Iceland - Sunday 27 & Monday 28 August
The flight from Oslo to Refjavik was excellent - the plane was small and old and made a few funny noises but the food was superb - traditional Norwegian salmon with other salady stuff and dressing added to it. Just a taste of what was to come food-wise.
We got to the hotel at 5, checked in, had a beer, dinner and went to bed, after a huge struggle with Norton. Norton won that one but not all of them, obviously!!
Breakfast on Monday was at 7 - buffet style as they all have been, with Icelandic cheese that was delicious. Maureen had some of the salmon too so I tried it but it was raw and I struggled a little.
The tour started at 9, our tour guide was Pali, pronounced Pally, Paul in Icelandic. The others on the tour were American, Canadian, Brazilian, French, Japanese (a family of 5 with a little boy about 2 who was spoilt and loud and whinging the whole time) and Australian - 29 in all. I can't tell you the bus driver's name because he wasn't introduced and never spoke the whole time anyway.
Our first stop was at Seljalandsfoss, the Seljandlands waterfall. It was around 9 degrees C and drizzling but we couldn't wait to get out and explore. It's possible to walk behind these falls which is why they're famous. Maureen nearly walked behind them but I didn't even try - the track up to it was wet and slippery and I didn't have the proper shoes so I just stayed in front of the falls and took photos:
From there, we went through the farmlands of the south coast of Iceland to Landeyjarhofn Harbour where we got a ferry across to the Westmann Islands. There are 15 islands in this group but only one of them is inhabited - Heimaey, which is where we stayed on Monday night.
The story of how these islands got their name:
Iceland was settled in the 9th century by a Norseman whose name I can't spell or pronounce. Later, his foster brother joined him and settled a little way up the coast. They both had their families and their slaves with them. The slaves were the Irish they had captured in raids on Ireland. One day, a few of the slaves told the foster brother that they had seen a bear near the settlement. He wasn't going to tolerate having a bear close by so he and his warriors went on a hunt for the bear. But it was a trap set by the slaves and they killed the foster brother and all his men. They then fled to the islands which, at that time, were unnamed. When the original brother heard what had happened to his foster brother, he and his men set off to these islands to get revenge. The slaves were called westmen because they had been taken from Ireland in the west. The brother killed most of the slaves when he got to the island and the ones he didn't kill threw themselves off the cliffs. Not a single one survived. The islands were called Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) from then on.
Heimaey is a fishing village. In 1973, the population was around five and a half thousand. On 23 January, 1973, a woman woke to a loud noise, looked out her window and saw a volcano growing and erupting in her back yard. The eruption grew and the lava headed towards the town and the harbour. The day before, the weather had been very bad so none of the fishing fleet had gone out and they were all there in the harbour, fortunately. The whole population was evacuated, except for emergency service personnel. Around 40 houses were completely buried under the lava flow and the rest of the town was buried under the ash. The eruption lasted 5 months. It looked like the lava was going to block the harbour so they pumped millions of litres of sea water onto it and cooled it before it could get that far. Only one person died in the eruption - a chemist who hid in his basement and died of the poison gasses - you'd think he'd know better!! The town has never recovered its full population but is still a thriving fishing village. There are no poor people in Heimaey. There is a museum on the island that tells the story of the eruption, built around the original house which has been excavated. Photos below:
We got to the hotel at 5, checked in, had a beer, dinner and went to bed, after a huge struggle with Norton. Norton won that one but not all of them, obviously!!
Breakfast on Monday was at 7 - buffet style as they all have been, with Icelandic cheese that was delicious. Maureen had some of the salmon too so I tried it but it was raw and I struggled a little.
The tour started at 9, our tour guide was Pali, pronounced Pally, Paul in Icelandic. The others on the tour were American, Canadian, Brazilian, French, Japanese (a family of 5 with a little boy about 2 who was spoilt and loud and whinging the whole time) and Australian - 29 in all. I can't tell you the bus driver's name because he wasn't introduced and never spoke the whole time anyway.
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| Sunday evening at the Hotel Natura in Rejkavik - fighting with Norton!! |
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| Walked down the stairs at the hotel, not up, though. |
Our first stop was at Seljalandsfoss, the Seljandlands waterfall. It was around 9 degrees C and drizzling but we couldn't wait to get out and explore. It's possible to walk behind these falls which is why they're famous. Maureen nearly walked behind them but I didn't even try - the track up to it was wet and slippery and I didn't have the proper shoes so I just stayed in front of the falls and took photos:
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| The Seljalandsfoss - nowhere near the tallest falls in Iceland. |
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| Evidence of how cold and wet it was. |
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| Maureen as close to behind the falls as she got. |
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| I wanted to put my toes in, Pammy, but no way was I taking my shoes off!!! I did put my hand in, though. It was cold! |
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| Maureen walking close to behind the falls. |
From there, we went through the farmlands of the south coast of Iceland to Landeyjarhofn Harbour where we got a ferry across to the Westmann Islands. There are 15 islands in this group but only one of them is inhabited - Heimaey, which is where we stayed on Monday night.
The story of how these islands got their name:
Iceland was settled in the 9th century by a Norseman whose name I can't spell or pronounce. Later, his foster brother joined him and settled a little way up the coast. They both had their families and their slaves with them. The slaves were the Irish they had captured in raids on Ireland. One day, a few of the slaves told the foster brother that they had seen a bear near the settlement. He wasn't going to tolerate having a bear close by so he and his warriors went on a hunt for the bear. But it was a trap set by the slaves and they killed the foster brother and all his men. They then fled to the islands which, at that time, were unnamed. When the original brother heard what had happened to his foster brother, he and his men set off to these islands to get revenge. The slaves were called westmen because they had been taken from Ireland in the west. The brother killed most of the slaves when he got to the island and the ones he didn't kill threw themselves off the cliffs. Not a single one survived. The islands were called Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) from then on.
Heimaey is a fishing village. In 1973, the population was around five and a half thousand. On 23 January, 1973, a woman woke to a loud noise, looked out her window and saw a volcano growing and erupting in her back yard. The eruption grew and the lava headed towards the town and the harbour. The day before, the weather had been very bad so none of the fishing fleet had gone out and they were all there in the harbour, fortunately. The whole population was evacuated, except for emergency service personnel. Around 40 houses were completely buried under the lava flow and the rest of the town was buried under the ash. The eruption lasted 5 months. It looked like the lava was going to block the harbour so they pumped millions of litres of sea water onto it and cooled it before it could get that far. Only one person died in the eruption - a chemist who hid in his basement and died of the poison gasses - you'd think he'd know better!! The town has never recovered its full population but is still a thriving fishing village. There are no poor people in Heimaey. There is a museum on the island that tells the story of the eruption, built around the original house which has been excavated. Photos below:
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| Heimaey Harbour - you can see the new lava flow on the right. |
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| Maureen needing to be told where to go - again!!! |
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| The new shore of the harbour which protects the harbour from the weather of the North Atlantic Ocean. |
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| A replica of an original church before the 1973 eruption - given to the Westmanners by the Norwegian Government. |
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| Leif Ericsson, son of Eric the Red |
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| Inside the church |
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| Inside the church 2 |
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| The church from a different angle. |
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| This is the house where the volcano made itself known. It was excavated in around 2010 then they built the museum around it to protect it. |
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| The top of the entrance to the cemetery - the only part of the town that wasn't buried under the ash. |
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| The lava field with the moss growing on it. The moss is very delicate and the Icelanders are very protective of it. |
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| The new land created by the eruption - the island was 20% bigger after the eruption finished. |
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