After a day at sea we visit the island nation of Iceland, at the infrequently visited northern coast. We'll make two stop in the north, indicated by the red dots in the map. Today we're at Akureyri, at the end of a 60km fjord in the center North of Iceland.
A cute little tugboat escorted us into the harbor
The long fjord wasn't as dramatic as Flam, but pretty nonetheless,
On the right side of the picture you can see the entrance to a tunnel (rimmed in orange) underneath the mountain that eliminates 20km of (hazardous in winter) driving. When tunneling through the mountain they hit a pocket of 66C water (Iceland is one big geothermal area) and that's what is running off into the sea in the lower part of the picture.
It was a cold and windy day. Temps below 10C.
On our excursion we drove past the tunnel (since it's not winter it's just longer, but we're here for the scenery) and our ship was berthed across the way.
Like all of these cold areas, they farm sheep and some cows. Growing silage for winter feed fills up the summer hours.
Our first stop was Godafoss waterfall.
We passed a lake that was hundreds of meters wide and inches deep, apparently.
Our other stop was a botanical garden. Flowers thrive during the brief summer months with the long days.
We're beginning to see a pattern here in the high latitudes. Cold, grey, rain always possible and sometimes spitting on you. It's beautiful, in a stark and open way.
On our excursion we drove past the tunnel (since it's not winter it's just longer, but we're here for the scenery) and our ship was berthed across the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment