Dear friends,
We have now started to have a little decrease in brightness at night. Temp was still only about 55F.
Akureyri, the main seaport and chief town of northern Iceland, is situated 160 miles northeast of Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. The harbour, at the south end of the 36 mile Eyja Fjord and near the mouth of the Eyjafjardara River, is sheltered by a gravel pit to the north and by mountains on the other three sides. Akureyri began as a trading center just before the Danish Trade Monopoly of 1602 came ino effect. The town was used for commercial enterprises, but no one lived there. By the late 18th Century the town had accumulated 10 residents, all Danish traders. By 1900, Akureyri numbered 1370 people. It was the herring fisheries that contributed significantly to the cities growth. Fishing is still imporant, but the emphasis is now on trawling, canning and freezing large fish. Akureyri has the largest retail cooperative society in Iceland and contains the majority of Iceland's cooperative industries, including weaving, food processing, brewing and tourism.
"Iceland" is not a complete misnomer - the island is a generally cold place - but since it is an active geothermal zone, nature gives it plenty of heat. The unusual geography spawns geysers and the vast tundra is prime nesting ground for some of the world's rarest birds. Iceland is a leader in conservation and ecological stewardship - often leading the world in responsible environmental policy. Even contemporary Akureyri's industrial port is clean. With a population of just over 15,000, the community enjoys a surprisingly mild climate due to the small nation's natural geothermal heat.
The welcome center with flags up, including a courtesy US flag, is always nice to see when we arrive at a port.
The 4 hour tour we took today was called "Akureyri Falls and Farmland. It is always interesting to get out of the city and see some of the countryside. Leaving Akureyri, we crossed the waters of he fjord and traveled along the slopes of Vadlaheidi Mountain, via the Fnjoskadalur Valley to Vaglaskogur Forest - one of Iceland's rare woodlands which is part of an extensive soil and vegetation reclamation project. You will see in a photo the extreme fog we travelled in for a while. Fortunately it did burn off after we got thru the "mountain" pass.
From Fnjoskadalur, we traveled to the historic Godafoss - waterfall of the heathen gods - which figures prominently in Iceland's 12-century Book of Settlement. History tells us that in the year 1000, Porgeir, chieftain of Ljosavatn district, and lawspeaker of the Althing, was entrusted with the momentous task of deciding whether Icelanders should adopt the Christian faith. When his decision was formally accepted, he went home and threw his statues of the pagan gods into the waterfall. Godafoss (Waterfall of the Gods) is said to derive its name from this event. It is 12 metres high. We were dropped off up near the falls and then had a nice little walk along he path above the river and across the pedestrian bridge to the bus which had moved down by the hotel/restaurant/gift shop area. It was really beautiful along there. All along the route we saw many waterfalls coming down the mountains. For a short drive we got off the main highway and drove on a dirt road where we encountered the sheep crossing the road. Almost thought we had somehow transferred to New Zealand.
After this drive thru the country, we came to Laufas, a 19th century farmhouse built in the traditional Icelandic style of stone and turf - now one of the last turf farms in the country. The interesting regional museum, which is set up inside the turf buildings which are also in the process of being remodeled, has the original implements and equipment so essential to life in former centuries, and a beautiful country chuch (1865).
We then returned to Akureyri for a short panoramic sightseeing tour of the city, including an outside view of the modern church and a stop at the Botanical Gardens. We had a lovely walk thru the gardens.
Hope you enjoy the photos.
Jan and Dick
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