Iceland Adventure

Towards the end of summer wanderlust hit bad. I had thought of a fall road trip or two to national parks, but I wanted something more exotic. I thought it might be nice to travel with others, so I googled Gay Adventure Travel thinking maybe a trip to Machu Pichu might fit the bill. That led me to several possibilities, but the timings weren't right. Then I happened upon a sailing adventure in Iceland with HE Travel (https://hetravel.com/.)The timing and itinerary fit the bill. I added on a few days before and after the sail. It was an amazing adventure.

I flew to Seattle and then a red-eye to Reykjavik, arriving just in time for a morning departure with two other early arrivers from our group to see the sights on the golden circle.  First stop was the geothermal valley of Haukadalur--a mini-Yellowstone with geysers and hot pots.  

Stokkur erupted every 10-15 minutes.

Geysir (from where the English name comes for all geysers) is now dormant.

Gullfoss water falls. Sunny, but cold and windy. 

Thingvellir National Park where the Europe and North American plates are pulling part. I'm standing on the western edge of the European Plate and the hills in the distance are the retreating eastern edge of the North American Plate. An exciting place for this geographer. I'm sporting my new hat by 66 North--an long time Iceland outfitter with a name that celebrates its northerly location. 

There are three tectonic plates at play in Iceland. The big two areas are the North American and Eurasian plates. Then there is one micro-tectonic plate named Hreppafleki. source of two maps: https://www.thingvellir.is/en/education/nature/tectonic-movements/

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This images shows how land inbetween the faults of Almannagjá and Hrafnagjá is subsiding. 

Looking north along the eastern fault.

Western fault.

The subsiding land between the two faults in the focal point of over 1000 years of Icelandic identity.

From the National Park website: "No single place epitomizes the history of Iceland and the Icelandic nation better than Þingvellir by the river Öxará. At Þingvellir - literally "Assembly Plains" - the Alþing general assembly was established around 930 and continued to convene there until 1798. Major events in the history of Iceland have taken place at Þingvellir and therefore the place is held in high esteem by all Icelanders. Today Þingvellir is a protected national shrine."

Hiking up onto the eastern edge of the North American Plate. 

This river and lake fill part of the tectonic valley. Next time I hope to scuba dive between the two plates. 

Excellent Icelandic Cod for dinner.

A morning of riding small, hardy, Icelandic horses through a lava field. My white mare was always searching for food. 

An afternoon of exploring cool Reykjavik.

Lutheran Church with Lief Ericson in front. The unique facade takes the form of basalt pillars.  

Concert hall. 

Iceland has a coast guard--to protect fishing rights and for rescue. It has no other armed forces. 

 

Yoko Ono light show for world peace. She chose Iceland because of its neutral, pacifist tradition. 

I discovered a very unique museum. 

Bull penises used as canning rods.

Preserved penises of all kinds of animals, large and small. 

 

I have seen these worn in West Papua. I even show one of the gourds in my geography classes. 

Several from our slowly gathering group of men went aurora borealis hunting on the shore near the concert hall that night. Not too bright, perhaps drowned out by the city lights.

I thought the unique lighting on the facade of concert hall looked like what I had thought the northern lights would look like.

Large aluminum processing plant. Bauxite is imported primarily from Australia and then refined and smelted in Iceland because of its plentily and cheap thermal power. 

 

The famed Blue Lagoon. It was a nice Instagramable excursion. I had not known that the lagoon was formed by the run off of thermal water used in a nearby power plant. 

A recent lava flow from earlier this year. 

Still smoldering in the distance. 

New and old lava.

The flow crossed a main road. 

Fish and chips. The two smaller pieces are made from the chins of cod. Tasty.

Viking museum

Night time walk in the rain. 

Lit up in pink for breast cancer awareness month. 

A dusting of snow overnight. 

Next morning October 12th, We eight gay men from HE Travel joined with 17 other folks (from England, Spain, Germany, Austria, Australia, and the US) sailing on the s/v Rembrandt van Rijn with Oceanwide Tours https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/the-arctic/cruises/rvr16-25-northeast-iceland-explorer-aurora-borealis-hike-sail-incl-bus-back-up 

We climbed aboard a bus that took us six hours around the western end of the island from Reykjavik in the southwest to Akureyi--the second largest city in Iceland and a port of the central north coast. 

Photos out the bus window of the journey. Lots of farms and sheep amid the rugged landscape.

Interesting rest stop for a short hike. 

Sheep pens. Much like sheep folds I have seen in the mountains of Lebanon and Morocco.

Fall foliage

Sheep sorting coral.

Wild swans.

On going reforestation projects abound. 

A local.

Grocery store chain. 

We boarded in Akureyi

That afternoon at 4:00 set sail northward down the fjord on the s/v Rembrandt van Rijn. It was a fishing vessel turned sailing ship for arctic explorations. 

Looking northward to the entrance to the fjord (a drowned glaciated valley). 

