Monday, June 23. Tumavik and Raufarhofn
We went to shore soon after 10 am for a wet landing, According to Werner, It would really be dry as the crew would put down lots of plastic crates for us to walk ashore onr. We felt very sorry for the expedition staff who were up to their waists in cold Arctic water whilst we did manage to make it ashore with only slightly wet boots, perching on these inter spaced beer crates as stepping stones.
We then walked towards the marquee where we left our life jackets and joined up with Alma, our local guide who was quite good. We had the voice boxes with us, but I had difficulty keeping a bud in my ear with the rain and my hair in the way. The weather was like a hard Irish day well maybe just a wee bit harder than soft.
We walked along the black sand beach for 30 minutes or so and then went up onto a higher land for a while before descending to another beach and then eventually to a salmon river. The whole walk was about 5 km and I got very tired on the return journey and had great difficulty reaching the marquee again. But once here I perked up as there was a delicious lamb stew plus home-made bread and even some chocolate cake afterwards. This was the first time a cruis had stopped here, and there were freshly constructed tables and benches in the marquee and a local who was singing and playing his guitar. There was also a shop there selling handmade soaps and some Icelandic jerseys.
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Getting back onto the zodiac was again a great challenge and my feet got somewhat wet. And then once back at the ship there was a tremendous swell and some excitement in managing to get out of the zodiac and onto the ship. We were back at the ship by about 2:15 pm and had a coffee and banana in our cabin and then I had a 30 minute siesta before going to afternoon tea soon after four. But here there was chaos, and we left not having received our ordered sandwiches before we had to to go to Werner's‘s briefing at 4:30 pm: They did send the sandwiches back in our room by the time we got back at 5 pm.
Werner got tremendous applause for the expeditions mornings feat and then proceeded to overload us with details on the excursions for the next two days. The ship repositioned itself to Raufarhofn by 5 pm and we went up for a drink in the Panorama Lounge at 6 pm and were able to see the Arctic henge on the hill from the ship. Set in Raufarhöfn, one of the most remote and northernmost villages in Iceland where the Arctic Circle lies just off the coast, the Arctic Henge is under construction. Similar to its ancient predecessor, Stonehenge, the Arctic Henge is like a huge sundial, aiming to capture the sunrays, cast shadows in precise locations and capture the light between aligned gateways.
But there was a lot of swell around and we were not at all surprised when Werner announced over the loudspeaker that the evenings visit to the Arctic henge was cancelled. Instead, we would be sailing to the Arctic Circle which was just north of where we were and there would be an event in the panorama lounge at 10:10. David was not convinced that we had in fact crossed the Arctic Circle
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We had a pleasant dinner soon after eight and then I did this diary before the 10.10 event which turned out to be a non event.