This morning five of us foolhardy – as usual – travellers embarked on a whale watching expedition. “Improbably sunny Akureyri” let us down and the rain, wind and chill set back in. Fortunately, the whale watching company located in Dalvik (see the red circle north of Akureyri in the map to the left) outfitted us with warm survival suits. We looked like space creatures about to attack … something. As it turns out, the whales weren’t available for attacking.
One whale did make an appearance and I am posting these thoroughly substandard photos as proof that I was out on the water and actually spotted wildlife. Shooting was a challenge as the boat was rolling and squalls were dousing my camera lens with water yet I persisted. Finally out of desperation to take a photograph of SOMETHING, I even focussed on seagulls.
On the trip back to port, the crew served us hot chocolate and cookies which I heartily welcomed, being quite chilled by then. And fishing rods were produced for jigging – putting the lure in the water and then jerking it up to hook the fish. Two people actually caught good sized cod. I did not do such a good job catching them with my camera.
Following a delicious fish soup lunch in Dalvik we headed back to the hotel where I had a well-earned nap – whale watching can be exhausting after all! I wandered down to the Botanical Garden a little later where I had great success in sighting cheerful flowers. Not all of Ísland is ice!
On my walk back to the hotel I noticed Akureyri’s stop lights. Apparently the city wants you to know that even though they are making you stop at intersections for your own good, they love you anyway. 🙂
Shelley and Mike, who gathered us on this one exclusive tour, treated our group of 15 to dinner this evening at Strikid, an Akureyri restaurant. Sam and John treated us to drinks. We had a lovely dinner though the other large group in our room felt at one point that they had to ask us to keep our voices down. They may have been French … Thank you to Shelley and Mike, and to Sam and John!! Here is our group at dinner. We don’t look noisy, do we?
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