Iceland, Faroes and Northern Isles Cruise 08:00–19:30 Akureyri, Iceland
Excursion Details
Jewels of the North
Date of Tour:
08/06/2016
Country:
Iceland
Port:
Akureyri
Excursion Code:
301001A
Excursion Duration:
8hrs
Departure Time:
09:00
Return Time:
17:00
Adult Price:
£99
Tour Description
The capital of the north, Akureyri, is reputed to be the nation’s loveliest town, with its attractive houses and colourful well-kept gardens. It is blessed with a surprisingly favourable climate – warm in the summer and hospitable in the winter. You leave the city, cross the fjord and head to Goðafoss, “Waterfall of the Gods,” a raging but majestic waterfall which hurls down a huge volume of water. The name celebrates the throwing of Thorgeir’s pagan gods into the Falls in the year 1000; Thorgeir was a chieftain and a leader at Althing who had decided in favour of Christianity.
You next pass by Lake Mývatn, one of the largest lakes in Iceland. The area is a remarkable display of nature at its most threatening and most endearing: lava fields, abundant craters, surreal rock formations, boiling springs, sulphur pits and mud pools. Stop to explore some of the moon-like pseudo-craters at Skútustaðir before lunch, which includes a starter, main course of local trout and soft drink or light beer. Dessert is not included.
Afterwards, you stop at Dimmuborgir, an amazing lava landscape with bizarre formations of columns and arches. You continue to the striking geothermal field at Námaskarð where you will see mud pools, steam vents, sulphur deposits, boiling springs and fumaroles. On your way back to Akureyri you pass through the charming village of Reykjahlíð and drive alongside the scenic shores of Lake Mývatn. When you reach Akureyri enjoy a short but informative orientation tour of the city before returning to the pier.
Important Notes
By coach/on foot. Min 25/Max 600.
Please note: Lake Mývatn is a known breeding ground for midges, which can be a nuisance in the summer, so it may be advisable to bring along midge repellent and/or a mosquito net. There is approximately 1½-2 hours of walking (most of which is at your own discretion) over some rough ground with steps involved. We do not consider this tour to be suitable for guests with walking difficulties. Comfortable and sturdy walking shoes are essential and a wind/waterproof jacket is strongly recommended. At Goðafoss Falls there is an uneven, rocky lava surface that is often slippery and there are no handrails; you are advised to exercise caution. There are grassy paths with inclines at Skútustaðir, gravel paths with slight inclines at Dimmuborgir and wooden planks and very muddy paths at Námaskarð. At Námaskarð participants are required to stay on the given paths, follow the guide’s instructions and keep within roped areas. This tour may operate in reverse order to that described. Alcoholic beverages will only be served to persons aged 18 years and over and proof of age may be requested.
“Your daily programme”
I got out of bed ca.5.45am. The ship was still in motion. The low sun was shining blindingly brilliantly through the cabin window when the line of snow-streaked mountains rising steeply out of the sea didn’t cover it. Whether these were coastal mountains, or fjord-side mountains, I couldn’t tell, because I could only see out of the port side. When later we were some distance from shore, I concluded the former. Did some diary write-up, and transferred yesterday’s “midnight” photo from the camera to the
WD Elements HDD (06:08). Looked through yesterday’s photos and rotated three that needed it (06:17–06:18). A look out at 6.45am revealed less steep hills rising out of the water, with a strip of green farmland between the snow-streaked tops and the sea. At what point we entered Eyjafjörður I don’t know but eventually we reached Akureyri near its southern end. We went down to the Waldorf Restaurant for breakfast, then back to the cabin. Almost immediately came the announcement for those on the “Jewels of the North” excursion to go ashore.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 08:43:10
Going ashore at Akureyri
In contrast to yesterday’s low-cloud cover, today was bright and sunny. We were directed to one of the two coaches of participants in this particular excursion. En route the guide pointed out features,
e.g. the Lutheran church in Akureyri, designed, as was the one in Reykjavík, by Guðjón Samúelsson, and similarly inspired by Icelandic basalt columns.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 08:51:32
Views from the coach: Akureyri
We set out in a southerly direction briefly, turned left to cross the southern end of the fjord along a long bridge or causeway, and turned left again to go northwards along the east side of the fjord. The flatness of the mountains opposite was remarked upon: an upland plateau carved into mountains by glaciers, characteristic of much of Iceland, formed by magma erupting under the thick Ice-age ice-cap.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:00:46
Views from the coach: flat-topped mountains to the west across Eyjafjörður
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:03:00
Views from the coach: view across Eyjafjörður to the north-west
Eventually we turned right, climbing till we reached a broad upland valley.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:09:52
Views from the coach
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:11:16
Views from the coach
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:15:38
Views from the coach
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:26:30
Views from the coach
We passed a lake on our right—
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:27:50
Views from the coach: Ljósavatn
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:28:32
Views from the coach: Ljósavatn
—shortly before our first stop at Goðafoss. The coach turned right and dropped us off at the parking lot on the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót river. The arrangement was that it would pick us up at another parking lot on the opposite side, where there was a café-cum-gift shop.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:37:16
