Reykjavik was scheduled to be the first port of call in Iceland. The ship supposed to arrive in Reykjavik at noon on June 7th. However, around 11:30, the captain announced they had to abort Reykjavik port due to strong wind and big waves. Port authority did not permit any ship to dock that morning. We were disappointed but not surprised. It's just like the port of Nuuk on our Greenland cruise, weather can mess up the ship's itinerary! Our safety came first and we understood the decision to continue sailing to Grundarfjorour...
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| Cruising Iceland. |
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| View of Iceland from the ship. |
Grundarfjorour : Our first port of call. Grundarfjorour is a small village with a population of 900. We're tendered into the harbor pier. It was a Saturday and the town was very quiet. There are some interesting sculptures in town and Kirkjufell waterfalls within walking distance. It was very windy and cold when we started walking toward the waterfalls. We walked a little more than half way to the falls before going back to the ship. However, it was nice to see some of the town's attraction on foot.
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| Grundarfjorour harbor with tender boat by the pier. |
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| Grundarfjorour Church. |
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Along the coastal walk.
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| The waterfall. |
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| Kirkjufell Mountain and waterfalls. |
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| The "Orca" sculpture. |
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| and the "Head" ... |
Isafjorour : Good news at this port was the ship docked in the harbor instead of tendering passengers. There was already a Viking cruise ship, the Star, docked next to us.
Later, a Ponant ship arrived. It was a busy Sunday at the Isafjorour harbor. With a population of 3,000, Isafjorour is the largest town in the Westfjords and a gateway to the region's remote wilderness. It's a clear day. We could see the mountains sparkling in white (snow) and blue (the sun and ocean) from a distance.
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Isafjorour harbor.
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Our ship in the parking lot?
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Isafjorour harbor/village nestled in the mountain.
Coastal walk - "blue" mountain in the background. |
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| Blue mountains? |
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| Gardens with the "Whalebone" Arch. |
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| The avalanche barriers. |
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| Colorful old house in the "Old Town". |
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| Downtown business district. |
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One of tourist attractions in town: 3D Crosswalk.
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| Optical illusion of 3D Crosswalk. Need this in our neighborhood! |
Akureyri : We cruised through Eyjafjorour, Iceland's longest fjord, located in the northern region. The ship docked in Akureyri, a city at the base of Eyjafjorour fjord, just blelow the Artic Circle. The area is known as feeding ground for humpback whales. It's said you can see whales from the village. We didn't!. However, from the ship dining room, we can see the runway of an airport. A very quiet airport, no plane taking off or landing, we noticed!.
We decided to see as many points of interest in Akureyri as possisble since it was our cruise's last port of call. We started out by walking to the Akureyri Lutheran Church up on the hill. Not far from the church, we took "the coastal" route to visit the public park, botanical garden and the old town before returing to the ship. Occasionally, we made stops to enjoy the beautiful panoramic view of the town and its harbour along the coastal way.
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Leaving Akureyri harbor.
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It was the evening that the Captain hosted a party on the ship as we left Akureyri, the last port-of-call. Three days at sea would take us back to Southhampton for disembarkation.
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| At the Captain's party. |
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| Our last formal evening. |
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