One good thing about storms is that they generally go through quite quickly, but despite that we got held up for a couple of days on the Vestmannaeyjar islands. This was because while the storm did go through quite quickly, it was followed by a support act the next day. So, with 30-40 knots forecast the skipper decided to wait another day to set off – a decision we...
Heimaey is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, and the largest and most populated island off the Icelandic coast. It is just 4 nautical miles off the south coast of Iceland, but feels quite a bit further. Depending how you define an island, there are 18 islands and about 30 rock stacks and skerries in the archiopelago. Heimaey is the only populated...
Day one on the Tecla …. The morning started with breakfast and an initial briefing – partially safety and partially plans for the coming weeks. The short-term plan though was still in some doubt. The one definite was that the weather was not obliging! The debate was really over the extent to which it wasn’t going to oblige. A nasty system is tracking east – heading...
Today was the final part of our journey west – to the capital Reykjavik – for me to join the Tecla and for Anne to stay over for the night and then turn round and head back. The drive was an interesting one as Google Maps seemed to take us what was probably the most direct way, but not necessarily the easiest! A beautiful final drive through the Icelandic landscape...
Today we had a chance to explore further the Golden Circle. This is an area between Gulfoss and the Reykanes peninsula with a series of what might be regarded as iconic Icelandic tourist destinations. The main stops are Þingvellir National Park (pronounced with a ‘th’ – Thingvellir), Gullfoss waterfall, and the geothermal area in Haukadalur. Sometimes included in...
As we move west towards Reykjavik the emphasis moves from ice (glaciers) to fire (volcanoes) and we started the day with a hint of fire. This involved a short drive back east towards Vik to Reynisfjara beach. This is a black sand beach – tiny flecks of basalt. The sand is formed when the lava comes into rapid contact with water, cooling almost instantly and...
Iceland – the clue is in the name, though to clarify things a little further, they do call it the land of fire and ice. Today we spent most of our time with the latter. The moniker is very apposite given that around 11% of Iceland’s total land area is covered by glaciers. The largest is Vatnajökull – the suffix jökull means ‘glacier’ –...
Once moored in Seyðisfjörður nothing happened particularly quickly. We had to wait to disembark as ambulance staff needed to take off an unwell passenger first. Then we waited for the bus …. About an hour and a half later we were dropped at Egilsstaðir airport. Then we waited again … Eventually someone came to man the Hertz booth and gave us (in...
It always seems to me that travel shouldn’t be too easy. Modern sanitised forms of transport mean that you are hardly aware of the changing landscape and culture you have travelled through and to. Being transported (or herded?) in a metal tube can make one altogether too blasé about the distances and difficulties of travel. So, in the spirit of Jules Verne (?)...