Our first stop in Iceland. Fjordur is fiord. If you were to look at a map of the area we are in, you would see the many fiords in the area. The area reminds me a bit of Kauai minus the warm temperature and greenery. It is evident that all of the fiords are created by lava flowing into the ocean.
We have a 3rd party tour that leaves at 9 am. We are traveling to Dynjandi waterfall. 7 water falls that cascade 100 meters down. It is an hour by bus and we have 90 minutes to hike up the waterfall.
Along the way we stopped to look at some seals.
The road we were on was at the edge of the fiord. To my right was water, to my left was a mountain of rock. Green grass in some areas, no trees. We learned that Iceland was 40% covered by trees but now was only covered 6% or so. Wood was needed for building homes, ships, and for heat.
Tunnels through the mountain created a faster way to travel. The tunnel we went into was more than 6 miles long. Part of it was only a single lane with turn offs to let traffic pass.
The water fall was visible from the area we parked in. The trail up was very dangerous. It reminded us of the cliffs of Moher in Ireland. No safety rails, no steps, lots of mud, and water. Should be fun.
I was a bit worried about making it with my weak left leg. I did manage. The jagged rocks were just waiting for someone to fall on them.
It took about an hour to climb up and come back down. Coming down is always more difficult. I did slide a few times but managed not to go over the cliff. We were one of the first busses to arrive and climbing up was relatively people free. On the way down it began to get very crowded. There must be numerous injuries here daily. I don’t see an ambulance nor a rescue team coming here. Dangerous. Many old folks trying to get up. Young teens zipping through them. More dangerous.
We enjoyed resting on the bus for 20 minutes or so and then we headed back to the ship. We had lunch and then headed back out to explore the “downtown”.
Iceland has a population less than 400,000. The city of Detroit is about double the size. The weather is nice enough for just a sweatshirt. It is warmer than I imagined be but it is the middle of July. If the sun was shining it would be nice t shirt weather. Not a lot to see in the town. We did stop in a few stores.
Trivia today.
What is the musical legend of King Arther? Camelot
What sport is MMA? Mixed martial arts
Elton John’s real name. Reginald White
What is it called when a tennis match is tied at 40 to 40? Deuce
NASCAR event and great American race? Daytona 500
Author of novel East of Eden? John Steinbeck
What is a group of frogs or ants called? Army
First musician to be on the cover of the Rolling Stone magazine. John Lennon
What does html stand for? Hyper text mark-up language
We had dinner at the Pinnacle. This is one of the specialty restaurants aboard. We joined Clair and Susie. Susie again had great stories about living in Canada. Some of the cities were “fly in” only. No way to get there by any other means. In the winter it is possible to cross on one of the frozen lakes. I asked Susie if during the crossing are your “fingers crossed” the entire way? As only someone from the UP in Michigan or Northern Canada can say, she answered; “You betcha”.
We were tired from the hike up the mountain and called it an early night. We have 6 ports in a row. Tomorrow is number 2.