Trawler Blogs

Vikings Post 3

August 7, 2018 – standing off Heimaey, Iceland

The wind is whistling through the door to the veranda.  With winds steady at 38-40 knots and seas 2-3 meters, the Captain has wisely decided to cancel the port visit.  There is no safe way to launch the tenders, much less transfer guests ashore through the seas into the inner harbor.  As the morning wore on, a mist from the water and wind began to obscure the detail and the horizon disappeared.

A few photos will have to suffice, along with a lecture later this morning by a resident who was here when the volcano erupted and buried the town.  The town is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, called the Pompeii of the North.

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Route of the Vikings Part 2

August 5, 2018

After another noisy holiday weekend night in the hotel room we had an early breakfast and headed out at 0800 on our second Super Jeep tour, which included a visit to the ice cave on the Langjokull glacier.  On the way to the ice cave we visited a number of scenic areas with old whaling stations, and the fjord where the Murmansk convoys were formed during WW2.

Two of the more interesting stops were a thermal spring providing hot water for several towns up to 75 KM away, with the hot water bubbling up at the rate of 180 liters/sec and the site of “Snorri’s” home and pool dating back to the 1200’s.  Snorri was a both an influential person in the Icelandic Parliament at that time, but was also a historian who recorded the oral stories of the Icelandic people and a poet.  He was killed by the King of Norway after refusing to hand over control of Iceland to the Norwegians in 1241.  All that is now left are some foundations and the pool.

After lunch near the ice cave staging area we headed out on a gravel road through the lava fields and then on to the terminal moraine of the glacier.  Lowering the air pressure on the Super Jeep tires we headed up the glacier.  The surface was mushy from the sunshine and warm temperatures and we thought we might get stuck.  Our driver finally got out and lowered the air pressure even further and we proceeded up the glacier on a marked safe route which avoided the crevasses.  Arriving at the entrance we waited for the guides to arrive on the converted missile launcher filled with people on group tours.  We were in the first group into the darkened tunnel, going about 100 meters inside to a staging area where we put crampons on our waterproof overshoes before heading even deeper into the ice.  Light was provided by LED’s buried in the ice walls, giving a blue glow.  The cave then branched into a loop about 500 meters in length, with a number of rooms, a chapel, crevasses, pools and a constant rain of water making it’s way through the ice.  At the deepest part we were 45 meters below the surface.

Exiting the tunnel we headed back down off the glacier and took a different route through lava fields back to Reykjavik, passing a number of volcano craters and geothermal plants.

Our guide recommended a restaurant, the 3 Frenchmen, which served traditional Icelandic dishes.  We tried smoked Puffin Breast as one of the starters, with halibut as the main course, followed by a Skyr Crème Brulee.

August 6 – Embarkation Day

Arising early for a 0715 departure for a tour to the Puffin Island in the harbor, we met our driver and found the tour was only about 4 blocks and 10 minutes walking from the hotel.  It was sunny, but also windy so the round bottom wood boat boat rolled heavily on the way to the island.  Nonetheless, we did see puffins and got a few pictures before returning to the hotel.

Route of the Vikings – Iceland to Newfoundland and beyond

August 2, 2018

Today Miriam and I boarded an Iceland Air flight to Reykjavik to begin a nearly one month journey from Iceland to Greenland, across Davis Strait to Baffin Island.  Following the eastern coast of Baffin Island, we then cross to Labrador, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, through the St. Lawrence waterway to Quebec and finally ending up in Montreal.

Most of our trip will be on board the Seabourn Quest, the same ship we travelled on to Antarctica and Northern Norway over the past several years.

We begin our trip with three days of private tours in Iceland before boarding the ship.

The flight did not depart on time from SeaTac.  The scheduled departure was 3:05 PM, the actual was closer to 4:00 PM.  The flight time was predicted to be slightly shorter, so the net delay should have been probably 30 minutes.

Once on board and settled into our seats, we were presented with a gin bar menu, with a number of interesting gins, including ones with cucumber, elderflower and other botanicals.  The meal was fine, the service good, but the limited recline and close pitch on the seats made sleeping difficult for both of us.

August 3, 2018

We were unable to make up the departure delay, in fact it was an even later arrival than anticipated, with low clouds and rain, heavy at times as we landed at the sprawling Keflavik International Airport, also the site of a major USAF base until 2007.  After transferring by bus to the main terminal, we had a long walk to immigration and an even longer walk to baggage claim .  The line was very long for immigration, so instead of being outside the terminal searching for our driver before 0600, it was 0730.

Also, there was no driver waiting, as scheduled.  Activating our cellphone with the AT&T international day pass, we called the Seabourn emergency number in Iceland and also talked to another Seabourn driver who was holding a sign for a similar name, who also called someone on our behalf.  Soon that driver approached and said he had been contacted by Seabourn and off we went, after we also received a call back from Seabourn with the same info.  The 45 minute trip into downtown Reykjavik to the Radisson Blu 1919 Hotel was in rain, heavy at times, so the views of the countryside were mostly obscured.

