Thursday Aug 18, Isafjordur, Iceland

Our excursion at this port was a boat trip to the nature reserve at Hesteyri.   We had done the Vigur Island trip last year.   This boat trip was all the way across the fjord to the other side and then on to Hesteyri bay, see GPS track.   This took just over the hour, bouncing over the waves.   We had sat at the back so we could get some photographs, (which turned out to be difficult in those conditions).   After about 15 minutes Carol noticed her legs were unusually cold and found her jeans were soaked through from spray coming in through the deck drainage hole.

We were not the only ones having trouble with the spray.   A lady on the other side of the boat decided to climb inside a plastic bag she found on the deck.   I don't think it worked very well, for after struggling for ten minutes to get it on, with help, she only braved it only for another minute or two, and then gave up and went inside.   We arrived at the island eventually and were glad to get ashore along the wobbly jetty.   The shore-side jetty was solid enough, but the pontoon, and the ladder joining it to the jetty needed some care.

On sure we were given the option to go along the path to the doctor's house or go the other way and then inland to see remains of the village.  Carol took the second option I took the first. When they got to the cemetry there was another option to go to the house or continue the hike inland.  At this point Carol's foot was getting painful so she opted out too.  We later saw them high up near a waterfall so, although it might have been a good photo opportunity, Carol was pleased she had made the right decision.

This is the GPS track (It doesn't cover the hikes as I had the GPS tracker) for our stay at the Nature reserve at Hesteyri.   The guides gave a round tour of the sites of interest, there were many interesting plants but bird life was hard to see, just the odd flit of something small from bush to bush.   I don't think they were enjoying the weather either.   We finished up at the Doctor's House, well it was the doctor's house, but was now lived in by the family that ran the tours and looked after the nature reserve.   It was nice to get in to the warm.

This turned out to be the highlight of the tour, not only did we get coffee and cake (pancakes, rhubarb cake and homemade bread) but we got entertainment too.   It was called a cafe, but they had basically opened up the downstairs of their home to serve us.   The family all made us very welcome and one could almost imagine what it must be like to live there through the dark winter. (Though I am not sure they do now, but it once was inhabited all year round for fishing).   Eventually it was time to head back to the boat

Although when we left the jetty, the boat was moored at the end, it was now quite a way offshore and we had to be ferried out in batches in the dingy.   It was a little daunting scrambling aboard via the stern ladder in the choppy waves.   Despite the weather, despite the cold, we really enjoyed the trip and wouldn't have missed it.   On a warm sunny day it would be outstanding.