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Iceland
  • James Frith

Iceland

Via Hamburg, Norway, Shetland and Faroe Islands Read more
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  • Trip start
    April 29, 2023
  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    Devon to Heathrow

    April 30, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Travel to Heathrow for flight to Hamburg. Complication of this trip is flying out from T5 but back to T2! Decided best option was to park at T2. To avoid leaving at 04:00 have booked the Sofitel hotel at T5 and drop Karen and cases off there before parking. Yet again navigating the Heathrow lifts is a challenge. The hotel lift also proved interesting as the floor indicators were not working. Fortunately a friendly fellow guest (who had previously negotiated this problem) told us and the other guests in the never ending loop so we could escape. There is a large water feature and fountain in the reception which had notices about being careful not to let children play there. Of course, that always applies to other people not your family so the floor was soaked after 2 little dears had finished.Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    Hamburg

    May 1, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Started the day with the flight showing a 3 hour delay, as the plane had been in Lisbon and the French Air Traffic controllers strike meaning it couldn’t fly directly back to the UK. Luckily an alternative route reduced the delay to 30 minutes. Airport pick up slightly confusing.Apparently I was supposed to book in with both Hurtigruten reps, so although we were on the coach it was thought we had got lost in the airport. Had to show passports about 6 times to board the ship, even when collecting our second set of red jackets. As usual Karen’s case lost the tag with the cabin number on. It was spotted by the lifts on our deck. Left port at 18:00 sailing up the Elbe (did remind us of the Rhine with the small towns we passed) towards the North Sea. The cabin is spacious with a big balcony accessed by 2 sets of patio type doors. Eventually worked how to switch the lighting on and off ……Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    North Sea

    May 2, 2023, North Sea ⋅ 🌬 7 °C

    No activities today, just sailing in the North Sea along the coast of Denmark to our first landing in Norway. Feel very much in the minority on this voyage as majority of passengers are German,( to be expected as that is where the voyage started in Hamburg). Only about 20 on yesterday’s coach from the airport and that included a few Norwegians. Could just see the land and some wind turbines early this morning, a small gap between the land and the dark cloud made for an interesting sun rise.Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    Lysefjord

    May 3, 2023 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Arrived Stavanger early morning waiting for pilot to arrive and guide through the channels to Forsand. It was an early drop off for those who had chosen the excursion to hike to Preikstolen, an overlook some 600 metres high above the fjord. ( now famous as being used to represent some Indian cliffs in Mission Impossible Fallout. ) We had opted for the less strenuous zodiac cruising trip, taking us further up the fjord to a hole in the cliffs historically used by robbers to hide, then back down to one of the many waterfalls. It is known as the whisky falls as it was used to dispose of alcohol in the days of prohibition in Norway. Unfortunately the graffiti taggers had managed to spoil some of the sheer rock walls even in this isolated place.Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    The Shetlands

    May 4, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    Did spot an oil rig during the overnight sailing, before arriving this morning in Lerwick, Shetland Isles. After being checked by Immigration officials we were let back into the UK with a red dot placed on our ship passes. Today’s trip is to Sumburgh Head, the southerly point of this isle. Sumburgh Head is an RSPB bird sanctuary and lighthouse location. We did manage to see a couple of puffins set back in the rocky cliff but mostly seagulls perched in crevices and wheeling around. On the way we passed a beach with seals happily sunbathing and came back via a small village where Karen purchased a pair of locally knitted fingerless gloves. (Internet a bit hit and miss so ability to upload pictures variable, picture of seals yet to replicate to tablet.)Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    The Faroes

    May 5, 2023 in Faroe Islands ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    Arrived Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Isles in the late morning. Again lucky with the weather as it was another dry day.Apparently it rains 260 days a year here. We have opted for the boat trip to the Vestmannavegurin bird cliffs today. Iceland sheep everywhere although they can be difficult to spot in the landscape. The sheep population outnumbers the humans by around 20,000. No trees again, but plenty of grass for the sheep grazing even on the steepest cliffs. Some of the traditional houses also have grass roofs, good for insulation, but there are also a lot of modern newly built properties here as the town has expanded rapidly in recent years. On the boat trip we were shown the sites of the puffin colonies, but apparently we are a few weeks early for the breeding season. I spotted one puffin swimming and later a seal. I was too slow with the camera for both. The bird population was mostly gulls. The sea however was a striking turquoise blue! The stone walls in third picture are the remains of the fortress - Skansin, which overlooked and protected the harbour.
    It seems the tip for spotting sheep is to lookout for a rock which moves. That is a clue you may have noticed a sheep…    Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    Seyoisfjorour

