At Neskaupstadir, tied up to a fishing wharf, behind a huge highly mechanized trawler. We came in last night.
I took the opportunity to pinch scrap wood around the quay and cut it up for the woodstove.
All Iceland towns have hot & cold pools, saunas etc. But a majority of these are indoors. Some are outside. Which is way better. Here the facilities are outdoors, and we spent 2 hours soaking in the rain, the fjord mountains above looming in and out of the fog & cloud. Soaking in the pools, dips in the cold tub, swimming, careening down the water slide & in the sauna. I'm pretty saturated & wrinkly with the water and the heat.
Next: a large fillet of mountain trout for lunch.
Which trout came from two characters we met in Stodvarfjordur quay the night before last. One of them is a big hunter, fisherman & outdoorsman. This spotted trout, a frozen gift from him, was about 2 feet long. Enough for 2 meals for the 3 of us. We had the first fillet for supper last night, which went down great.
The Eastfjords of Iceland are something special. From Langanes peninsula in the northeast to Djupivogur in the southeast there are about 12 major fjords, and many more minor ones. Many have villages and towns, always fishing communities. Many fjords have massive headlands towering over the sea - spectacular from a boat. All fjords are separated by mountain ranges often 3000 feet high and very steep.
The volcanic and magmatic origins are everywhere evident - stacked layers of ash and lava, hard lava dikes sticking out of the ground or cliffs, slopes of yellow-orange-black pumice, and a lot of basalt columns.
On the way up the coast yesterday we passed two islands packed with birdlife. One is Skrudur Island, a dramatic rock at the mouth of Reydarfjordur. It is a gannet colony. The sky as we passed very close by was dense with gannets floating overhead peering down at us. The other island, a few miles north, is low lying, with the polygonal patterns of basalt columns worn away by erosion, with grass here and there. All kinds of birds nesting here: raucous with the noise. We did not land at either.
Hey Nick, Great photos and nice to get some of the trip details. We have managed six days walking of about 20k per day, from Sarria to Santiago. Stayed the last two nights in a converted giant monastery beside the cathedral. An all American group who were up for anything. Flying home today. Safe travels. B& M.
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