Review of Visits to Norway/Iceland/Greenland on Fall 2018 Cruise.

[GeorgeCharlie]

Being Iceland there is, of course, a number of local hiking trails. We decided to take the one which followed around the peninsular, which extended out into the bay. It started on the road on the left side of this picture and ended at the hilltop on the right side where the communication towers are. It was about 5km long.

 

 

Starting at the edge of the town the trail was marked with stakes, which you can see to the left of the pile of stones.

 

Looking back towards the town about halfway on our way out.

 

View of the hill we had to climb. We could of followed another trail, which went around the hill, but it would of added several extra kilometres.

 

 

The route up the hill was a workout for sure!

 

If you look closely you can see one of the marker stakes at the foot of the cliff off of Lynne's left shoulder.

 

You really needed to be a mountain goat to get up the cliff, it was pretty well a straight up vertical climb of some 10 metres.

 

Edited November 4, 2018 by GeorgeCharlie

[GeorgeCharlie]

After our hike we spent some time walking around parts of the town.

 

In a residential area, we noticed most of the houses had created their own unique landscaping. 

 

From a fairly clean layout.

 

To something much more elaborate. 

 

 

 

 

View from the backside of the above signposts.

 

Closeup of one of the signposts.

 

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

Of course you could build your own little town in your backyard.

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

At the house with the signposts was the workshop and showroom of Jon Sigurosson's JFS Handcraft. Jon has spent over 30 years collecting rocks throughout Iceland and has one of the largest collections in Iceland.

 

A lot of them he has on display in his yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

Jon was a fisherman until he was injured in a fishing accident. He then started to make things out of local materials, such a rocks and driftwood.

 

In his showroom he has many of his handicrafts and rocks you can purchase.

 

 

 

He was a delight to talk with and hear his stories of Iceland. He also takes pride in showing how he makes his crafts.

[GeorgeCharlie]

Once we got back on the ship and getting ready to depart, the Captain announced that, due to high winds and heavy seas being forecast for the next day's scheduled arrival in Seydisfjordur, he had decided that tendering would be too risky. As such, we would be skipping that stop and sailing directly to Akureyri. This resulted in the plan of staying in Akureyri for two days.

 

We arrived in Akureyri late morning August 29th.

 

As this was an unscheduled stay, we first took the HoHo bus to get an introduction to the city. Akureyri is Iceland's largest city on its north coast and contains all the expected facilities; universities, hospitals, shopping centre, and a revitalized downtown for the tourists. Over the past number of years Iceland has been investing in this northern part of the country in an effort to try and offload some of the tourists from the southern Reykjavik area.

 

A couple of blocks of the downtown streets have limited vehicle access and can be turned into pedestrian only traffic, which is what happened while we were there. Most of the building have been restored and turned into shops and cafes for the tourists.

 

One of the restored buildings.

 

Painted rocks are a novelty in the area and there were several shops selling their artist's work. Interesting, but a little heavy to be taking home on an airplane. 

 

 

Some places were even using them for doorstops.

 

 

[sandyss]

Great photos.  Thoroughly enjoying your blog.  Thanks.

[GeorgeCharlie]

Forgot to mention, we crossed over the Arctic Circle on our way from Djupivogur to Akureyri and later the ship staff issued everybody a certificate commemorating the occasion. Apparently we crossed it a second time on our way over to Isafjordur. 

[GeorgeCharlie]

After the HoHo bus we when over to the local golf course. It is the world's most northern 18-hole golf course and I was hoping to get a souvenir acknowledging that, but unfortunately, it was the end of the season and they had nothing available.

 

 

Lynne also hoped to go to the Christmas House while we were in Akureyri, but when we found out it was some distance out of town and it would cost a couple hundred dollars to take a taxi out there and back, she decided it wasn't worth it.

 

 

Edited November 5, 2018 by GeorgeCharlie

[idiebabe]

Really enjoying your pics and review!  We also very much enjoyed Dupivigor and walking around this small Village.  We found the “Eggs” of all the birds native to Iceland interesting, too.  This Port definitely was a nice surprise!  😀

[GeorgeCharlie]

19 minutes ago, idiebabe said:

Really enjoying your pics and review!  We also very much enjoyed Dupivigor and walking around this small Village.  We found the “Eggs” of all the birds native to Iceland interesting, too.  This Port definitely was a nice surprise!  😀

 

We didn't go out to see the "Eggs", but I understand quite a number of people from the ship went to look at them - as it was one of the few noted sights to see, plus they were only a short walk out of town.

 

For the readers that may be interested, the "Eggin I Gleoivik" (Eggs of Merry Bay) is a work of art, which are statutes of the eggs of the 34 nesting birds of the area.

 

This is a picture from the internet showing them lining the road into town.

 

 

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

The following day (August 30th) was the day we were scheduled to be in Akureyri and we had joined a private tour through the CC roll call for this cruise, which had been arranged by a fellow CC member. The tour was to visit some of the sights outside of Akureyri. It was with The Traveling Viking tour company.

