appearance. Missing from the photograph, is the charming smell of rotten egg gas! 

There was the Dimmuborgir lava field where every second column is meant to be a troll. You are limited only by your imagination! It was a pleasant enough 20-minute walk. But anyway, is this a squirrel? 

This is the smallest lava tube I have ever seen, but at least they have one.

 

We couldn’t see too much of Lake Mývatn from the bus, because of the rain and cold (Icelandic summer?). One bonus was that with the midges which can be really bad in summer were not around.

 

Pseudo-craters are craters that do not have a magma chamber underneath. When they were formed it was like a bubble bursting. They are dotted around the place. 

I guess this is a beach. (But with ponies.) 

We had lunch at a local hotel. A tomato soup and a main course of Arctic Char (freshwater salmon) which was delicious with salad and baby potatoes. It was finished off with coffee and a chocolate. We then journeyed home well-watered and fed.

 We have been told that we won’t be leaving port today as they have seas of 5 metres. With the delay in sailing, we won’t be going back to Ísafjörður, but luckily, we had done our tours there already. Unfortunately, the people who joined the cruise at Reykjavik will miss out completely.

We had a talk on The Game of Thrones which was very interesting, even though we have not been fans of the TV series. The author of the books has been criticised on the grounds that his plot lines are unrealistic. But he has drawn heavily on actual historical events, from many different country’s histories, for plot lines. The author himself has said that, “He files off the serial numbers of history”.

 One of the women from our bus was complaining that it was the worst tour she has ever done and she seemed to be quite agitated. Yes, it was windy, wet, cold and unpleasant but the ship does a great job of explaining what is involved with physical activity, the weather and what to wear. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing choices. I went down to Guest Services to give them some positive feedback on the trip, in case that woman complained to them.