Expected weather: Hi 44F / Low 32F, Showers

Seas: Rough to Moderate

Population: 19,219 / 352,721

Akureyri is Iceland’s largest city outside the capital region of Reykjavik – although I don’t know if it would qualify as a “city” in Texas, more like a “town”! It is nicknamed the “Capital of the North” and there is quite a rivalry between the Northerners and Southerners (Reykavik area mostly). Akureyri lies just 62 miles from the Arctic Circle, but has a relatively mild climate (so they say!) and ice-free port contributing to its growth. It now has an “international” airport with flights between Gatwick (London), Amsterdam, and a couple of Norwegian airports.

Our overnight passage from Isafjordur to Akureyri was pretty rough and extremely windy. While we didn’t experience any seasickness, I can imagine that some onboard did and I doubt anyone got a good night’s sleep – I know we didn’t!

We got up and went ahead with our early breakfast plan as we were expecting to dock by 8am and had booked an 8:30 tour. When we checked the ship tracker, we realized that we were nowhere close to our port. The seas and winds had really slowed our progress last night. Sure enough, the captain came over the loudspeakers to announce around 8 that we would not reach port until 11am but they would extend our in-port by 2 hours with evening departure at 8pm.

Anyway, as it was another non-tender port, we had booked another small group excursion through Imagine Iceland Travel called “Lake Mývatn Day Tour and Godafoss Waterfall for Cruise Ships”. I immediately emailed Imagine Iceland to let them know of our delay into port. I followed up a few minutes later with a phone call, but it just rang, and I suspected they were likely handling calls from others on our ship. Just shortly afterwards, I did receive an email and a call back from them that the 8:30 tour we had booked also had passengers from the Norwegian Prima, so it would run as expected. They also had a 9:30 tour which was all passengers from our ship and they were moving that departure until 11:30, but it was completely booked. However, if there was a cancellation they would call and let me know; otherwise, they would give us a 100% refund as our ship had been unable to dock at the scheduled time. We decided to take our chances and go to the meeting point for the tour in case they ended up with seats for us after all. Guess what? It worked out and there were four seats available once everyone else had checked in. We must be living right!

And, what a day it was! The listed itinerary for this excursion was:

• Drive along the stunning Eyjafjordur, the longest fjord in Iceland on the way to Godafoss waterfall, the famous ‘The Waterfall of the Gods’
• Lake Myvatn Area including:
  • Lake Myvatn: A lake formed 2300 years ago by a basalt lava eruption
  • Hverir Mud Pools
  • Hverarönd in Námaskarð natural steam vents
  • Dimmuborgir Lava fields and formations with lava pillars known as the Dark Castles
  • Myvatn Nature Baths A wonderful geothermal lagoon in lava fields. Enjoy the bath or relax in the Kvika Restaurant
  • Extra stop for those not doing the bath: visit Grjótagjá rift and cave: Part of the rift between the Eurasian & American Continents and an old bathing cave

The different geologic landscapes that we experienced was incredible – from the glacier-carved fjords inland to the amazing Waterfall of the Gods (Goðafoss), to lava fields with pseudo-craters, to fantastic lava cave formations, to simmering mud pots, fumaroles, and thermal pools. The geothermal features we saw here looked different than similar landscapes we’ve seen in Yellowstone and New Zealand. The ultimate experience of the day for most of us, though, was seeing the Atlantic rift between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates which are separating at a rate of 1-2cm/year here. This is known as a divergent plate boundary. An example of a convergent plate boundary or subduction zone (where plates collide) would be the Pacific Ring of Fire and an example of a transform plate boundary (where the plates slide alongside each other) is the San Andreas Fault. We will see a bigger section of the Atlantic rift on our Golden Circle tour in the south in a few days. Iceland is the only place to see the Atlantic rift above water.

Our officially licensed tour guide, Armann, was very knowledgeable and entertaining as he explained all the different geological formations and many Icelandic stories (sagas) related to them and the history of the Icelandic peoples. He gave us many personal anecdotes including one from his father at age 11 who went swimming regularly in the bathing cave beneath the rift! There are “No Swimming” signs there today, of course. Armann also pointed out the “cloud factory” – a geo-thermal plant – of which Iceland has many to supply a significant portion of their heating and electrical needs.

At this point, I have to insert the interesting story behind the name Goðafoss.  

History of Goðafoss from https://guidetoiceland.is/travel-iceland/drive/godafoss

The name Goðafoss means either waterfall of the gods or waterfall of the ‘goði’ (i.e. priest/ chieftain). The reason for this is its fascinating history.

When Iceland was first settled in the 9th and 10th Centuries, the vast majority (those who were not slaves, at least) were Norwegians who followed the Old Norse religion, worshipping deities like Thor, Odin, Loki, and Freya. However, after the Commonwealth was established in 930 AD, pressure to convert began to push from Christianising Europe.

By 1000 AD, it seemed that Norway would almost certainly invade if the country were to stand by its pagan beliefs. The issue was thus discussed at Þingvellir, where the parliament met once a year. The lawspeaker at the time, the Ásatrú priest (or goði) Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði, was given the responsibility to make the decision.

It is said he lay under a fur blanket for a day and a night in silence, praying to his Old Gods for the right decision. Eventually, he emerged and said, for the good of the people, Christianity would be the official religion, but pagans could practice in private.

To symbolize his decision, he returned to his home in north Iceland and threw idols of the Old Gods into a beautiful waterfall. Since then, it would be known as Goðafoss.

Final Thought on our Excursion

I think most of us on our mini-bus dozed on the hour ride back to the ship as not many of us had slept well last night! Although it was very overcast, we really lucked out overall on the weather with just a slight sleet at one stop. Wind was the biggest issue today as the gusts were bone-chilling at times. However, I’m so glad it worked out for us to have experienced this northern part of Iceland and I’d highly recommend this excursion.

Our Post-Excursion Evening

As we passed the Wintergarden on the way to our room returning from our excursion, we saw that the Iceland Immigration officers were onboard and there was no one waiting in line, so we grabbed our passports and got that task completed an hour ahead of our assigned time.  

Plenty of time now to change for dinner and make it to our 6:30pm Chef’s Table reservation a little early for our third menu there: California Cuisine (The Pacific Coast Food Scene).

• Amuse Bouche: Sweet Potato Chip (apple, rosemary, crème fraîche)
• First Course: Crab Cake (avocado, orange, fennel, shallot, dill & blood orange)
• Granita: Moscow Mule (vodka, ginger beer & lime juice)
• Main Course: Seared Halibut (California olive, herb vinaigrette, crumbled roasted cauliflower, buttered panko)
• Dessert: Ojai Mandarin Parfait (candied ginger)

This halibut dish may have been the best dish we’ve eaten on the ship so far; it was excellent. (Although the chocolate soufflé with Bailey’s is still my favorite dessert.) We enjoyed the other courses as well, and I would eat this Chef’s Table menu again. It appeared that with the delay into port that many of the Chef’s Table diners tonight must still be out on the late excursions as far fewer tables were occupied than normal. This meant our service went a little faster than normal and we were out by 7:40. At that point, however, there was a line waiting to be seated, so I expect everyone had just returned as we were to leave port at 8pm.

Luckily for us tonight, Sasha was playing in the Atrium at 8pm instead of 9pm as we were all fading fast. We enjoyed her set, then called it a night. I put the finishing touches on my post for ĺsafjördur and got our laundry prepared to go out the next norming. We watched the port talk for Seydisfjordur and went to sleep around 11pm. Fortunately, the seas were much calmer and I slept soundly until just before 8am!