 

On the drive out to the first major point of interest, we passed by a number farms in the area. I was surprised how large and active their agriculture industry is.

 

 

 

 

[Turtles06]

4 hours ago, GeorgeCharlie said:

 

 

Lynne also hoped to go to the Christmas House while we were in Akureyri, but when we found out it was some distance out of town and it would cost a couple hundred dollars to take a taxi out there and back, she decided it wasn't worth it.

 

 

We were aboard with you and I’m enjoying reliving this terrific cruise.  Please tell Lynne she did not miss much.  Our Traveling Viking guide added the Christmas House at the end of the day, since we’d learned by then that our ship wasn’t going anywhere.  (The rest of the day was fantastic, as I’m sure people will see from your next posts. 😀)

 

 

[Coolcruise02]

Enjoying your review and great pics!

Edited November 5, 2018 by Coolcruise02

[GeorgeCharlie]

Our first major stop was at Godafoss Falls (Waterfall of the Gods), which was located beside the highway and had a large tourist complex situated just off the highway. The falls are about 50km from Akureyri.

 

 

You could walk in to see the falls on both sides of the river, but the south side had a better developed walkway and you could get closer the falls. The walk in on the south side is about 1km.

 

 

The view from the lookout point was impressive.

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

Next we were on to the Namafjall Geothermal Area, which has many smoking fumaroles and boiling mud pots, along with the sinus clearing smell of sulfur.

 

 

 

Geothermal taps for a nearby 3 MW power plant, with plans to expand it to 90 MW.

[GeorgeCharlie]

A couple of short video clips from the Namafjall geothermal area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

Then we were on to the final major stop, the Myvatn Nature Baths, where we would be spending about an hour and half for lunch and time to give anyone interested a chance to try a soak in the geothermal waters.

 

 

A few people from our group went in the baths and they found it to be very relaxing. Added benefits of these baths is that they are much more reasonably priced and no where near as crowded as the Blue Lagoon is.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2018 by GeorgeCharlie

[GeorgeCharlie]

While we were at the nature baths our guide told us his office had called to say our ship would be staying another day in Akureyri. This was because the weather at our next planned stop would not be safe for tender operations. Rather than missing that port, they had decided to delay arriving there by one day. This would mean our expected arrival in Reykjavik would also be set back one day. In order to allow for a two day stay in Reykjavik, it had been further decided we would be skipping our first planned port in Greenland. As I said - as far as the itinerary goes, things were becoming more interesting - and this was only the start of it.

 

As most people had already made tour plans for while they were in Reykavik, there was the expected scramble to find out if the tour companies could adjust their schedules. It seemed most tour companies were able to accommodate the changes. I know the company we had tours arranged with, sent out notices that they would be just moving the tours by one day. 

 

Seeing there was no longer a need to get back to port early, our guide said he was willing to add a stop, or two. One of them could be the Christmas House, as it was a popular request on his tours to stop there - which, of course, made Lynne happy.

 

 

Edited November 5, 2018 by GeorgeCharlie

[Turtles06]

8 hours ago, GeorgeCharlie said:

Then we were on to the final major stop, the Myvatn Nature Baths, where we would be spending about an hour and half for lunch and time to give anyone interested a chance to try a soak in the geothermal waters.

 

 

A few people from our group went in the baths and they found it to be very relaxing. Added benefits of these baths is that they are much more reasonably priced and no where near as crowded as the Blue Lagoon is.

 

 

 

 

My wife and I were the only folks in our vehicle to have a soak in the Baths, and it was a fabulous experience, incredibly relaxing, and in a beautiful setting. We could have spent hours there.  (Also, I found it culturally interesting that both our guide and the guy at the front desk told us that before entering the water we had to wash and shower fully naked, using soap. We knew this, but it’s so not a part of American culture and it IS such a part of Icelandic culture that I was not surprised they told us the rules. No doubt as a nod to the tourists, there were a couple of shower stalls that had curtains on them. )

 

I hope you don’t mind my posting this water-level view.

 

[Turtles06]

Odd, on my iPad, I can see the photo I posted above, but not when viewing on my iPhone.  My apologies. (We’re on a ship right now, with only mobile devices, which makes things a bit more difficult.) 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Just got caught up with your reports, pictures and videos.

 

All wonderful and informative.

[Turtles06]

Apologies for the at-sea technical difficulties; I think the photo I intended to post above, taken during our soak in the Myvatn Nature Baths, should be visible now:

 

 

 

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

14 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

I hope you don’t mind my posting this water-level view.

 

Hi Judith,

 

Perfectly fine - I have no problem with people posting relevant content, as it gives more perspective to the review.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Crusin-Suzan]

6 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Apologies for the at-sea technical difficulties; I think the photo I intended to post above, taken during our soak in the Myvatn Nature Baths, should be visible now:

 

 

 

 

 

Oh my would love this!