Barbara's retirement year: Eyjafjord , Akureyi and Lake Mytvatn

What a wonderful day it was yesterday! I was awake early - we have put the clock back one hour each day for 3 days so I am fine at 6.00 and what is even better, if I leave the cabin before 7.30 I miss the 'good morning' song! We are woken every day by a very gentle and soothing meditation music with birdsong. It is nice. For me, the subsequent bright and bouncy good morning song is over the top at that time of day. I only need to look out of the port holes to feel that it is a good morning😀

Anyway, we had been told we might see whales as we travelled down Iceland's longest fiords, Eyjagjord, so I wanted to be there. I was thankful for my multi- layers of merino, as it was very chilly! I was treated to my first ever sighting of a whale in the wild. Veryexciting even though it was quite a distance from the ship and quite small. We saw quite a few more - I was delighted and am now looking forward to more.

One of the most beautiful aspects of the morning was the amazing cloud formations . I feel that light, sun and cloud will be a major part of my blog. Even though at sea we are surrounded by water which doesn't change that much ( it would be great if it stayed so calm), but the light on the water changes constantly, as you will see over the next weeks.

We had the morning to stroll through Akureyi, Iceland's second biggest city and winter sport capital of the north. It was a very pretty place, particularly the old town with its colourful wooden houses. It reminded me a lot of Lyttleton. Sadly no ohotos on my Ipad, but I did take a picture of this wonderful mural of a young girl in the modern part of the town. It also reminded me of Christchurch and our lovely street art after the earthquakes. I could not find out anything about this. Pity!

After a light lunch on deck, we left on a bus tour with first stop at the very beautiful Godafoss falls. We only had a short stop, but I would certainly love to do more photography there. it is really fabulous.

The entire journey was spectacular and took us over passes, through magnificent deep glacial valleys and then to the truly fantastic Lake Myvatn , rich in birdlife and minerals and surrounded by the most amazing volcanic landscape/ moonscape. Our guide told us that America had sent astronauts there before their trip to the moon, and to be honest we could see why. There were the most incredible pseudo craters everywhere and lava fields. It was rather frustrating as we were not allowed a photo stop but nevertheless we were lucky to have seen it in such perfect weather. I will come back here next year by plane and travel around by car . I can see that the roads are good and drivers careful so it should be fine.

The next stop planned was the Myvatn pools. A really marvelous place with stunning views over the volcanic area around us. The pools were also interesting in that the temperature varied dramatically from one area of the pool to another. The rules for showering before going to the pools are for us rather weird and it was truly hectic as we all got changed together in cramped conditions, had to shower naked together , with pictures showing which parts of the body needed to be soaped! ( I am not sure what would have happened if we had missed a part!). It was a remarkable experience. Pulling on a swimming costume over a wet body is also not so easy! After all the effort, it was great to relax in the pools! 😎

Language lesson for the day , followed by a photo showing what a gorgeous place Myvatn Pools was, with Lake Myvatn in the distance.

Actually, the local guide told us the name of the lake means 'lake of mosquitoes'. There are many different species there and also 3 speccies in the rivers. Reassuringly we learnt that the lake mosquitoes do not bite ( a sigh of relief went round the bus) and only one of the river varieties does ( oops, we celebrated too early). Apparently, though, they do not bite if you are indoors or in a tent. I figured that this would mean that we would be bitten alive in the pools as they must be very hungry! Luckily, not a bug in sight😄 - perhaps the soap scared them off?

As we left Akureyi at 19.30 the sun was beginning to sink into the low cloud, lighting up the beautiful, partially forested hills along the fjord. So clear and so special.

As mentioned, cloud formations are a huge part of my day, as are sunrises and in particular sunsets. My father specialised in photos of gulls and I can remember wondering why he took so many photos of the same thing. I am sure you are all wondering the same about the sunsets!

Minutes later clouds move in over the hills.

And minutes later, we had this fantastic view of the still partially snow clad hills , just before heading back out to sea and en route to Greenland.

This morning I treated myself once again to an early morning spa on the top deck. Completely alone apart from a friendly crew member who took this photo. I love these early spas before the passengers wake, sharing the lovely views with only the accompanying gulls, which glide with such ease behind the ship. They are so graceful . It is so relaxing to watch them soar, twist and turn. Their life seems almost as easy as ours here on board, though they have to catch the fish and we simply need to go and fetch it!