Meeting the wonderful crew members--Captain Joachim from Germany is welcoming us. Other crew members were from Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the Philippines. We sailed overnight to the island of Grimsey docking in the tiny town of Sandvik (vik means village in Icelandic) around 1:00 am. Once we left the protection of the fjord waves picked up and sea sickness spread. I remained immune. 

I slept in cabin 4 (lower right) on the top bunk. When I first climbed into my narrow bunk I felt at first like I was going to be tossed out as we lurched through the large swells. I hugged the wall and before long fell asleep. 

 

The port of Sandvik. We headed out for a morning hike north to the Arctic Circle. 

Fish market.

Leaving town, we passed the town soccer pitch. Most of the island was covered in tall grasses. 

This cement orb with a central tunnel marks the fluctuating latitude of the Arctic Circle. 

"The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles,...at about 66° 34' N. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at which, on the winter solstice (which is the shortest day of the year) in the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun will not rise all day, and on the Northern Hemisphere's summer solstice (which is the longest day of the year), the Sun will not set. These phenomena are referred to as polar night and midnight sun respectively," Definition and map from Wikipedia: 

From the monument we split up into two groups. The leisure group headed back to the ship along the same dirt road that skirts the west coast. The "fast and furious group" as our guide called us, headed north and then bushwacked through the grass down the east coast. 

Looking towards the northern tip of Grimsey.

Heading south along the east cliffside. 

The width of the island.

Free ranging Icelandic horses (not ponies).

I smiled at the school crossing sign in this one road town. 

The town had a school, church and a couple of dozen homes plus fishing facilities near the port. 

We all got to help hoist the sails. 

Glad for crew members who did all the hard and scary stuff.

Me in front of the sail I helped hoist.

Saling towards the north coast of Iceland and eventually the port of Husavik where we would dock for the night. Waves picked up and sea sickness prevailed. I found that sitting or standing out on the deck or being in the large dining room where I could see the shifts of the ship served me well. Reading was out of the question. 

Agenda for the next day.

Sheep still safely grazing in the new fallen snow. 

Godafoss Falls--where the statues of the pagan gods were thrown into the falls when Iceland became a Christian nation. 

Entering the otherworldly area of Myvatn.

Tradition has it that the 13 Yule trolls who deliver gifts for the 13 days before Christmas live in the caves of this area. 

Lava field of Dimmuborgir. Amazing how many shapes magma can take once it reaches the surface. 

Hverfjall Crater. We hiked up the south face (pictured), along the western rim and then down the northeast face. 

photo by Jacques Marais

photo by Jacques Marais

Steaming fissure. 

The mud pots with sulphur smell of Hverir.

That night on the ship we had a post dinner quest Orlygur Orlygsson an entrepreneur and enthusiastic ambassador for the quaint fishing village. He was involved with inviting back many NASA astronauts (including Niel Armstrong) and their families for a reunion visit to the places where dozens of astronauts trained for moon exploration in the lunar landscapes south of town, like those we had visited earlier that day. 

He was also deeply involved with lobbying to have the song (Husavik) from the movie Eurovision get nominated for an academy award and then making sure during COVID that the song could be recorded remotely in Husavik--the setting for the movie--and then broadcast to the Oscars. 

Big dipper and north star

We then ventured forth in the cold for our first official outing to view the northern lights. It was quite a show. Thanks to cel phone cameras that enhance the colors. Partial cloud cover added dramatic contrast to the greens of the aurora borealis. 

The original plan was to sail by night and then dock by day in villages for on shore hikes and explorations, but rough seas prevented that for two days, so we remained docked in Husavik for three nights. We still did plan B adventures. 

Plan B was to drive north along the fjord, east across the northern coast to a national park. 

Morning hike in Asbyrgi in the northern tip of Vatnajokull National Park. 

Love the birch trees

George, our Austrian guide.

Mountain Ash

Back in Husavik for an afternoon to explore.

Impressive display of all types and sizes of real whale skeletons.

Heated soccer pitch for the local club.

And below a snowy practice field.

A bar and the Eurovision museum.

During the pandemic we as a family watched the Eurovision movie. Pretty corny and I'm not a Will Farrel fan, but it was entraining. I'd forgotten most of it so it was nice to sit on a couch and watch the last third of the movie. Loved being in the town where much of it was set.

Lyrics to the Oscar nominated song--Husavik, "where the whales can live 'cause they're gentle people"

Documenting the campaign to get the song nominated.

Happy Orly, our guest speaker is on the right. 

Heading out for our second night of Aurora watching. I turned around after coming up on deck and saw this! Pus another church lit in pink for breast cancer awareness. 

We then drove north along the coast for darker sky viewing. 

Notice the light house light on the island.

Photo by Hubert Neufeld--the ship photographer who tried experimenting with me. He told me to turn on my phone so it would illuminate my face. It was freezing cold and we all had exposed hands to use our cameras. Next time I'd bring a try pod so I can experiment with my Canon. 

Next morning we set out to whale watch in the bay. 

Everyone was on deck and on the lookout. If someone saw something they would shout out what o'clock to look to see a spotted whale. Often times I would look in the distance towards 11 o'clock or 7 o'clock and see nothing. I couldn't tell what was a wave cap and what was a spout blow. Eventually the blow spouts got closer and were more recognizable for me. 

