Animal Magic

Day 5

It was to be a long drive today, so we were in the dining room for breakfast at 7.15 - even though the staff were not quite ready for us!

The journey took us round the edge of more Fjords and past the margins of glaciers, we discovered beaches with black volcanic sand and waterfalls - not clear now but full of glacial melt water, usually a dull yellow. Most of all we encountered Iceland's wildlife.

The first encounter was with a wild reindeer, who showed off beautifully for us, prancing and preening. Clearly competing in the 'I've got the most impressive

horns' competition was a ram resting on the road. We also spotted a Harbour Porpoise in one of the coves - too far to get a good picture, but exciting all the same.

When we reached Jokulsarlon - the lake of ice-bergs, we were astonished by the forms and colours of the ice in the midst of the now raging waters (it has rained ALL day). Not only that but about a dozen seals were swimming against the strong currents, catching fish. It was wonderful to see them so close.

The sun did finally come out as we sat down

to dinner at our hotel this evening. The lovely Skaftafell Hotel under the shade of mountains and glaciers. Sadly by time we had finished eating a delicious meal, the sun had gone down!

We can't quite decide what to do tomorrow - pay to fly over the huge glacier and volcanoes, get a tour bus up onto the ice or find our own way up one of the glacier 'outlets' nearby. Much depends on the weather!

Oh and this last picture is the view from our hotel window! Sorry about that!!!

Slartibartfast deserves a design award

Day 4

Today began well. The Hotel Herad redeemed itself from the lack of tea tray because breakfast included the opportunity to make your own waffles! Mmmm waffles and syrup - great way to start the day and the rest of the buffet breakfast was of a higher standard than we've had so far.

There followed a trip to the supermarket to buy picnic supplies - remarkably similar to the picnic supplies bought two days ago - but you can't go wrong with bread, cheese, salami, yoghurts, fruit and crisps! Next was the adventure of trying to put diesel in the hire care - self service is all well and good if the instructions are written in a language you understand....

The rest of the day has been a slow drive around three fjords, on roads that cling for dear life onto the side of the cliff faces. We stopped often to take photos, none of

which can reflect the grandeur and scale of the scenery.

We passed an aluminium smelting factory - its construction had caused a massive public outcry because of the environmental impact in a place of such sensitive and outstanding beauty. I can understand the outcry - but also the very real need for jobs and industry in Iceland. The cost of living is very high and people work 60 - 80 hour weeks to make ends meet - many are still unable to climb out of debt and the cynicism after the debacle with the banks has changed many people's outlook.

Still - so much of what we saw today was tranquil, with mist rolling in then burning off and more rolling in. In places this created a surreal atmosphere - something between the 'Twilight Zone' and 'Brigadoon'!

Our hotel - the Skadaborg just outside Briedelsvik is not really up to scratch - feels more like a hostel than a hotel. This would be fine if we had booked to be in a hostel but as we are in 'trip of a lifetime' mode is a bit of a let down. Having said that, it does have free wifi and when Sandy went in search of coffee supplies to placate his grumpy wife, the staff were most helpful! Perhaps dinner will shed a softer glow over my op

inion of the place!

Tomorrow we set of for the Skatafell National Park, where we will call in at the Jokulsarlon lake, into which flow icebergs that have broken off from the glacier. We hope to get a boat trip on the lake - so if the weather is good the photo's should be something special.

Perfect picnic and fabulous fjord

Day 3

After a leisurely breakfast, we set off towards the east coast (dashing to the car to avoid millions of midges). We paused to take pictures of the Pseudo-Craters at the south of Lake Myvatn and stopped briefly again at the volcanic sulphur pools, for some extra photos.

The journey to Eglastidur was long but with stunning scenery, strange rock formations, rivers and grasses ranging in colour from the usual green, through golden to deep red. On reaching this small but significant town, we found we agreed with the guide book that it is rather dull, particularly in terms of architecture but is important as a crossroads for a number of Iceland’s ‘main’ roads.

We took a fabulous drive around lake Lagarflot, Iceland’s answer to Loch Ness. It is about 28 kilometres long, very deep and has its own serpent like monster. Unlike Loch Ness there is not a souvenir shop in sight! In fact the road around the lake is remarkable for its lack of traffic.

We stopped by waterfalls, wonderful rocks and found a perfect field for a picnic. On long, green and dry grass we sat under a perfect blue sky – snow sprinkled mountains in the distance, the National Forest across the smooth lake and total silence. This blanket of peace was only broken by the occasional bird call or buzz of a lazy fly.

