The changing faces of Iceland

Geitafoss Falls

Yet another evening where we’re knackered, but good knackered. As we set off from Veiðlieysufjörður, we had a Fulmar gliding along side the ship. Fulmar means foul mouth. When the fulmar is protecting its young, if you get too close, you’ll have a dollop of fishy oil spewed in your direction. Note to self. Stay well away.

Last night’s delights were a swift glass of pop and canapés in the bar and then off to brave the elements at The Grill. The Grill is not for wimps or Princesses, as The Grill is outside on deck 8. There’s only one more deck above us, so that means we’re sort of protected. Yeah right. It’s basically blanket heaven or freeze. There are heaters, but at this northern point in our journey, they really are struggling to throw out enough heat. However, we both have blankets around our legs and shoulders and of course we’re British, so stoically have our swiftly cooling dinner in this environment. As Nick has already reminded us, this is an expedition, NOT a holiday. I have decided that standards should not slip, just because we’re eating outside in a breezy 8 degrees, so have still dressed in my “elegant casual” attire. That means I’m wearing a flimsy top with my dress trousers and of course, have my wedges. Well really, who goes to dinner in their walking socks and hiking shoes? I can’t think of another time when I’ve actually had blue feet while dining. It’s a first.

The delight at getting back to our cabin is palpable. We relish in the snug environment and Nick even cheekily turns up the heating.

Chill at The Grill

We arrive in Húsavík, which when translated, means Bay of houses. Húsavík’s claim to fame is that it is the whale-watching capital of Iceland. Spoiler. We didn’t see any. Húsavík also stars in the film Eurovision, a feel good movie, if you haven’t seen it.

We are greeted with a glassy, flat calm sea and drizzle, so layers it is. What is so nice about being on such a small ship and using the zodiacs to get to shore, is that we are it. No other cruise liners, which is so refreshing. There is also “controlled” disembarkation, which means the places we’re visiting don’t get a sudden influx of tourists in one go, which we have witnessed and also been a part of with other cruises. So far we have only encountered the National Geographic Explorer ship which was half our size carrying 148 guests and 99 crew.

Today we had Belin, from Spain, as our guide and Ollie the driver. Belin is training to be a pilot and if I’m honest, this job was a side line for her. It still baffles me why Icelandics can’t be found for this job. Hey ho, rant over.

Húsavík seems much more green than areas we’ve covered so far and for the first time, we’re seeing more trees too. The mountains are much higher, with snow on the tops. It’s utterly beautiful. The empty roads are a dream to travel on, being perfectly smooth.

As we start approaching volcano city, we’re informed by our guide that Askja was due to erupt 2 years ago but didn’t, so it’s now overdue and ready to erupt any time soon. As we get closer to the active area, the land changes to be much more barren.

We drive around Mývatn Lake, AKA the lake of midges and off this vast expanse we then visited the following.

First stop of the day was the Námafjall Hevrie sulphur pools. This is like a scene from The Labyrinth when the young Jennifer Connelly is in the bog of eternal stench. Boiling mud pools, pungent sulphur smells and heat that would melt your skin off.  It’s other worldly and fairly scary knowing how close you are to danger.

Vulcanologists - we hot-footed it here

Our next stop, Dimmuborgir, AKA dark fortress is an expansive lava field. There are many hikes you can choose to go on, we did one that was less than a KM, so not exactly arduous. This was a strangely eerie place with rock formations you could easily turn into mystical beings. Over 2,000 years ago, the pressure of magma beneath the Icelandic surface built into a volcanic eruption that spewed hot gases, ash, and lava into the air. This eruption, sent lava flowing across the land until it reached a lake. Water turned to steam, rapidly cooling and shattering the molten stone.

Next stop Skútustaðagígar, or the pseudo craters, thus called because during eruptions, lava ran across the area of Skútustaðagígar, which at the time was swampy wetlands. The heat caused steam eruptions, which resulted in their crater-like shape. As they were not the sources of lava, or volcanoes in themselves, they are not considered true craters, hence why they are called pseudo craters.

Pseudocrater. Not a real one

Then our final stop of the day was the stunning Goðafoss waterfalls. The water of the river Skjálfandafljót falls from a height of 12 metres over a width of 30 metres. It was spectacular and mesmerising. And also fairly damp.

Gabrielle refuses wine at lunch

It’d been a long day with a 40 minute drive back to Húsavík and a speedy zodiac back to the ship. We settled in for tomorrow’s briefing which I’m excited about, but Nick will discuss in greater detail tomorrow. Then the potential pre-warning bomb was dropped. Current forecasts for the 28th are showing 50knot winds and 18 foot waves. Cue stunned silence, or in my case, a bad case of tourrettes. The captain and our expedition leader are “assessing” our options. They will not put us in any danger and it may mean a diversion or it may mean sit and wait the storm out or the forecast may change. We shall see if plans have to be changed. In the meantime drink and food are calling.

Glacial waters rushing to the sea