“Goðafoss”: sign on the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:38:42
Goðafoss from the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:38:52
Goðafoss from the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:39:04
Goðafoss from the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:39:14
Goðafoss from the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:40:36
Goðafoss from the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:41:02
Goðafoss from the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:41:10
Goðafoss from the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:41:18
Goðafoss from the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:42:26
Goðafoss from the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:42:46
Goðafoss from the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:45:04
Goðafoss from the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:45:22
Goðafoss from the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:45:42
Goðafoss from the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
I wanted to see Goðafoss from the other side of the Skjálfandafljót river, so I hastened away; but
Janet decided to make her way directly to the rendezvous point. I’m pleased that I did, because there were rainbows in the spray visible on that side.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:46:02
Wild flowers
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:46:18
Wild flowers
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:50:46
Lava formations on the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:51:00
Lava formations on the north-west side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:53:26
Footbridge across the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:55:30
View south-west from the footbridge: Geitafoss, and (just visible behind) Goðafoss
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:55:40
View north from the footbridge: road-bridge over the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:56:58
Geitafoss, and (just visible behind) Goðafoss from the south-east side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:58:02
“Goðafoss”: sign on the south-east side of the Skjálfandafljót
“You are here”
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 09:58:52
Geitafoss from the south-east side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 10:03:22
Goðafoss from the south-east side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 10:05:02
Goðafoss from the south-east side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 10:05:12
Goðafoss from the south-east side of the Skjálfandafljót
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 10:05:20
Goðafoss from the south-east side of the Skjálfandafljót
On the way back I decided to shoot videos — with one exception, when I took a still photo.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 10:05:30
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 10:17:20
Geitafoss from the south-east side of the Skjálfandafljót
I met Janet at the rendezvous point and she had a Pepsi Max and I an
Americano (10:24). The latter was served scalding hot in a paper cup, and I was hard pressed to drink it, then use the loo, before the arranged time of 10.30am. We continued our way and came to the south side of the large lake Mývatn (“Midgewater”), rightly named, for there were dense swarms of flies there. We stopped at a lagoon, Stakhólstjörn, separated from the rest of Mývatn by a ring of “pseudo-craters” (formed by steam explosions as flowing hot lava crossed over the wet surface, not by magma from below as in a “true” crater). There were black flies about a centimetre long, and smaller ones — all bigger than what I would call a “midge” back home. They were annoying, they got everywhere, but they didn’t bite. (I wasn’t bitten, anyway.) They were too much for
Janet, though, who returned to the coach. I joined the party who followed the guide round a circular route to the west of Stakhólstjörn.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:11:06
“Skútustaðagígar”: sign
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:11:16
Skútustaðagígar
“Craters of Skútustaðir”
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:12:42
Pseudo-craters surrounding Stakhólstjörn
(The black blob is the blurred image of one of the many flies swarming there.)
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:12:56
Pseudo-craters surrounding Stakhólstjörn
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:13:54
Pseudo-craters surrounding Stakhólstjörn
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:14:08
Pseudo-craters surrounding Stakhólstjörn
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:23:42
Stakhólstjörn, Mývatn, and environs
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:24:04
Environs of Mývatn
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:25:00
Pseudo-craters surrounding Stakhólstjörn
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:25:12
Pseudo-craters surrounding Stakhólstjörn
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:25:24
Environs of Mývatn
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:25:38
Environs of Mývatn
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:38:24
Back on the coach: one of the large flies
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 11:38:24 (detail)
Back on the coach: one of the large flies
Back on the coach, the guide instructed us on no account to swat any of the many hundreds of flies, which had come aboard with us, and which were advancing seemingly in ranks up the windows, only to fall to the bottom and begin again; for that would make a mess for the driver to have to wipe up. Instead, we were to let them die naturally, then the driver would just be able to sweep them up. We travelled the short distance to a lakeside hotel for lunch: soup, trout, and a lowish-alcohol beer. Before we rejoined the coach,
Janet and I each picked up from reception a map of that region (only I forgot mine and left it on the coach at the end of the excursion.
