Trip Report! ABD Iceland Saga of the Midnight Sun 9/18 COMPLETE!! - Day 7 River Rafting & Farewell

[sayhello]

And there’s a bit of a non-descript part of a whale!



And then – YES – I managed to catch *this* shot! I’ve been on a few whale watches, and only ever once saw a whale (that was on the Alaskan ABD) but all I saw that time was a bit of back. But finally! A tail!!



YAY!!!

We had this rainbow, in various bits and pieces, for the whole time we were out there.









After we’d seen a few whales, and the sun was starting to get a bit low, they brought out the fishing poles, and those who wanted to, participated in a bit of catch-and-release cod fishing. I tried my hand at it, and managed to catch 2 cod at once! (Well, technically, I caught one, and the other one got entangled in the line!)



It was fun watching everyone take turns, and everyone seemed to enjoy this activity.







Honestly? While I *loved* the Whale watch and thought the fishing was fun, I could easily have skipped the whole fish factory part and been just fine. Maybe they could cut that part and catch a later flight to Akureyri, which would mean they could spend the night at the Fosshotel?

Anyways, we eventually headed back to shore, where we turned in our jumpsuits, took another quick bathroom break, then boarded our motorcoach to head to Akureyri to check into the Icelandair Hotel Akureyri.

Continued in the next post.

 

[sayhello]

My room at the Icelandair Hotel Akureyri.



It was a nice-sized room, but the bathroom was really odd, with the toilet & sink on one side of the room behind the right side of the bed, and the shower on the other side of the room behind the left side of the bed. Neither room had a door, although there was a shower curtain. It was fine for me, since I was in the room alone, but it had to be weird to share. I know we had one woman sharing a room with her friend, and that was just a little too friendly for them. They tried to change rooms to one that didn’t have that setup, but nothing was available for that first night. They did get moved for the rest of the nights.

Bathroom to the right of the bed, past the desk area.


Shower to the left



The one good thing was I didn't have to worry about the shower soaking the rest of the bathroom here!



And at least this room had closets!

I had a view of the community pool across the street. It *did* make a good landmark for finding my way back to the hotel!



For some reason (may have been timing), Drew & Stebbi switched our dinner at Bryggjan restaurant for that night with the OYO dinner for Day 6. So, this night, we had dinner OYO. After talking to Drew, I ended up heading down into town (seriously *DOWN* into town, it’s quite a steep road!) to look for something to eat. None of the restaurants really appealed to me until I came across a Barnes and Noble type of shop that had a small sandwich shop. They heated up the sandwich I chose, and that really hit the spot.





The weather was pretty pleasant for most of my time in town. I really enjoyed walking around, although not a lot was open that late in the evening. As I started back for the *serious* uphill hike back to the hotel, it started to drizzle. My jacket was rain resistant, not rain-proof, but it was a really light drizzle, so I didn’t get very wet. But it was *really* nice to get back to the hotel and head to my nice, toasty bed (although I did leave the window open, knowing how very warm the rooms can get!)

Next up – Day 5 - Surf and Turf

 

[EllinK]

Enjoying your trip report! We took a land based trip to Iceland on our own and loved it. This year we are headed back on DCL. We have not been to Akureyri before so I am really looking forward to this next part of your trip report.
Ellin

 

[sayhello]

Enjoying your trip report! We took a land based trip to Iceland on our own and loved it. This year we are headed back on DCL. We have not been to Akureyri before so I am really looking forward to this next part of your trip report.
Ellin

So glad you're enjoying! More Akureyri soon!

Sayhello

 

[nycdisneygal]

Its been many years since I have read your ABD reports. This was sounds great so far. Well except for that nasty woman and the long bathroom lines. Hope to read more`

 

[sayhello]

Its been many years since I have read your ABD reports. This was sounds great so far. Well except for that nasty woman and the long bathroom lines. Hope to read more`

Well, welcome back! Glad you're enjoying the trip report. I plan to post the next installment this weekend!