    May 6, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Long voyage before we get to today’s destination. It has been foggy most of the day. Just clearing to give our first sight of Iceland as we entered the long fjord to our stop. Seyoisfjorour a small village with 500 to 700 residents depending upon season. Arrived an hour early at 16:00. Starting to get cold when we went out. Then the guide took us around in about an hour with a potted history of the houses and links to the rest of Iceland. The village relies n fish and tourism, but is also an arts centre with visiting artists coming and staying for extended periods. 15 years ago there were 2 land slips which swept away a number of houses.The rocks and mud pushed several houses into the sea but also uncovered some nationally significant Viking remains which are still being excavated. The landslides were caused by more rain falling in 24 hours than is usual in a year even in this damp climate. Our guide made her living by being a clothes designer using eider down. We could see a number of said ducks bobbing around on the water.Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    Grimsey Island - Artic Circle

    May 7, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Arrived alongside Grimsey Island around lunchtime and waited for the call for our deck to use the shuttle to the harbour. The plan was obviously changed and a basic free for all was announced. Managed to be onshore at 14:30. Decided to walk to the Globe monument which marks the line of the Arctic Circle. The Islanders have to regularly move the stone as the artic boundary moves allowing Iceland to claim it is an Arctic country even if only by a few hundred yards. Took about an hour to reach the marker with magnificent views everywhere. We carried on past the marker to the northernmost point of the island. Mostly gulls nesting in the rocks but eventually spotted a lone puffin as we made our way back to the harbour. Karen went back to the ship while I decided to go to the south of the island to get pictures of the church and the lighthouse.Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    Akureyri and a long sightseeing tour

    May 8, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    18 hours of daylight now (roughly 04:00 to 22:00), so awake early. Sailing very slowly as the ship has just entered the fjord for Akureyri. (Akureyri showing the fish factory). Tactic of the trip was to go to furthest point and work back so after 90 minutes we arrived at a desolate “muddy” looking landscape with steam rising from geysers and the smell of sulphur when downwind. Next onto the lava fields left from eruptions thousands of years ago.We followed the shortest walking trail through oddly shaped lava columns. Then lunch (salmon and salad) at the lake, followed by a walk along the shore of what is the largest lake in Iceland?Noticed what looked like with craters created by bursting lava bubbles. The last stop was a magnificent waterfall in full flow. The Gudass falls are very busy at the height of the season so we were lucky to be the only group there.Arrived back at ship 16:45. Pictures when internet connection will allow.Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    Hofsos

    May 9, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Hofsos, a small village on the north west side of Iceland. Anchored further offshore than previous stops so the tender boats ran a shuttle service between the ship and harbour. The tide was going out, when we arrived so used the old tyre fixed to the harbour wall to jump off. The sea level had dropped another couple of feet on return so more of a jump and trusting the crew in the boat to prevent an inadvertent swim. The village is the location of the Iceland Emigration Museum, Three converted old buildings, 2 at harbour side and 1 in the village by the river. These buildings were packed with pictures and stories of some of the 20,000 Icelanders who emigrated to Canada, America and Brazil ( Brazil was a surprise, but Brazilian Government offered to pay the passage for the initial group and send a ship for the others. The main areas of settlement were Montana {US) and NewIceland (Canada) which although further south than their Icelandic homes the conditions for farming were significantly harder than their Iceland homes with its “island” weather. we walked further into the village and along the coast as far as the swimming pool where a few villagers were enjoying the 80 F temperature in the geothermal pools. Rain in the morning when cruising but drier weather on land. The moisture in the wind made it feel colder.Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    Patreksfjordur

