Skrudur is Iceland’s oldest botanical gardens, and was founded in 1905 by a local vicar, Rev Sigtryggur Gudlaugsson. It was once a research and teaching facility, but is now open to the public free of charge. It is beautifully looked after and has a variety of interesting statues, plants and colors!
This garden stands out in Iceland where there are no trees.
If you only look closely, it seems just like the tropics!
Finally a fantastic summer day! The waters of Önundafjörður were so flat, it was nearly impossible to tell up from down!
We made it to the top! 346m/1135ft. I promised Kim a tremendous view, but the fog rolled in! To be climbed again…
Bandy is played on ice, using a single round ball. Two teams of 11 players each compete to get the ball into the other team’s goal using sticks. It is like hockey meets soccer.
Bandý is designed to be played on a rectangle of ice-field which is the same size as a soccer field – but we usually play in the gym inside or outside on the fake turf.
Everyone in town is in the mountains, bent over, picking blueberries. Back when I was a baby, my mom would leave me in the blueberries with Mrs. K, where I would sit all day stuffing my face with blueberries. After my run today, I still ate many blueberries, but I also managed to pick some to bring home too!
Two pilot whales have been observed near Suðureyri the past few days. They are rarely seen in Iceland. Photo by Robert Schmidt
The beginning of Mongufoss is somewhere in the clouds. It was much more impressive when the fog blew away.
Æðey is the largest island in the djúp and was given the name because of the eider farming. There has been a weather station since 1946 and has a good natural harbor.
We almost stopped on the island Æðey in Ísafjarðardjúp, but were told that they were hunting so we did not make landfall.
From kayaking 20 km in Önundafjörður today!
Here you can see Jóhann wearing traditional fishing clothes – sheep skin, with cow leather shoes, all covered in cod liver oil. Obviously people did not have six fingers 100 years ago. But these mittens have an extra thumb in case it wore out while rowing. Then the fisherman just turned around the mitten.
Ice Ice Baby 