GRAND TOUR OF ICELAND 2015 in 11 days / 10 nights - Vatnajökull

09JUL: FJORDS, GLACIERS AND ICE (390 km)

Day 9

It’s a day to admire the dramatic fjord landscape and its tiny fishing villages at the end of twisty roads in the East Fjords and en route we visit an interesting stone collection.

In the afternoon we see Vatnajökull – Europe’s biggest glacier that is visible all over Southeast Iceland. Past the town of Höfn, we stop for a boat ride amongst the floating icebergs on the glacial lagoon at Jökulsárlón. The night is spent near Skaftafell on the southern part of Vatnajökull National Park.

Thursday 9^th of July 2015 and as we were going to leave Álfheimar Country Hotel and Borgarfjörður Eystri at 8 o'clock I got out of bed a 7 o'clock in the morning. Our first stop is at the Puffin cliff one of our fellow passengers had learned about. Or as she said to me in the morning
- There is a puffin cliff with a viewing platform 5 K's up the road
- What the is a K?

We arrived to the Puffin place after a few minutes and we got out to discover the best Puffin place so far. I stayed at the middle and I had Puffins above and below me and I could see them from all directions. If I climb to the top there are not as good view.

Puffins

Puffins

Puffins

Puffins

Puffins

Kittiwake try to steal food from the Puffin

Kittiwake chasing the puffin

I missed the action and out of focus, but better than nothing

Puffins

Kittiwake with babies

Kittiwake with babies

Kittiwake with babies

Kittiwake with babies

There was another cliff 20 meters away with Kittiwakes and their babies. I had plenty pictures but most of them went to the garbage bin as it is very hard to catch the Puffins flying. They fly straight in to their nest with the fish as the Kittiwake is waiting to steal their food.

Then there is fighting and, well, those pictures didn't turn out very well either. Well, we were soon on our way again and we will make a quick stop in Egilsstaðir. We stopped next to a Supermarket in Egilsstaðir and my new friend from Canada is married to a girl from Japan and she

Stöðvarfjörður

Stöðvarfjörður is a village in east Iceland. It sits on the Northern shore of the fjord of the same name, is part of the municipality of Fjarðabyggð and has 200 inhabitants.

Steinasafn Petru (Petra's Stone Collection) accounts for a modest stream of visitors during the tourist season. There are also galleries (Gallerí Snærós and Svartholið) and a handicrafts market in the salthouse (Salthúsið). At Gallerí Snærós one can find products from a local company that designs and manufactures a range of products made from recycled materials

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

bought Kaviar, or as she called it, toothpaste because of the container. She had seen me having kaviar at the breakfast and she loved it.

Next stop Stöðvarfjörður and the stone collection. There is an exhibition “Petra's Stone Collection” and we're going to have a look. But we're on a tight schedule as we must be at the Glacier lagoon at 15 thirty when our tour boat leaves.

At Petra's Stone collection

At Petra's Stone collection

At Petra's Stone collection

At Petra's Stone collection

They sold some soup at the stone exhibition, 1200 for a small plastic cup with soup. Robbery is what I call it. Anyway, we had decided to stay here for 90 minutes. I don't understand, 10 minutes to look at the stones and then we were sitting in the restaurant, well, restaurant might be a wee bit too much to call it.

We're in a hurry to get to Jökulsárlón for our booked boat tour at 15 thirty. Well, I had 2 rolls with cheese and ham with a cup of tea and I spent the time chatting with my new friends.

We will continue on road #1 along the South coast of Iceland until we reach the glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón. Of course, with some photo stops and we will make the first photo shop in some small fishing harbour to have a look at some eggs.

All birds on Iceland is covered, model of the eggs made in stone. Otherwise I enjoy the beautiful scenery through the window. And taking pictures, well as I have to do it through the window there are some annoying reflections.

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

I keep an eye out for whales while driving along the fjords

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

I keep an eye out for whales while driving along the fjords

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

I keep an eye out for whales while driving along the fjords

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

We make a stop to look at the eggs

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

We make a stop to look at the eggs

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

We drive along some amazing roads. But looking up, what if a rock comes rolling down?

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

We drive along some amazing roads. But looking up, what if a rock comes rolling down?

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

We drive along some amazing roads. But looking up, what if a rock comes rolling down?

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

We stop to take pictures of some rain deer’s

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

We stop to take pictures of some rain deer’s

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

We stop to take pictures of some rain deer’s

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

We stop to call Jökulsárlón to tell them we're going to be late

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

We stop to call Jökulsárlón to tell them we're going to be late

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

Now we can see the Vatnajökull glacier

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

Now we can see the Vatnajökull glacier

Driving towards he glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón on Route #1

Now we can see the Vatnajökull glacier

We arrive to the glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón at 4 o'clock and we have to wait for one and a half hour before our lagoon tour is taken off. I spent the time with the Arctic Terns. Most of them have their babies now and I was only attacked by two birds that was still sitting on their eggs.

Seems like they don't attack when the babies grow up. Well, there are no nest and as I understood it the babies were just walking around and they didn't know who their parents was. And the parents didn't know which of the babies belonged to them. One bird approach with fish and the whole field came to life with yellow beaks full open screaming for food.