After returning to Eg we booked into our hotel – nice and modern but, criminally, it does not have tea and coffee making facilities in the room – this is a great sin in my book, Sandy doesn’t seem so bothered!

We then took a drive up into the mountains and towards the coast. This is an area of Fjords and we visited Seydisfjordur, a town at the head of one of the Fjords where huge cruise ships and ferries visit. No ships today – it’s change over day tomorrow, so will be busy. The town (population 1,600!) is a pretty place which has retained some of the traditional Nordic architecture which most of Iceland has abandoned for cheap and practical pre-fabs. The water in the Fjord was beautifully clear and the air was crisp and delicious. We ventured into a couple of handicraft shops and are not ever so excited by the local crafts – expensive and not particularly nice. We are looking forward to Reykjavik next week for some wider choice in this area.

As we sat in a small and pretty restaurant overlooking the harbour, a sea mist began to creep towards us along the Fjord. It was beautiful and eerie and created a lovely atmosphere. As we drove back up over the mountain road, we left the mist behind and climbed into bright sunshine – quite magical.

Tomorrow we will drive the road that hugs the fjords – might be a bit nail-biting in places but the views will be worth it.

Whales, waterfalls, wonders!

I was up earlier than my usual inclination when on holiday but it was to make sure we had time to get to Husavik for our whale watching trip. We got there early! This meant we were able to go on an upgraded trip that included seeing the puffins at Lundy Island and travelling on a schooner (rather than a plastic boat). So I bravely took my sea sickness pill and stepped aboard.

I enjoyed my time, managed not to throw up and saw dolphins and a whale, so for me it was successful. Sandy was on cloud nine, especially when they turned the engine off and raised all 7 sails. My favourite bit was the hot chocolate and cinnamon roll!

The word of the day is 'Pufflings' which is the word to describe baby puffins! So sweet!!

The whale was either an unusually large Minky or a juvenile Finn Whale.

We then bought the makings of a picnic from a supermarket and found a lookout point on the peninsular to eat (very English, picnicking in the car!).

The landscape we were driving through became more and more bleak but was still beautiful. I remember thinking that you could hear the 'birth pangs of creation' in this raw volcanic setting. Sandy said it was not a scene of devastation following a disaster but a landscape that promised new life. This feels like the nursery of a continent - and the ability of tiny plants to grow through rock and lava is a symbol of the power of life.

If Peter Jackson had not chosen New Zealand to film Lord of the Rings, then Iceland would have been the place - sulphur fields would be great for Mordor!

We saw Europe's most powerful waterfall - Dettifoss. 44 metres high and thundering with tonnes of glacial meltwater, it was so dramatic. Hard to take in such power and scale.

On the way back to Hotel Sel at Myvatn we spotted some steam spouts, so stopped to investigate. We found a red, orange and yellow landscape of mud pools and steam vents. Historically this was a site where sulphur had been collected - deposited by the gasses and steam pushing up from magma trapped in the rocks below.

What an amazing day - we have experienced so much. Iceland is proving to be a fascinating and diverse place, full of wonder and beauty. Very strange and powerful - and there is so much more still to see.

Laid back, spectacular and startling

After a night in a lovely hotel near Gatwick, Sandy and I began our adventure in Iceland. We flew into Keflavick and were transferred by mini-bus to the small domestic airport in Reykjavik. On that short journey we met a couple who where on the same tour as us, but with a slightly altered itinerary - it was reassuring to find they also found it impossible to pronounce place names and where as excited and apprehensive as we are!

We arrived at the small airport two and a half hours early and were able to catch an earlier plane, which was brilliant - no extra charge, no bureaucracy - just a shrug and a 'why not?'. The flight was exhilarating, over a volcanic and glacial landscape that made sense of all those geography lessons that Mr Rocket tried to teach me long ago. Meandering rivers running through gorges and valleys, surrounded by ice-topped hills or mountains with sharp, razor like ridges, or flat topped because of millennia of glacial erosion.

We picked our car up and set off from Akureyri along the N1 - the only major road, which runs all around the island. Mountain roads, glacial lakes and perfect blue skies made for a wonderful and stunning journey. We had been told to look out for Godafoss - a spectacular waterfall. As we approached the area where it was meant to be I was increasingly sceptical, as the land had flattened out and I could not see any cliffs or hills big enough to support a large fall. Sandy pointed out some spray in the distance and we followed the tourist sign to the car park. As we turned in I was gobsmacked (technical Northern term meaning 'flabbergasted'). The waterfall was below us, thousands of years of water action had carved a horseshoe shaped basin, into which flows thousands of tonnes of water a second.

