Almost Home
4 July 1998
Reykjavik, N 64º08.484', W 21º55.033'. Our return from the mountains to Iceland was a hectic affair. (In 50 hours Mark got 6 hours sleep.) Instead of spending a night at Constable Point we left for Iceland the same evening. This only left us a few hours to sort our gear and remaining food into three sets:
- Things to take with us.
- Things to freight back to the UK (arriving at the end of August).
- Things that were only fit for the bin.
The flight across in the Twin Otter was great, to Akureyri, Iceland's second city, population 15000. Passport control was a piece of paper passed round the plane for us to write our names and nationalities. The airport was mostly closed when we arrived at midnight, but they openned the duty-free shop so we could get some beer. We were there for two and a half days, though we missed most of Thursday by all sleeping for fourteen hours. We got up in time for a trip to the town's most famous restaurant for meals of catfish, ling and guillemot ("better than puffin"). That night we only managed about three hours sleep. Hopefully we will have sorted our body clocks out in time for work on Monday morning.
Yesterday we variously went to the volcanic lake at Myvatn, and whale-watching in a boat from Husavik. Ruth and Simon saw the usual selection of impressive volcanic features, and survived the Icelandic midge - which swarms like a midge but is much larger - a non-biting back-fly. Sean and Mark got some close-up views of Minke Whales and a White-Beaked Dolphin.
They also came face to face with their first polar bear, which arrived during a rare spread of the Greenland ice as far as Iceland, in the Sixties. It is now stuffed, in the local museum.
This is the last report, as we have now flown to Reykjavik, and tomorrow we arrive back in the UK. Tonight we'll be out on the town in the world's most northerly capital city (so you wouldn't be interested in that). The web site will be updated over the next month or so with maps, descriptions of routes and useful information for anyone planning a similar trip. If you have any comments or questions, email mark.s.bailey@gmail.com
Thank you for your interest.