Feb 25: Akureyri 8 - 15

Saturday 8 February 

Afternoon flight to Akureyri. Lovely to fly over the top part of Iceland. 

Interesting clouds and scenery.

People clapped as we landed - not heard that for years lol - and not a tricky landing or anything. Probably just excited to be there.. 😁

Couldn't see a taxi so took the bus into the center and walked the few hundred yards to out accommodation.

Dumped the bags and walked back to the supermarket we had passed to get a bit of shopping. Couldn't see much as it was dark.

Not too much snow and not too cold but quite slippy underfoot where all the snow had been cleared.

Sunday 9 February 

Dark until after 9.30. 

The views left and right from our apartment - looks a bit derelict but there are people living there. And there are hills to both sides under the mist. 

We found another supermarket just around the corner. Very near to the fishing port which looks quite industrial.

Not too cold out but judging by the huge piles of snow we've missed some bad weather. Our apartment is just above the signage on the left and behind the brown fencing on the right is our hot tub. 

There's only one place to buy alcohol in Akureyri which is closed on Sunday - so this is the nearest we'll get to beer.. 🤣

Heart shaped traffic lights.

First hot dog 😋

We just looked at the church - we'll visit it later in the week when it's not Sunday!

Found a bar serving beer!

Short walk to the docks but too much light for aurora.

View from the hot tub (standing near it, not in it lol) could probably see the aurora from here if it appears! 🤞

Aurora notifications started to appear..

.. so I popped out..

Maybe a little bit?

Monday 10 February 

Booked aurora tour for tonight then whale watching for tomorrow. 

Walk along the water front - very blustery and hard to walk into the headwind so we eventually gave up and turned round. 

Stopped to watch the tour boats in the bay as they seemed to be circling something. It was a humpback whale. 

First we saw the tail. Then a bit later I saw a spout of water. Then we both saw the humped back. Exciting!

Aurora tour in the evening. 

Best light display we've seen. They came and went all around us. First time we've seen them dancing.

.. and it wasn't too cold either so that was a bonus!

Fabulous evening. 

Tuesday 11 February 

Breakfast. Looked like Yorkshire pudding but it was pastry. Yummy.

Then a whale watching trip.

Quite foggy when we left so hopes weren't high. But we eventually sailed into better weather.

The scenery was fabulous.

It was quite cold once we were out at sea but we were well wrapped up. 

A large pod of dolphins swam very close to the boat and we could hear the noises they were making. 

 

Eventually we saw a humpback whale. So huge and graceful in the water. 

We made our way back to the harbour - and back through the foggy mist.

Dull and grey when we got back but it had been a wonderful trip.

Wednesday 12 February 

At this time of year it doesn't get light until about 9.30am so it's very disorienting when it's light by about 7.30am at home.

It must be really strange in the depths of winter when it's dark for virtually all of the day!

Late start to the day - decided to walk to the Forest Lagoon for a dip in the thermal pools. 

Fabulous skies.

Nice thermal spa - not as big as the Blue Lagoon but very clean and lovely views out over the fjord. 

Meal afterwards in the bistro.

Lamb soup and melted brie. 

Taxi back.

Thursday 13 February 

For the second day running we woke up to sunshine after the BBC weather forecast said it would be grey and overcast all day. 

We weren't complaining so we added another layer of clothing, filled a flask with soup and set off for a walk. It was significantly colder with a wind chill of about -2⁰ but pleasant (at maybe freezing 🤣) in the sunshine.

We walked to where the Glerá river ran into the fjord. Stunning scenery. 

We talked to a man who was repairing and renovating the oldest oak trawler in Iceland. 

He invited us in to look at the boat. So interesting!

As we walked away Mike realised that he'd lost a glove so he went back to see if he'd dropped it in the boathouse. The man had a quick look but couldn't see it. 

We continued on our walk. 

A sunny bench to warm our hands with the soup.

Huge chains on the snow plough. There are still mountainous piles of snow around, apparently it was really heavy last week at around the time of Storm   in the UK. 

Lovely views over the fjord from the church.

It got even colder as we walked back. 

As we walked the last bit towards our apartment a jeep drew up alongside us and opened the window to speak. We took no notice as we wouldn't be able to direct him/her anywhere. We walked on. The jeep followed. 

As we looked in the window we realised that it was the man from the boathouse - and he was waving Mike's glove!!

What were the chances of him finding us walking round in Akureyri some three hours after our chat! What serendipity!

An evening walk down to the harbour just 10 minutes away. 

Pretty cold so we layered up as we would be standing around. Three layers on the legs and four on top. Such a faff to get in and out of but it was worth it. 

The boat house in the centre is the one where the Bryndis trawler is being repaired.

Lots of light but we still managed to get some decent pics. A successful evening. 

Friday 14 February 

For the third day running the weather forecast was wrong and there was sunshine instead of the predicted grey and cloudy. Maybe not as much sunshine as the last couple of days and quite a bit colder but all in all not too bad. 

This view changes every time we see it.

We just added another layer against the cold and off we went. 

First thoughts were to get a bus to somewhere near the Christmas house and gardens but we found there were none running in the winter months. So we walked to the Botanical gardens instead. 

Lunch at the café - beef stew and fish soup. Both very tasty.

Most northerly (apart from Tromso) botanical garden in the world. Not much growing atm.

A walk down to the art gallery. 

Very eclectic collection - lot of it from local amateur artists.

Some from other Icelandic artists and sculptors. 

Then time for a beer and back to the apartment with cakes. 

Saturday 15 February 

A very sunny but very cold day. Left our luggage at the Backpackers cafe - no charge so then we stayed for brunch. 

A last goodbye to the traffic lights. 

Then a walk by the fjord and back round past the small lake..

.. where there were people walking their dog on the ice!

We watched a plane take off from the end of the runway.

As we had plenty of time we decided to go back for our bags and walk the three miles out to the airport. There was a good tarmac path and it was nice and flat by the water. 

So cold (-2⁰ with a wind chill of more) that the fjord had begun to freeze over. 

A lovely walk even with the luggage!

Straight through all the custom controls to the departure lounge. So quiet on the runway - no other planes out there. 

A couple of hours later the Manchester flight arrivals shuffled off the plane and we boarded. 

Even though the plane wasn't even on the ground and hour it still needed the wings de-icing before we set off. 

More gorgeous views as the sun set.

Luisa picked us up and brought the house key with her (Mike had misplaced his - later found with his Swiss army knife!).

Another lovely holiday with a big bucket list tick for the dancing Aurora.. ✔️😁