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Map showing GPS track of the Grand
Princess (turquoise) |
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After
an overnight passage from Torshavn
the ship crossed the Arctic Circle
into the Arctic Ocean. It then
sailed south into Eyjafjordur (Eyja
Fjord) and sailed 32 nm inland to Akureyri.
Eyja Fjord is the longest fjord in
Iceland. Akureyri is the 2nd
city of Iceland, with an area
population of 21,000.
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Grand Princess At Akureyri |
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Note the Icelandic flag. |
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Akureyri |
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| A view
from the ship.
Akureyri
is a modern small city, proud of its
university and botanic garden.
Fish processing plants have been
closed because processing now takes
place on board fishing ships.
Today Akureyri produces high tech
fishing industry products and
medical devices. Iceland is
very prosperous. |
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Godafoss Falls |
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We
took an excursion to
Godafoss Falls and a
historic farm. The
Falls are 16 miles east of
Akureyri.
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Godafoss Falls |
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The water
in the Falls is from glacier melt.
Geologically speaking, Iceland is
young, and was formed by volcanic
activity where the North American
tectonic plate separates from
the European plate, a process which
is continuing. Iceland uses
geothermal hot water for electricity
production and domestic heating.
We saw hot water pipelines here and
in Reykjavik. |
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Farmland East of Eyja Fjord |
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Note the sheep grazing on
the grass. Sheep range
freely and have identifying
marks. They are
rounded up in September and
sorted by the marks.
We saw a roundup in
progress. It was quite
a community event, with much
celebration.
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A
Farm |
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Farms in
the area produce dairy products,
sheep, and potatoes. I was
surprised to learn that Iceland is
more than self sufficient in dairy
products and has introduced
production quotas
to prevent over production.
The flat lands are often cultivated
to grow potatoes. The white
objects left of the barn are 500 kg
rolls of hay wrapped in plastic.
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Icelandic Ponies |
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Horses were introduced to
Iceland by Viking settlers
some 1000 years ago and
remain genetically the same
to this day. The
importation of horses is
prohibited, and Icelandic
horses taken out of Iceland
are not permitted to return.
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Historic Farm and Church |
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| As in
most of Scandinavia, the Lutheran
church is predominate. At this
farmstead owned by the church, some
40 workers and their families lived
in the sod buildings at the left.
The walls are 4 ft thick. The
roofs are live turf. The cemetery at the church had recent
burials.
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Grand Princess at Akureyri |
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A
view of the ship and city
from across the fjord. |
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Looking South At the End of
Eyja Fjord |
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| Taken
from the ship. The Akureyri
Airport is visible near the center
of the photo. The runway is
not long enough for jet airliners.
Turboprop planes are used for
commercial flights. |
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En Route to Reykjavik |
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Sailing westerly late in the
day along the north coast of
Iceland after departing the
Eyja Fjord. |
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