Tja!).
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 13:21:42
View from the coach: lava deposits near Mývatn
We skirted round Mývatn to the east side, then turned right along a short road to Dimmuborgir. There our guide escorted us along paths among strange-shaped lava formations.
Janet joined me for this, despite there being flies here also — though not as many as at Stakhólstjörn.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 13:31:28
Dimmuborgir
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 13:33:46
Dimmuborgir
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 13:37:06
Dimmuborgir: fissure caused by the drifting apart of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 13:40:04
Dimmuborgir
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 13:42:50
Dimmuborgir: two trolls, turned to stone in mid-conversation
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 13:48:12
Dimmuborgir
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 13:53:22
Dimmuborgir
We visited the café and I had an Americano. Janet only wanted to use the loo, but the choice was: insert 200 krónur in the turnstile, or use a card issued with a purchase in the café; so we just bought a 50cl bottle of water. We went on from there, turning right at Reykjahlíð at the north-east corner of Mývatn and proceeding eastwards past a geothermal power station and boreholes for supplying hot water, before rounding the mountain Námafjall. (The water is passed through a heat exchanger before it is piped to people’s homes because it is heavily laced with sulphides and stinks.)
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 14:23:16
Views from the coach: Geothermal borehole
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 14:24:06
Views from the coach: Fissure in the side of Námafjall caused by the drifting apart of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates
Just beyond Námafjall is a geothermal field with mud pools, steam vents, sulphur deposits, boiling springs, fumaroles — and a bad smell! — variously called Hverir, Námaskarð — or Námafjall (after the adjacent mountain). We were warned to stay on the paths and keep within roped areas, and given free time to explore.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 14:29:30
“Námafjall Hverir”
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 14:30:38
Part of Námafjall, viewed from the geothermal area
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 14:31:08
Námafjall geothermal area: boiling spring
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 14:48:36
Námafjall geothermal area: more forceful steam vent
Then we boarded the coach and made our way back to Akureyri.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 15:26:06
Views from the coach: lava field
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 16:10:26
Views from the coach
We stopped for a few minutes by Eyjafjörður to get out and photograph Akureyri opposite.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 16:43:42
Views across Eyjafjörður of Akureyri
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 16:43:42 (detail 1)
Views across Eyjafjörður of Akureyri
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 16:43:42 (detail 2)
Views across Eyjafjörður of Akureyri
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 16:43:54
Views across Eyjafjörður of Akureyri: zoomed-in view of MS Marco Polo
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 16:44:08
Views across Eyjafjörður of Akureyri: zoomed-in view of Akureyrarkirkja (Church of Akureyri)
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 16:44:08 (detail)
Views across Eyjafjörður of Akureyri: zoomed-in view of Akureyrarkirkja (Church of Akureyri)
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 16:48:22
On the other side of the road: lupins and dandelions
As we went back across the causeway or bridge, I was able to snap an image of Akureyri Airport.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 16:51:30
Views from the coach: Akureyri Airport
(Surviving Mývatn flies on the window!)
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 16:59:12
Views from the coach: lagged pipeline carrying geothermally heated water to Akureyri
We had a short coach tour of the city before being deposited at the harbour.
Wednesday 8 June 2016 — 17:11:46
Boarding the Marco Polo
As soon as we boarded the ship we went to the Captain’s Club for Janet to have a
Coca Cola Light. I had an “American” coffee (17:16). Then we went down to the cabin to change for dinner before returning to the Captain’s Club, where I had a
Campari and soda, and
Janet a Coca Cola Light (17:49). At 6pm we went down to the Waldorf Restaurant for dinner. I wasn’t keen on what was offered this evening, but managed to chose something from every course except the
“appetiser”. Janet just had one of the main courses but without any sauce. I had a glass of the house red wine.
Janet wanted some fruit afterwards so we went to Marco’s Restaurant. Janet
had a Coca Cola Light and I a Grappa (19:19). Back outside the cabin, Liudmyla was in conversation with a couple we recognised from excursions, and continued with us when they left. Transferred 84 photos and 12 videos from the camera to the
WD Elements HDD (20:37–20:42). Rotated one photo that needed it (20:52). I did a bit of diary writing. We went to bed not long after 9.30pm.
