CW'S 2016 Travel Notes: Akureyri, Iceland and the Arctic Circle

Day 25

14 August

View from our deck entering fjord

View coming in


Geothermal spring

Awoke at 0430 due to change in ship motion. We were slowly entering Eyjafjörður, or Isafjödur. At 7 we took aboard our harbor pilot. 0730 we reached the top of the fjord, pivoted 90º right and slipped sideways to a pier. Starboard side to the pier and town, port side facing up the valley and the airport runway which was aimed straight at us. This is a walk-off port so when we step off the ship there is a visitor center with maps of town and a souvenir/gift shop; the best we have seen this trip, with most everything having been made in Iceland. Most everything in town is just a walk away, though taxis are available. A free WI-fi site was just off the ship which is very popular with the crew, for they can use it to contact their family and friends while on break. Most of the crew is from Indonesia or the Philippines and they do miss their family and friends while being on contract for many months.

view from starboard side

view from ahead at port

We walked off the ship and a couple of blocks to the only thing open this Sunday morning; another center. This one had a large visitor center with many maps, an information desk and local products in one shop area, a coffee shop/bistro, and art gallery and a performing arts center. It also serves as a convention center. Free WI-fi here too. Back to the ship to prepare for the adventure du jour.

view up fjord from waterfront

Following an early lunch we grabbed our packs and dashed ashore to await our transportation. During our wait we had the opportunity to visit with a local young lady from the tourism office who was finished with high school and a couple of years of Jr College level studies and was now going to China to study business with China. A small bus picked us up and 10 minutes later we were in the small terminal of the local airport. Along with the two man crew and about 18 other people we climbed aboard a twin engine Otter and shortly were in the air, climbing straight down the fjord and flying right over the ship. The weather was fine and we had a good view as we flew North from Iceland mainland, for a half hour to the island of Grimsey, population 60, and landed at that small strip. There we met a local woman and her daughter who would show us around. After a short briefing on the nature, culture and lifestyle on the island, we walked down the airport road. Birds squawked overhead, the sea crashed on rocks at the base of the cliff beside the road and ahead, across the water we could see the mountains of Iceland in the distance.

Our friend Melanie

In town we saw the community swimming pool (indoor, of course), the pier, fishing boat unloading its catch, the generator, the few homes and a coffee shop/crafts shop. I went down to watch the fishing boat unload and tractors haul away bins of icy fish, then we all walked back up the road and took a path to the cliff. There we watched Puffins on the cliff side and other sea birds swooping below.

Grimsey airport on the Arctic Circle

Puffins

post at the circle

Back toward the airstrip (which is on the northern part of the island) to a post marking the Arctic Circle. A few steps away was the Terminal (desk and waiting room) and our plane. A quick return flight back and up the fjord, passing again over the ship and plopping down to earth with much more finesse than a Puffin. (By the way, Puffin is on the menu along with horse and whale down in Reykjavik.)

Back aboard, we had just started the afternoon nap when the office called and told us there was someone waiting to see us in the Neptune, so we got up again and went to the Neptune Lounge. Walking in the room was full of people and a table was set with canapes, champagne and a cake. The group called “Happy Birthday Julie” and a celebration began. When we did return to our cabin, an hour later, our cabin crew had put up balloons and “Happy Birthday Julie!” signs in our cabin. A gift vase and flowers arrived and champagne from “Those who get to it to do it”. It was busy outside the ship also. We called room service for dinner and watched whales from our balcony until after 10pm.