Onward and Upward: Summer Solstice

Being that I am now in France...and it is Wednesday...I have a lot to catch up on, so I will have to summarize more and just hit the highlights.

Saturday, June 20

After waking up early, we drove further around the lake to Dimmugorgir. The area surrounding the lake is very volcanic and this particular area had volcanic columns twisting up into the sky. They were the perfect setting to take pictures with the Viking hat we had been given. :) We also had to try very hard to avoid Midges which were everywhere. These fly-like nuisances are attracted to carbon dioxide so they will always congregate around your face. Very annoying. They surround the lake region, so every time we entered or exited the car, we had to make it quick in order to avoid a crowd of Midges moving in.

Lake Myvatn:

Dimmuborgir:

Our next stop for the day was Godafoss (waterfall of the gods). In 1000 AD, Iceland was proclaimed a Christian nation. On his way back from the announcement, a prominent leader threw all of his gods into the waterfall which is why it received its name. They are also very beautiful and powerful to see and reminded us of a miniature version of Niagra Falls.

Godafoss:

Me: "Stephen, make a face like a god"

And now silly

And I guess a nice one too. :)

A little bit after noon, we arrived at Husavik, the Whale watching capital of Iceland. We booked our tour and set off soon after. At first, it was slow going and even though they almost always have sightings, our doubts started to set in. But sure enough, we saw a Humpback Whale made its appearance off in the distance. Later on, a Minke Whale made his appearance, but the best show was to come toward the end of our trip. Both types of whales were feeding close to the boat and coming up several times for air. Then the Humpback Whale actually surfaced right next to the boat and pretty much swam right underneath us!! We were so close to him and as he surfaced a few times, we were able to enjoy a close-up view. Our boat ride also showed us a few puffins who would skid across the water as they tried to take off...sometime successful, other times not. They are so dense because they were made to dive at such deep levels, that it also makes it difficult for them to actually take off and fly.

Husavik:

Whale pics are on my nice camera. :)

From Husavik, we drove through some spectacular (or "ominous" as became the vocab word of the week) volcanic scenery to more of a country scene. We'd read about a place where we could pet reindeer, and after traversing through the countryside and over a very tight bridge, we ended up at someone's house. It felt a bit awkward because no one was around, but finally a few men came up. They looked just as confused as us, and we later learned that they had gotten rid of their petting zoo and only had a baby reindeer that they kept as a pet. Fortunately, they were nice and let us pet the extremely cute baby reindeer.

Volcanic scenery

Our night's stay was in Seydisfjordur. It also happened to be the Summer Solstice, where we could see the "midnight sun" if there were no clouds. At midnight, there were clouds blocking the sun, but Jamie had a surprise for us. With her wrapped "parcel," we all left our hostel to find a good location for it. We happened upon the perfect solution. The town of Seydisfjordur is an artistic town, but also very quaint. But a main feature at night is the large, lit-up sign on the side of a hill. Being a picturesque place, we climbed through a field and under a fence to reach the sign, where then Jamie pulled out sparklers for us to celebrate with. Being a photographer, she also pulled out her camera, and we partook in a fun photo session while celebrating the summer solstice with sparklers.

Driving to Seydisfjordur