A smaller whale watching boat.

After about thirty minutes of not seeing much, I looked out at three o'clock and was startled to see three humpback whales close by. I called out "three o'clock" and everyone focused their attention on three cavorting humpbacks. They cavorted quite nicely for us. 

Sometimes the rocking boat was not conducive to taking well framed photos. 

Down they go.

Eight or so minutes later and up they came for air and more frolicking.

I pulled out my phone to video the whales, but just then they decided to dive again. Thanks to two others on board for sharing their photos of the last dive. Such an amazing morning. 

Photo by Justin Turner

Photo by Jacques Marias

Lunch and presentation time. 

At a post lunch briefing we were told that the northerly rough winds were on the decline and since we were way behind schedule we would sail through the rest of the day, through the night and then through the next day arriving in Seydisfjordur on the central east coast by evening.

I spent a lot of time on deck. 

Rockin and rollin.

I loved the transition from yellow and orange to blue and purple. 

Next morning I was back on deck.

While the company that runs the ship is Dutch based, the Rembrandt flies under the Vanuatu flag. Since it was originally a fishing vessel refurbished to be a passenger ship it does not meet the criteria for licensing in most countries. 

Red light house.

I enjoyed watching Havhest Northern Folmars (lower center with its wings out stretched) darting about the ship. They are the smallest of the albatross species--noted for their capabilities for long and sustained flights. 

Never saw them dip in for food. 

By late afternoon we had reached the fjord leading inland to Seydisfjordur. Sheep farms started to appear. 

The cones on the hillside are avalanche barricades

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Captain at the helm as we dock.

Local dock workers.

Had a lovely evening walk through the town of Seydisfjordur. 

Always a treat to meet nice folks while traveling including sisters Erin and Susan. Erin (left) has spent her career finding and prosecuting international perpetrators of war crimes and Susan oversaw the Boston Commons and Boston Gardens. 

City indoor pool.

Additional avalanche barricades (I think).

Dusk. Heading back to a celebratory last dinner and last night on the ship.

Lyn, standing next to me, grew up in Singapore but left a teaching profession there to seek solace in a less densely populated part of the world. She chose Iceland where she married a local, had a daughter, and now works as a guide. 

Our journey was marked on a pillar in the bar area. 

Next morning we rode on the bus--that had shadowed our whole journey--up and out of the fjord to Egilssadir where we caught a flight back to Reykjavik. Before checking into the hotel we watched the Lava Show with real molten lava and explanations about how if flows and forms.

More exploring in Reykjavik that afternoon. The Parliament building of black basalt rock. 

Where Gorbachev and Reagan met at the end of the Cold War. 

Demonstration against Israeli attacks in Lebanon and Gaza.

Fishing Museum

Different sizes of netting.

Loved learning more about the three Cod Wars between the UK and Iceland. I'll be sure to use photos and info I gleaned from this trip when I teach on Semester at Sea next fall--something I interviewed remotely for and got hired the next day for from my hotel room in Reykjavik.

The Coast Guard ship Odinn--which challenged the British fishing vessels by cutting their fish nets.

Next morning I found this explanation and display in the National Museum. I love this quote: 
"The trawl wire cutters...are probably the only 'weapon' ever invented by the Icelanders"

Without an army, navy or airforce, this is as violent of a weapon as Iceland has! And all to protect its coastal fisheries. 

Near the port, a small chapel to pray for safety at sea. 

Last dinner with the interesting, fun and welcoming men of the HE Travel group. Many of us shared pans of Icelandic Char--a freshwater fish of the salmon family. Delicious. 

Next morning before my flight I explored the National Museum

I loved the "Nation" emphasis of the exhibits. Marvin Mikesell, my dissertation advisor and mentor, referred to Iceland as the one true nation-state (a country made up of one nation of people) in the world. Many of my students remember (from an oft used exam question) that Iceland is an excellent example of a true nation-state (Japan, the Koreas, Samoa and Tonga are other good examples). While now inclusive of many immigrant communities, there are no indigenous minorities or nations in Iceland. They all speak Icelandic, have a Lutheran heritage, and come from the same Viking stock. They share a culture and economy of fishing and sheep raising. They also have a shared history of control by Norway and then Denmark and of being an unarmed member of NATO. A cool country. 

Iceland was a wonderful and beautiful adventure.

My return flight flew through Boston so I arranged a two-night layover so I could visit Sarah. We had a delightful walk through the botanical garden/cemetery of Mount Auburn Cemetery.

 

Tomb of Mary Baker Eddy 

Ate delicious food.

I explored two Harvard Museums: Ancient Near East and Art. 

Visited Sarah at Work

We enjoyed the amazing, eclectic Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Manet exhibition.

And then, after Sarah left for her afternoon shift at work, I took a long walk along the Charles River while watching the Head of the Charles regatta. Evening flight back to Salt Lake City. A delightful visit. All good for the soul.