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

Day 5 – Surf and Turf

Today’s touring in the North was slightly changed from the formal itinerary. Our first stop was at Goðafoss (the Waterfall of the Gods). This stop was supposed to be on Day 6, which honestly was a pretty full day, so our Guides moved it to Day 5, where it fit quite nicely.

We walked from the parking area, along the river coming off the falls, up to Goðafoss. Goðafoss is amazing. It’s a horse-shoe shaped area of power. Very beautiful.









Drew and Stebbi staged a mock Viking battle overlooking the falls. It was, of course, quite silly and fun!



While we were there, we celebrated the birthday of one of the Adventurers. There was a bit of a competition to see how many hats he could wear at the same time.



This photo is the whole group overlooking Goðafoss. Apparently, I kept almost poking the woman behind me with the Viking horns. I felt bad about that. You just get caught up in the fun! I guess that's what happens when you're a short Viking!



We then hiked down the path along the bank down to the bottom level of the falls, which was even more impressive!





We were given some free time to wander around & take photos, and then were eventually told to start heading back up to the motorcoach. As I was walking back, a few folks were anxiously looking across the river to the other bank. Apparently one of our number was bound and determined to make it to the other side of the river (there was a bridge you can see behind her) but her daughter & others on this side were worried that she didn’t realize that it was time to leave, as she kept going, and took a long time to turn around and head back to the bridge. She *did* eventually turn around.

The white jacketed person was our stray. This photo was *seriously* zoomed.



Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

After we all finally made it back to the motorcoach with all of the group, we headed out to the Grenjaðarstaður Turf House. The Turf House is actually built into a hill and covered and surrounded by turf (grass covered soil). They did that for warmth. Funny thing is, they “recently” added front rooms with more modern gables, to give off a more civilized appearance. But those front rooms were so very cold, they couldn’t use them for large portions of the year!

We started in the small church on the grounds, and got a bit of a talk about the turf houses and their history. It was a pretty little church.







Then we headed across to the Turf House itself. This was part of the entryway into the turf house. This mannequin with authentic dress was *really* short. The doorways were pretty low, too. Seems folks *were* shorter back then!



Kind of dark & gloomy for my tastes!



Looking out over the Churchyard & the surrounding hills from one of the “modern” gable rooms.



Inside one of the gable rooms.



The Church from the gabled room.



This is the kitchen. You can see in this room the walls built of rock (and the wall behind me was of piled turf). The roof is all piled turf, also.





Continued in next Post.

 

[sayhello]

Twigs and stuff from the layers of turf poking back into the room.



You can see the layers of turf here.



This kitchen area was upstairs.



I thought it was interesting how the beds were designed to be able to easily expand.



This upstairs area had a lot of interesting household items from the period these turf houses were in use.

Surprisingly pastoral.



You can see part of the mound outside this window.







The “modern” gables.





Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

Out the front door.



Snyrting. Yep, that’s Icelandic for bathroom/rest room.



While heading around back to the Snyrting, I found that you could easily see how the turf houses were built, that it was not so much "built into a hill" as that it *was* the hill!







It was really just a pretty area. These people really seem to have known what they were doing when they built this place here.





After we finished touring the turf house, it was back to our motorcoach and off to the small fishing village of Husavik. As we drove through the small town, some points of interest were pointed out to us, and we were dropped off by the pier where most of the restaurants were located.



We had a few hours here to get lunch, wander, and check out the local Whale Museum, which was paid for.

I ended up on my own for lunch, and hit the local restaurant that the Guides said had good seafood. And they did! It was really quite delicious!





Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

After lunch, I headed to the Whale Museum. They really had quite an extensive collection of whale skeletons. I had no idea there were that many breeds of whales! Some were HUGE, some had crazy long snouts. I really enjoyed the museum! Others from the group came and went, along with Drew and Stebbi.