And the grown birds were busy fishing and flying in the food. Many of them landed and then regretted their choice and they flew off to another baby. And some of the bigger babies got food from several different birds. Yeah, it was fun to watch and time passed quickly.

Jökulsárlón

literally "glacial river lagoon") is a large glacial lake in southeast Iceland, on the edge of Vatnajökull National Park. Situated at the head of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier, it developed into a lake after the glacier started receding from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The lake has grown since then at varying rates because of melting of the glaciers. It is now 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) away from the ocean's edge and covers an area of about 18 km2 (6.9 sq mi).

It recently became the deepest lake in Iceland, at over 248 metres (814 ft), as glacial retreat extended its boundaries. The size of the lake has increased fourfold since the 1970s. It is considered as one of the natural wonders of Iceland.

The lake can be seen from Highway 1 between Höfn and Skaftafell. It appears as "a ghostly procession of luminous blue icebergs".

Jökulsárlón has been a setting for four Hollywood movies: A View to a Kill, Die Another Day, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Batman Begins, as well as the "reality TV" series Amazing Race. In 1991 Iceland issued a postage stamp, with a face value of 26 kronur, depicting Jökulsárlón.

The tongue of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier is a major attraction for tourists.

The icebergs that calve from the glacier edge move towards the river mouth and get entrenched at the bottom. The movement of the icebergs fluctuates with the tide currents, as well as being affected by wind. However, they start floating as icebergs when their size is small enough to drift to the sea. These icebergs are seen in two shades: milky white and bright blue, which depends on the air trapped within the ice and is an interplay of light and ice crystals.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Watching Arctic Terns at the Glacier Lagoon - Jökulsárlón

Arctic Tern baby waiting for food

Arctic Tern baby waiting for food

Arctic Tern

Arctic Tern

Arctic Tern

Arctic Tern landing with a fish

We leave the area to go have a look at the outlet from the Glacier Lagoon - Jökulsárlón on the other side of the road. This is the place where the Arctict Terns catch their fishes for the babies. It was fun to watch the Arctic Tern fishing by diving in to the lagoon out let trying to catch the fish.

Arctic Tern diving for fish

Coming up without any fish

Arctic Tern diving for fish

We were at the bridge for the amphibian at 17:15. We did not want to miss our booking again. But I had have a good time waiting. The best experiences during this tour have all involved wild life. Looking at things are OK, but the wild life is the best.

And it have really been fun, and interesting to watch the Arctic Tern fishing and feeding the babies. The amphibian came and we boarded to boat and we had to sit down until we reached the water. As soon as we were water borne we could stand up.

Iceberg in the Glacier Lagoon

Iceberg in the Glacier Lagoon

Tour boat in the Glacier Lagoon

The River out to the Atlantic Ocean from the lagoon

Iceberg in the Glacier Lagoon

Tour boat in the Glacier Lagoon

Iceberg in the Glacier Lagoon

The amphibian come to pick us up

The amphibian come to pick us up

Ready to explore the Glacier lagoon

Ready to explore the Glacier lagoon

We're on the way to the Glacier lagoon

Going down in to the Glacier lagoon

Leaving shore behind

The glacier coming down from the mountains

The glacier coming down from the mountains

The glacier coming down from the mountains

They are serving 1000 year old ice

We're going back ashore

We complete the amphibian tour in around 30 minutes. And as we had missed our tour at 15 thirty we had to wait until 17 thirty. So it was past 6 o'clock in the evening and we still had some time to go before we would reach our hotel at Skaftafell. We arrived at the hotel around 7 o'clock and we would have the dinner at 8.

I asked if they had any transformer for my lap top but they didn't. Well, I will hopefully get one tomorrow in Reykjavik.

I was in the restaurant at 8 o’clock and the restaurant was full. We were 12 at our table and there were 2 other tables like ours. A lot of noise and they seemed understaffed in the restaurant. I decided to go back to my room and I would be back at 9.

I was better off checking out today's pictures than to sit and do nothing while waiting in a restaurant. I was back at the table just before 9 and my food had just arrived.

Wake up call at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning and departure at 9 o'clock. Yes, last day and we will reach Reykjavik tomorrow evening. And it will be nice to get back to the civilisation after 9 days in the bus. Reykjavik, will we be there in time for a Whale watching tour with Elding? Should be possible to get on the “midningt sun tour. But #1 important is the transformer for my lap top. ”Just click HERE to find out.

And up until today the favourite things on the Grand Tour of Iceland have been:
• Geyser
• The lava cave (the 8000 years in complete darkness was mindboggling)
• Puffin birds at Látrabjarg
• The lady telling the story at Erik the Red's farm house
• Iceland horses
• Whale watching
• The Hverfjall crater
• Hot water swim
• Vanilla sauce
• Puffin birds in Borgarfjörður Eystri
• Glacier Lagoon - Jökulsárlón - Not the lagoon but the birds

And of course, the smoked salmon from Iceland. I don't know what they are doing, but the smoked salmon is EXCELLENT! Norwegian, some are good and some are bad. But the best Norwegian smoked salmon is not even coming close to the Icelandic smoked salmon. The smoked salmon from Iceland is like it is melting in your mouth


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OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizen visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.

Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.

So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!

Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!

Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra

Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!

คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

Вы говорите по-русски? NJET PROBLEMA! Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!

E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.

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