A couple of things about Iceland! Did you know about the cod wars with Great Britain in the mid-20th century? The English started poaching [no pun intended] the Icelandic fishing territory and fishing vessels came close to violent confrontations. The US intervened and persuaded England to retreat so there would not be an international incident. Now Iceland has a 200-mile exclusive fishing zone.
We already mentioned the world’s first parliament [Þingvellir] – and the first woman President in the world was in Iceland in the 1960s.
Today’s destination was Grímsey Island, the northernmost point in Iceland where the Arctic Circle cuts across the top. It has a population of 35 (swelling to 100 in the summer). Many species of aquatic birds come to nest in the spring and summer. Puffins stay at sea all winter [young puffins stay out for years, until they are ready to breed] and then come back to the same spot on the cliff walls to reconnect with their mate and raise new chicks. They can live to up to 30 years.
Unfortunately, the puffins had already left on their migration south when we arrived. But our local guide, Hetla, had a surprise for us. She walked us to her neighbor’s house to see a puffin chick [or ‘puffling’] which had been rescued when it failed to set off with the flock. Dubbed Loaky, he will be tagged and set free next summer, but they don’t know what he will do when he gets old enough to breed since he has bonded with the neighbor: will he come back to the house and his ‘daddy,’ or join the other puffins on the cliff walls?
A recent phenomenon is the death of many arctic terns. A scientific crew will come this week to start taking samples from the bird corpses scattered on the treeless fields to find out what is happening.
Grímsey Island is shaped like a wedge, with 400-foot cliffs along the eastern side sloping down to sea level on the south and west where the only down is located. The only height above the grass line is a fat, wooly sheep or two [or twenty].
Off and hiking. We all put on every available layer of clothing, hat, scarf, gloves. [Well, stupid me left his gloves in the cabin, but my loving wife shared hers. Luckily once we got going the wind died down and the exertion warmed me up.] It was in the 40s and the wind was brutal.
We stopped at the monument for the old Arctic Circle monument [did you know it moves? – the Arctic Circle, not this monument – it will eventually be in the sea north of the island, until the earth’s axis starts to shift back*] and continued along the cliffs of Básavik to the northern tip of Grímsey [Fótur Point], where a huge concrete ball with a hole in it [for the Arctic Circle to pass through] marks the present location. [This new Arctic Circle monument will – at least in theory – be moved to match the progress of the Arctic Circle itself.] The descent to it and the climb back up were our biggest challenges.
*I was taught that the Arctic Circle is fixed at 66° 33′ 39″ latitude, which is where the old monument is situated. But apparently they have changed the definition to match the point at which the earth’s tilt causes total darkness in winter. According to wikipedia:
The position of the Arctic Circle is not fixed and currently runs 66°33′47.9″ north of the Equator. Its latitude depends on the Earth’s axial tilt, which fluctuates within a margin of more than 2 degrees over a 41,000-year period, due to tidal forces resulting from the orbit of the Moon. Consequently, the Arctic Circle is currently drifting northwards at a speed of about 15 m (49 ft) per year.
The plan had been to hike around the high eastern cliff tops – but it was so foggy that there was nothing to see and it was still cold and windy over there, so most people [including us] headed back to the town. After a total of 5.5 miles, we were back at our tender port where Chema treated us to hot cocoa. Truly welcome!
Back to Le Champlain where crew members were fishing off the back and catching dinner, Atlantic wolffish. We continued inside for ‘chocolate tea,’ i.e., tea or juice with chocolate goodies. [Each day had such a tea, with a different theme.]
Then a well deserved nap followed.
We toddled down late to dinner in the Nautilus restaurant and eventually Kathy and Rick joined us. It was the best supper onboard to date. I had carpaccio/arugula, wolffish, and macaron with fresh raspberries and lychees, and DW had an arugula salad, scallops with celery puree, tenderloin of veal, and chocolate mint cake.
So far lunch has been the better meal with wonderful cheeses, cold cuts, breads and butter.We received two sets of certificates for crossing the Arctic Circle – one from the ship [as we had sailed through it] and one from our local guide [as we walked through it and stood with one leg on each side]. This goes with our Equator-spanning and Greenwich Prime Meridian-spanning pictures. We only need the International Date Line and the Antarctic Circle to complete the set!
Jazzbeaux Backroads/Ponant Icelandic Loop 8-2019 