Day 7:
Our morning started with a special gift: Gretta. The National Park Ranger clearly arrived at our van to help Chelsea begin her Icelandic Birthday. Gretta was casually the coolest person we’ve met in Iceland. With her unassuming demeanor and blue page-boy news cap, she presented a warm and helpful face to start our day (and provide coins needed to shower - clearly a savior) with a tentative knock asking if we’d paid to camp yet.
We felt Gretta’s presen(t)ce the remainder of the day. Appropriate in a way because she guarded the gates (Welcome Center) to the capitol city of the Hidden People located in the Asbyrgi Cliffs.
A picturesque trek up a canyon wall provided our first views of these cliffs. The hike, while a welcome stretch of the legs, did not prepare us for the stunning up close visuals of the valley below. The Hidden People sure know how to pick a location for their capitol city, complete - of course - with concert halls.
Just outside the National Park, we stopped at a local craft shop and purchased two beautiful Icelandic sweaters in the softest wool. Gretta totally would approve of our new wardrobe additions. (Plus, they were the cheapest sweaters we’d seen! Winning.)
The woolly distractions caused a slight delay in our arrival to Húsavík and our whale watching tour, but we still pulled on our oversized, yellow wetsuit overalls and boarded the speedboat with the rest of the group. With rubber blue gloves in hand and high school science chemistry goggles on our faces, we straddled our seats and took off into the waves. (For safety, the seats in the speedboat more resembled a mechanical bull than conventional seats.) A group of women from Paris sat in front of us and they provided the best French squeals for our entertainment at each watery crash.
Now comes the whale of a tale... No. Wait. The tail of the whale... Actually, both. Anyways....
Puffins, white-nosed dolphins, and humpback whales greeted us in the massive ocean bay. We learned that puffins can flap their wings up to 400 times/min. (probably to make up for their awkward body types - they are known as the Clowns of the Sea), they can see a color range three times greater than humans, and dive up to 60 meters. Our guide gave us zero facts about the dolphins (hope you weren’t expecting any), but we were surrounded by a pod that provided quite the spectacle. Next, whales. Humpback whales eat 1.5 tons of crill per day to prepare for summer migration. Iceland glacier melts provide phytoplankton that krill eat, thus the region is a hotspot for hungry whales. Bumps on the whales’ heads are used like cat whiskers to sense what is around them - they are full of air. We had an especially active tour and got to party with five separate humpback whales.
I do mean party. The tour served shots of the traditional Icelandic schnapps mid voyage. It tasted of black licorice - not our favorite flavor - but a warming relief from the biting wind on our speedboat journey to shore.
Post-tour pizza, hot chocolate, and macaroons for the birthday girl warmed us up even more - but the best relief came from the Lake Myvtan Natural Baths. Although it was also the most tourist-y experience we’ve done with long lines, the semi-crowded pools still provided heated water and an overcast view of the lake.
We eat pizza for dinner over some additional map charting. We hope Gretta continues to guide us on our journey.
Logging off,
Audrey and Chelsea
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