Our day long private Super Jeep Golden Circle tour was scheduled to depart too soon after arriving at the hotel, but a simple phone call also fixed that issue.  As expected, the room was not yet ready, but the hotel stored our luggage and we enjoyed a quick buffet breakfast, with a good selection of both hot and cold items.  Our tour guide, Tryggve, was easy to find in the lobby and our vehicle was waiting right outside the hotel.  With 46 inch diameter tires, Miriam used a small step ladder to enter and exit the vehicle.  We left only 30 minutes later than the original schedule.

Our route out of Reykjavik took us north by the harbor and past the building where Reagan and Gorbachev ended the cold war, meeting on neutral ground halfway between Washington, DC and Moscow.  The rain and low clouds obscured the views for a while as we headed for our first stop, Pingvellir National Park, the crack in the earth marking the junction between the North American and European tectonic plates.  A small footbridge across the gap allowed us to walk from one continent to another in just a few steps!  On the plain below the crack was the site of the original Icelandic parliament, dating back more than 1000 years to 930 AD.  The site still contains the summer residence of the President of Iceland.  Walking down the hill  from the North America plate through the crack, past the ancient Parliament site, we met our driver at the other end of the trail on the European tectonic plate and continued on northeast into the countryside.

Our next stop was scheduled to be the “Geysir” fields, similar to Yellowstone.  Our guide diverted to a working farm for freshly made ice cream, delicious, and with views of the milk cows, which have been trained to use a automatic milking machine, electronically tracking the milking frequency and quantity from each cow.  The cows often enter the machine 8-10 times a day, in search of the special feed they know awaits them.

Arriving at the “Geysir” fields, we walked by two, “ Strokkur and Geysir”, which erupt with regular frequency and were fortunate to see both erupt multiple times.  We then enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch in the brand new Geysir Hotel, which incorporates part of the original hotel façade into the lobby.

The rain stopped for a while and we changed the route to go off the paved roads onto the rough tracks  leading to the eastern side of the Langjokull Glacier, the second largest in Iceland, more than 100 kilometers in length.  Deflating the tires of the Super Jeep to better negotiate the rocky terrain left as the glacier receded, we then drove up onto the glacier, following a path which had turned into a stream from the meltwater.  The glacier was dotted by piles of volcanic ash and looking into the blue ice, one could see the layers of black ash, just like tree rings, dating the many volcanic eruptions which have taken place.  The surreal landscape, with both black and green mosses and lichens as the first vegetation reclaiming the land, provided some of the inspiration for Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, as well as Jules Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth”

Retracing our path out of the glacial terrain, we headed southeast, stopping at the spectacular Gullfoss Falls, which translates as “Gold Falls”.  We were able to walk down a path and out onto a promontory jutting out into the middle of the falls, with the thunderous water rushing by from above and disappearing into the gorge below.

Jetlag and lack of sleep started to catch up, as well as the day ending, so we returned southwest via another route to Reykjavik, passing a major geothermal electrical generating site.  All along the route, many steam vents dotted the landscape.

We arrived at the Radisson Blu 1919 Hotel just before 1800 and were able to finally check into our room on the 4th floor.  Not even waiting to unpack or open our bags, we headed out into the old town surrounding the hotel and dined on a superb 4 course sampling meal of Icelandic food at the “Fiskefelagid” or Fish Company restaurant, located in the lower floor of a historic building in the old town, just two blocks from our hotel.

The approaching weekend is a three day “bank holiday” and a music venue was set up in the street just down from the hotel, complete with grass sod placed on the street for a temporary lawn.  For us, suffering from jetlag and lack of sleep, the music and voices from the street below made sound sleep difficult, since the party was still going strong at 0500 the next morning.

August 4, 2018

The day began with a buffet breakfast in the hotel and then we met our tour guide for the morning.  After visiting the spectacular Lutheran Church with the 73 meter spire, we drove through a number of small communities and fishing villages on our way to the Rekjanes Peninsula.  The main attractions were lava fields, geysers, scenic volcanic shorelines and another version of the “crack in the earth”.   Some of the areas were Unesco world heritage sites.  In the afternoon we had a three hour stop at the “Blue Lagoon”, which is hard to describe in words.  The facility is well run, modern and the water is a milky blue from the silica and other chemicals.  The temperature is even, ranging from 37-39 degrees Celsius as one moves around the lagoon.  There were hundreds of people, but it still did not seem particularly crowded.  The sunny skies were a welcome change.  We tried the facial masks, both silica and algae, had a drink at the walk up bar, took videos and generally relaxed.  After 90 minutes in the water, we showered and had a quick lunch at “Lava”, with complimentary sparkling wine and then back to the hotel.

Right outside the hotel is the hotdog stand that Bill Clinton made famous, but after standing in line and having one, we don’t know what all the hype is about.  The hotdog casings were tough, as were the buns.  A short walk in the sunshine to the main square, filled with restaurants and people was enjoyable.