Godafoss means 'fall of the Gods' and marks the place where, in 1000ad, Porgeir Porkellson, Law Speaker in the Alpingi (world's oldest parliament), having decided that Iceland would become Christian, threw all the carvings of his family's pagan gods.

In the flow from this powerful waterfall a rock sits, stubbornly unmoving and on the rock are tiny pink flowers, clinging on against the odds. They seemed to me like the vestiges of the pagan beliefs - some rem

ain in superstition and belief in elves - others remain in more positive ways in a passionate love for creation and the environment. It would be easy to claim some sort of victory when the Speaker made his choice but it was political and to do with the security of the people. The human yearning for God was there before that decision was made, bubbling up in spiritualities that still seem attractive to some today.

We continued to our hotel, Sel at Lake Myvatn - 'Midge Lake' is sadly in no way ironic! But the lake is beautiful, our room is good and we have eaten well. It is almost 11pm and there is little sign of nightfall - in fact until 10pm there was a deep and warm golden glow across the surrounding hills.

Tomorrow - whale watching, puffins and more waterfalls. I can't wait!

Books, boats and boxes

It's over a month since my last post and you will be amazed to know that I have at last pruned my bookshelves. Okay so I've only got rid of about 50, which is a parlous in comparison with the 250 Sandy moved on. Still it involved making lots of little decisions which is surprisingly tiring!

Old Lyme Barge is now a beautiful colour - dark blue and white. Her bottom is blacked and her welds and anodes sorted out. So definitely ship-shape. However there was a bit of a Bilbo Baggins moment last week. What? Well, as he described his adventures we went 'there and back again'. Having carefully coaxed OLB out of dry dock and had her towed up the Thames, round the corner into the Grand Union, we realised that the lock-keeper on the Thames Lock at Brentford had gone away. This despite being booked to help ease our passage. So, nothing for it but to tow our shiny and beautiful boat back to the dock yard.

We did it all again on Monday - and our lovely vessel is now back home in her mooring. This is fortuitous indeed - we are due to move house next week, however... the manse is not ready to move into and will not be for another two weeks (at least!!!). So we will move our many (too many) possessions out and have them stored in the half finished house, whilst we will live on the houseboat.

Boxes seem to have overtaken our lives and I am not really able to get any work done on the day job. There is a strange unreality about this liminal place. Moving but not a new start. Moving out but not in. Expected to keep the show on the road but not having access to the things I rely on to prepare worship, funerals and meetings. Using our 'escape place' for normal living - including commuting Tamsin back to her old school for the last two weeks of term. All a bit weird and disconcerting.

So this is going to be an odd summer. Roll on our holiday, but only when all the other stuff is sorted.

Groaning Bookshelves

We are getting ready to move house. In a few weeks time our mountains of chattels will be squeezed onto a huge lorry (actually last time it was two lorries - the shame of it) and taken to our new home. It's not a house we would buy ourselves, but a mortgage free existence is not to be sneered at in these times of financial quick sand. One of the reasons we would not choose it, is that the rooms are all smaller than in our current home. Ah, there lies the rub. Quarts and pint pots just don't come into it.

Now the real root of the problem is that we have lived for six years in a house with quite enormous bedrooms, even the smallest takes a double bed and room for storage. So we have been spoilt - and we have still never managed to find homes for everything (like the pile of unhung pictures that never quite made it to the loft and have remained like a piece of dubious modern art on our bedroom floor).

So, now we really are going to have to get rid of some stuff. The 'useful one' who is gifted in the art of wielding drills and other such exciting bits of kit is heading for sainthood. When we married (21+ years ago) he had a lot more books than me - mostly about Cuba and world development. During those years I became a minister and now outstrip his book collection by a ridiculous amount. He has actually read ALL of his (I cannot claim such literary dedication). The beatification nomination is based on the fact that he has put aside two whole shelves of books for the use of the Oxfam bookshop in Ealing. I, as yet, have not set any aside for disposal. I do have a book token burning a hole in my handbag... just one more trip to Waterstone's darling? No - okay then.

So the next few weeks are going to be interesting. Just what can I let go of? And, why do I need to surround myself with this security blanket of words - millions of them. Perhaps I'm afraid that I'll run out of my own and be left with nothing to say.