After I finished up at the Museum, there was still quite a bit of time left until we had to meet up, so I decided to just walk around the town, see if there was any shopping, and just generally wander a bit. There was no worry of getting lost or not finding your way back. It was a seriously small area! The weather was really quite pleasant at this point (it really *is* better in the North!) so I really enjoyed my wandering.

That's the Whale Museum in the white building on the right.











Eventually, we all met up back at the motorcoach, and headed back into Akureyri. As we hit Akureyri, we were given a choice to get dropped off in town or head back to the hotel. I headed up back to the hotel because I wanted to regroup and change, hit the bathroom, relax a bit, etc. After I’d relaxed, I headed down into town. It was still really beautiful out, but a bit early to eat dinner, plus I still wasn’t finding any restaurants that really appealed to me.



Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

Wandering around Akureyri in the late afternoon this time.







I ended up taking a long walk north of the main drag, trying to find something (I don’t quite remember if it was a particular shop or what it was that I’d read about), but I never did find it. I’d walked quite a bit of a distance away from the main area, and I wondered if getting back to the road that the hotel was on might be easier (not quite as horridly steep) outside of "downtown". So instead of backtracking south to the main area, I headed east, with the intention of turning south when I was even with the street the hotel was on. The area I walked through was pretty residential for the most part, with some ordinary homes and a pretty park with a nice path through a nicely treed area.



I have a really excellent sense of direction, and google maps was *sort* of helping me navigate. I was *really* hoping I wouldn’t get to a point where I would realize that I couldn’t get there from here, and would have to back-track my way all the way back to the main area. Just when I was starting to think maybe I was wrong, I caught a glimpse of the water slide at the community pool next door to the hotel, and knew that I actually *had* managed to get back exactly where I wanted to be without having to struggle up that darned hill again! I’d gotten a lovely, relaxing walk in and seen parts of the town I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. I was, however, quite happy to see the hotel at this point.





Inside, I decided I would just eat at the restaurant in the hotel. I felt like something simple like soup and salad. I went downstairs to the Aurora Restaurant and put my name in for a seat in about half an hour’s time. I went back upstairs and saw some of my fellow Adventurers sitting in the Lounge area sharing some appetizers. They were pretty much done by the time I got there, but I hung out with them for a while and chatted. Eventually, it was time for my reservation. So, I went downstairs. The hostess told me it was a good thing I’d made the reservation, because they were suddenly pretty full (it wasn’t that large a restaurant).

I ended up having some mushroom soup, a lovely salad and some sweet potato fries (a favorite of mine!) It just hit the spot, and was quite tasty.





After that, I wandered the hotel a bit, took some photos, and then headed back to my room. It had been a really nice day!





Next up: Day 6: Off the Wheaten Path.

 

[sayhello]

Day 6 – Off the Wheaten Path

This day was jam-packed, but fun. As it went, I really understand why they moved Godafoss to the previous day. It works much better that way!

Today we headed out for the Lake Myvatn area. We started by driving out along the fjord, which was really a beautiful area.



Once we got to the area, we picked up our local Guide, whose name I’ve forgotten. His family lives and works in that area. He had the most wonderful accent.



We started out with a visit to the Fuglasafn Sigurgeirs Bird Museum.



This was, of course, our first stop of the morning after a long drive, and everyone hit the 2 available bathrooms. It took a *long* time to get through the line, and by the time I got out to the boathouse, they’d already started with the presentation. It wasn’t until after I got back home that I found out that Stebbi had told folks about how he’d worked for the man whose boat it was. I’m kind of sad to have missed that.



While standing in the boathouse, it was the first time that I noticed that there were a lot of teeny-tiny flies on the window. They were midges, and apparently, we were there during midge season.



The boathouse was very interesting, looking at the tools they used for fishing and such, and the Bird Museum was very interesting, showing off the different birds of the area.





After walking around the small Museum, we congregated out on the patio they had, overlooking the lake. It was very pretty, but not terribly peaceful, as the midges were getting pretty thick.







Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

Drew & Stebbi ended up getting us mosquito nets to wear when we were outside. They looked kind of funny, but became essential unless you liked eating midges. Fortunately, Lake Myvatn was the only area where the midges were.



Learning about how they smoked their fish and meat, which is the family business.





We had a tasting of some of the various dried fish and meat they sell. Most of it was quite good!



We then headed out to see the area, and head to lunch at Café Bogafjos, which was in a former stable at a local farm. We got to check out the cows first.



It was in quite a picturesque area.





After lunch, we headed out to the Dimmuborgir Lava Labyrinth. This is an absolutely gorgeous area of hills and mounds of black lava rock, all formed by volcanic lava flows. It was a gorgeous day, and I really didn’t want to be wearing the mosquito netting, but at times it was just absolutely necessary. They had even invaded the motorcoach, although they mostly stuck to the windows and ceiling in there.

There were some signs telling us about how the area was formed, and also about the Legendary Icelandic Yule Lads, who were sort of like Iceland’s Santa Claus. There are a lot of tales about the Yule Lads.







Continued in next post

 

[sayhello]

I had asked Stebbi if I needed hiking boots there, and he said no. So, I wore my tennis shoes, because I was a bit tired of wearing the hiking boots, even though they *were* comfortable. In retrospect, I wish I’d worn my hiking boots. There was a little bit of climbing around on rocks that I would have felt better about with my boots. At one point, my foot slipped, just a little bit, and I felt a pull in my upper glute. I’m *still* dealing with that pulled muscle!

But it did not affect my enjoyment of the day and of the beautiful area.







As we got into a “foresty” area (well, for Iceland!) we were greeted by a couple of folks who turned out to be Yule Lads! They put on a very cute skit for us, and taught us a bit about the Yule Lads. Since we were sitting here, mosquito netting was *definitely* called for!















Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

We then continued walking to an area with some very large lava formations, and one is supposedly JRR Tolkien’s inspiration for the Eye of Sauron.





The Eye of Sauron!







Dimmuborgir is a really special place, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and very vast and beautiful!







Ah, yes, our hitch-hikers!



Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

We then were taken to an area of mud pots and steam, and just real evidence of the volcanic and geothermal nature of Iceland. This was a really fascinating and unexpected place!



















Continued in next post

 

[sayhello]

After we'd finished wandering around this fascinating place, we headed out to where our Guide had a very special in-ground geothermal oven placed. He and Stebbi put together the dough for Geysir bread, and then our Guide pulled out a couple of buckets that were already baking in the make-shift oven. He took out some already-baked Geysir bread. They served it up to us with slabs of butter, and oh, my! Was it ever delicious! Dense and sweet and fresh and hot! Yumm! I really enjoyed that!













Next on the agenda was heading to the Myvatn Nature Baths. These were natural thermal baths similar to the Blue Lagoon, but much smaller and not nearly as minerally.



I’m sure the absolutely *gorgeous* weather had something to do with it, but I enjoyed my time at the Myvatn baths *infinitely* more than the time at the Blue Lagoon. As I said, it was smaller, more intimate, less milky and minerally, and just altogether more pleasant. They didn’t have shower stalls there, so you were really kind of forced to shower naked in the communal shower area. Nobody really cared. It also did not seem as commercial as the Blue Lagoon.



19 degrees Celsius! (66.2 Fahrenheit!!) *Gorgeous*!



The included beer was really nice, too!



Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

After a most relaxing and refreshing time at the Baths, we headed back out to our motor coach, and off to dinner at Bryggjan. This was supposed to be dinner OYO, but they’d swapped with one of the previous days. I think this also worked well.



After dinner, it was back to Akureyri, and packing for the long drive back to Reykjavik the next morning.

Next up: Day 7: Turning a New Leif

 

[Donalyn]

Seyhello - I love your trip reports. Really looking forward to your Japan one too!