    May 10, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Still north West Iceland on our circum navigation. Now at the small town of Patresfjourdur. In the picture is the Fram another (older) Hurtigruten expedition ship on its way eastward around Iceland. Moored just offshore, we will be catching the tender to the harbour for a walking tour around the town. Took the tender around 16:00 for our allocated group but found we were joining the German speakers! We tagged onto the English group…..The guide was a young Icelander, whose normal occupation was fishing, but moonlighted as a tour guide and had developed a very amusing spiel which entertained us on the walk. We saw a fishing trawler that had just arrived and was unloading its catch. We were shown and tried identify the fish in their catch. Not sure if it is just an Iceland thing but they refer to cod as the devil’s fish due to the line along its flanks. Looking up we could see the walls built to protect the town after avalanches and “snow angels” erected at the top of the cliffs to break up the snow. When the official tour finished we walked further along the coast to the church and hospital, swimming and sports centre ( all new) before returning to the dock to catch the tender back to the ship.Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    Snaefellsnes

    May 11, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    The Snaefellsnes highlights for today. Arrived in port after 07:00 and had to be on a tender at 08:00 for the tour start on the pier at 08:30. The trip is around the peninsula on the coastal road, north to south then over one of the mountain passes for the return to the harbour. Weather started ok, but slowly deteriorated with a showery cold damp wind increasing throughout the morning. The trip took us through 3 coastal villages still allowed to fish.The peninsula is a volcanic area and most of the journey was through lava fields and s mountains carved when the glaciers retreated after the last ice age. The first stop was at a beach of small black stones created from lava rock. Then into the nature reserve stopping at the Malariff information centre and lighthouse. Next to the harbour village of Arnarstapi for a trek along the cliffs and back into the village by the monument to one of the Norse gods. Final stop was a remote church, apparently visited by married couples in wedding attire for their photos. Walked down to beach and spotted some seals swimming just offshore. The weather had closed in as we went over the mountain pass so the hoped for view of the glacier at the top was obscured by low cloud.Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    Heimaey Island

    May 12, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    South West Iceland amongst a group of 13 volcanic islands, Heimaey is. the largest with a population around 5,000 and is the premier fishing area around Iceland. Weather not good, rain and rough seas, hopefully will be able to land for our 13:00 island tour. The Eldfell volcano erupted here in 1973. Everyone was evacuated but 400 houses destroyed. The lava reduced the access to the harbour, but did increase the size of the island by 20%. A 14th island, Surtsey, was created between 1963 and67 when an undersea eruption broke above the waves, (3 nearby eruptions failed to break the surface and are undersea ridges). The sea has now eroded some of the lava so Surtsey is now only 50 to 60% of its original size. General access has never been granted but the island is used to monitor how long it takes for birds and plant life to establish a presence. We have now docked in the small harbour so looks like the shore trip will go ahead. An interesting tour all around the island seeing the remains of the volcanos and where the lava was stopped in 1973. We ended up the museum which displays the stories and pictures of these eruptions including some of the buildings that were excavated after being engulfed in lava.Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    Reykjavik

    May 13, 2023 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Arrived 06:00, 09:15 disembark for tour of town and drop off at airport. We had 2 hours free time to explore Reykjavík. Consulting Apple Maps Karen identified the key places, but this also took us up the main tourist street ( mostly gift shops) to the new church at the top of the hill in the city centre. Worst day for weather with showers . Huge queue at the church to visit a viewing station in the tower. We didn’t join it.The main religion is Lutheran so although the church was of an interesting design it has an austere feel inside. Made our way back to the pick up and passed some statues of the original Viking settlers. The main airport was 45 minutes away on the volcanic peninsula so an opportunity to see some more lava fields.Read more

  • James FrithIcelandTraveler

    Heathrow

    May 13, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Passport must be getting old as automatic machine entry failed.The man at the desk I subsequently had to visit said the machine didn’t believe I looked like the passport photo. Normal chaos at lifts but finally got to bus level then back to parking to collect car and head back to Devon.Read more

  • Trip end
    May 13, 2023
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