Iceland 3

Our last port of call in Iceland was Akureyri which is Iceland's unofficial northern capital.   We didn't see much of the town but took a guided tour further afield to experience the scenery in the surrounding area.  Our tour was romantically called 'Jewels of the North' and began at the high temperature thermal field of Namaskard.

Did I say romantic?  Phooooor!  Nothing could be further from the truth.

This high temperature landscape gives rise to hot mudpools and jets of steam pouring out from the ground.  The noise and the colours are amazing but the smell!  

I'm not usually put off by smells but, dear me, I had to resort to a hanky over my mouth to be able to walk around even for a short while.  Wimp or what!

From the high temperature thermal field we were driven on to Dimmuborgir lava labyrinth.  This is a very strange landscape with contorted lava formations in columns and arches.

The guide took us round this site at a rate of knots but sadly the video I took came out in slow motion so I can't add it here.  

I'm sure this must be a troll's bridge!  Do you remember The Three Billy goats Gruff?  Trolls are an important part of Icelandic life and folklore and people are very respectful even consulting elf/troll experts before planning a road.  In fact, as we drove along I saw about a dozen little wooden doors propped up against large rocks in fields at the side of the road.  

After a short break for refreshments at a local community hall we continued on to the second waterfall of our Iceland visit.

This beautiful cascade is Godafoss and it gained its name at the time of Iceland's conversion to Christianity.  The wooden idols of the old Norse mythology were thrown into the falls in a symbolic gesture that swept away the old religion.  Godafoss literally means Waterfall of the Gods.  Again you are spared a video as they all came out in slow motion. Duh!

Iceland is the most amazing, vibrant and alive country I have yet visited.  I was fascinated when we went to Lanzarote which had a volcanic landscape but it was not alive under your feet in the same way that Iceland is.  This country is literally growing and changing every minute of the day in a very volatile way.  I have never been so close to the life of the earth before and it was amazing!

Next time, on to Norway but first Festival of Quilts!  Yay!!!!

Iceland 2

Our second port of call in Iceland was Isafjordur.  Isafjordur itself is a tiny town which took us only a short time to wander around. 

 Yarnbombing even reaches these remote shores!

 Plants and flowers must have a very short growing season here but people care enough to put a few pots in their garden.

As Isafjordur was so small we took the opportunity to take a boat ride (had we not had enough of being on the water!?) to Vigur Island which lies about 20 minutes away.  

The island is about 2km long by 400 metres wide and is home to a wide variety of birdlife which is what visitors come to see.  The importance of the island is as a home and breeding ground to eider ducks whose down provides an income along with tourism for the family whose antecedents have lived on the island for about 200 hundred years.  Arctic terns also live here and are encouraged to nest as their aggressive tactics protect the eider families.  There are also over 80000 puffins nesting and guillemots also take advantage of island habitat.

We were guided round the island by one of the family and the flag sticks were our patented arctic tern deterrent.  After the hustle and bustle and drama of the previous day this idyllic island felt very nurturing despite its wildness.

We could understand the terns being so annoyed with our intrusion when I spotted a chick in the longer grass at the side of the path.  I was hoping that our disturbance didn't disrupt their breeding too much.

Sadly most of the puffins were sitting out on the water but I did manage to capture one sitting on a rock before our group scared him off,

The puffins were carrying beaksfull of fish so were probably feeding young too.  I was entranced watching them flying around us with their lovely red feet splayed out beneath them.  Sadly no picture of that.

My DH didn't quite get the hang of fending off the terns,

He wasn't trying to hit them, honest!

Just behind the homestead on the island is a 160 year old windmill that was in use until fairly recently,

The family that lived on this island for generations farmed the eider and farmed sheep, taking them across to the mainland for the summer pasture.  You can read about their history and see photos of their hard existence in one of the former farm buildings.

Today the eider are still farmed but tourism provides a large part of their living.  What charmed me was the grandchildren visiting while we were there and playing happily and freely as we all wandered about.  

2013 marks the 350th anniversary of the birth of Arni Magnusson, the manuscript collector.  To celebrate this occasion and the many documents that were collected and saved from oblivion by Arni exhibitons have been staged in 6 locations that are associated with specific manuscripts.  Vigur is one of the locations and while we were there a replica of the Vigur Book of Poetry was on display.

(Excuse the reflections, the photograph was taken through glass)

After some welcome refreshments in the farmhouse our visit to Vigur was too quickly over and it was time for the return trip to the Arcadia waiting for us backin Isafjordur harbour.

 This 200 year old boat was used to ferry animals to the mainland and can still be called upon if necessary today.

Iceland and Horizons

I am slowly working my way through all the holiday pics and in between have actually managed to finish the Horizons piece which missed the deadline for Festival of Quilts.  More of that in a bit.

Our cruise in July took us via Dublin Bay to Reykjavik, Isafjordur,and Akureyri in Iceland and on to Alesund, Olden and Satavanger in Norway.  The whole cruise was full of new experiences ansd scens only perviously glimpsed in wildlife programmes on the telly.  We left the Uk in boiling hot weather and travelled through two days of fog after leaving Ireland to arrive in another world in Reykjavik.

We saw little of Reykjavik other then the drive through the city to begin our tour of volcanic landscapes, waterfall, geysirs and techtonic plates!

Steam pouring out of the earth in the distance.

Strokkur Geysir spouting forth with much noise and spraying of water.  It gathers force and erupts every few minutes when it's advisable not to be standing down wind.

The people are all waiting for the next eruption.  It was amazing to be standing in this steaming landscape with water erupting from the earth.  The rock underfoot was an amazing colour.

From the geysir we were driven to Gulfoss waterfall which was a deafening cataract, 31 metres high.  Its name means The Golden Waterfall so-called because of its appearance when the sun shines on it.

 We walked down the long path to reach this rock platform in front of the main fall and needless to say we got a good soaking.

The sun did come out briefly and there is a hint of a rainbow in the photo above.

From waterfalls and geysirs we drove further to enter a strange and fascinating landscape.  Thingvellir which lies in a beautiful valley and was the venue of Iceland's open-air Parliament long before 1066.  This is where Iceland is literally being torn in two as the North American and the Eurasian techtonic plates pull themselves apart.  The rate of split is about the same as the rate that your fingernails grow.  Here you can walk through a rift valley.

That cliff in the distance is where the plates are pulling apart.

Here the group were walking down to the valley floor and on the right there had been a recent fall of rock.   You can see the cliff disappearing into the distance.

There is evidence of continuous volcanic activity over long periods of the past all around here. 

Iceland gets much of its energy from the land it sits on and we visited a power station close to Reykjavik.  

The power plants harness the steam that comes out of the earth to provide power and the station we visited had a very futuristic feel about it.  Icelanders do not need to clear snow from their paths in winter as heat is run under the paths to keep them free of snow and ice!

I made several short videos on my camera but I am not sure if they will work here so I'll try and post one and if it doesn't work I'll take it off and have a go at Youtube.

More of Iceland next time but I have my finished Horizons 'quilt' to show you.  

Not quite the complete quilt as I couldn't photograph it properly but this is how it would look hung against a wall as it would have if it had made it to Festival of Quilts next week.

And this is a section of it against a window.  When I can get a proper hanger for it and decent light I'll post it again in its entirety.