Another day dawned clear and bright - weather we have come to expect. It's like we swallowed horseshoes and snacked on four-leaf clovers.
The tour du jour was a bus ride around a fjord and up to a waterfall. The first part was on a paved highway and was smooth and uneventful - just the way you want a bus ride to be.
Our first stop was at a museum and chapel. The museum told the story of Jon Sigurdsson who was pretty much the father of Iceland as an independent democracy. He was quite the guy and so determined to do what he could for the people of Iceland, he was engaged for 14 years. I suppose credit for patience must also go to his beloved Ingeborg. She was several years older than Jon and was 41 by the time they married. She was thought of as the first lady of Iceland. They actually died only 9 days apart and had a double funeral.
The site of this free museum is a hillside overlooking the fjord and the views are spectacular. While the museum is a new building, the cafe is a series of three joined cabins with severely peaked roofs. These roofs are like an extension of the nearby grassland. I suppose they provide great insulation, if not a nice tidy appearance. We declined the coffee and treats and tried to spot the whales playing in the fjord that apparently others in our group did see.
From there we headed towards Dynjandi falls. Getting there was half the fun on the unpaved gravel road, although it was in pretty good shape. What we didn't realize was that the road was steep and twisting and narrow and rose to a height of about 1600 meters above sea level. Ears popped several times. Those who don't care for heights were somewhat nervous - to put it mildly. The driver covers the route quite often and there were no mishaps on the very sharp turns. It's a well-travelled road but there wasn't much traffic at the time.
Eventually we arrived at the base of Dynjandi. It was easy to see the five different "drops" that make up the falls. Each one is separately named. To see each one up close you must climb, and climb and climb. The terrain is pretty easy for the first one you approach. After that the challenge is real.
As we went up the sun was right in our eyes making it a bit of a challenge. As this is a natural area it doesn't have nice even steps. There is a path and you must avoid the loose stones and try to use the larger stable ones. I doubted whether I'd make it up - and back down again. However, I did get almost to the top. The photos I took were not spectacular but they do document the adventure.
Once safely back at the base we ate our packed lunches and re-boarded the bus for the trip back - along the exact same route. It was a bit cool but the bright sun and effort of climbing make it perfect.
Arriving back on the ship we recalled the previous evening's briefing on how to use the Zodiac life jackets, in preparation for boarding the rubber Zodiac boats for a tour of the fjord that afternoon. We declined that tour but looked forward to using them to explore Grimsey Island at the Arctic Circle.
There was a Northern Lights watch. Of course the start and finish of the spectacle doesn't work on a schedule. Nature makes the rules. We had a presentation on the scientific explanation. The speaker might know what he was talking about but we found that listening had a rather soporific effect. It was also a test of hearing and patience as he refused to keep the microphone close enough to his mouth so that we could hear him well. But he did say that it would be the last chance to see the Northern Lights on this cruise.
We stayed up until about midnight, shivering on Deck 7 in anticipation of the light show. Eventually what seemed like a thin band of cloud began expanding and moving and we realized that "this is it". The show lasted about half an hour and the light danced in various smooth, circular, and spiky formations. I was not aware of any colour but apparently they were green. The gases determine the colours but multi-coloured displays are not that common it seems.
Reykjavik apparently had a display that was far more spectacular but we were happy to tick that off our "what do we want to see" on this cruise. Fortunately we had not signed up for the early morning walk to the Herring Museum, and we decided not to set an alarm for the morning.
I will upload photos later.
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