I think i´m falling for iceland

(originally written last night)

I had the most amazing day today. When I last wrote I was off to meet women from seattle who were looking to charter a flight to grimsey.

First let me tell you the story of how I met these women. After my post a few nights ago about the beef jerky I had set off into Reykjahilð to get a burger at the cafe/pub. The place was packed and before I realized the system was find an empty table and grab it. Two italians stole the only empty table out from under me. I noted that the two american women next to me also felt it was stolen from them. So, a few minutes later when they scored a four top I walked right up and said, "Can I share your table?". They hesitated but then agreed. "Where are you from?" I asked. "Seattle". "me too!"

It was non stop conversation from there out. Towards the end of dinner we were discussing our plans for the coming days. I mentioned I was thinking of getting a sightseeing flight to see myvatn. "no way! they said. They want to charter a plane to get to grimsey. They need three to do it. Did I want to be their third?

Now me, I hadn´t really cared about going to Grimsey. It seemed sort of silly to take a ferry all that way just to say you´d been to the artic circle. But combined with a sight seeing flight that was something I could get on board with. It would be expensive but I´d missed the dogsledding and horseback riding and it´s my experience that experiences are almost always worth their cost. So I agreed.

Once the 11am weather report was in we headed to the airport. The Myvatn Airport is really just a landing strip in the middle of a lava field with a one room hut next to it. The pilot was the only person in the building so we talked directly to him. The weather in Grimsey was good enough to fly (first time in three weeks!). But the tour in Grimsey couldn´t happen until 2pm. When meant we wouldn´t land back in Myvatn until 3:30. The time my bus left.

We discussed options with the pilot. Was there any way to go sooner?

No, because the woman who gives the tours also does the banking for the island so she is busy until then.

Was there any way to get a later bus?

The pilot called my bus company. They stop in goðafoss so it would not be leaving there until 4:15 and that was only a 20 minute drive from the airport. I could make it and the seattle ladies agreed to be my taxi.

Finally, Was there any way to fly over dettifoss on the way there?

For an extra 20€ it was a go!

Done! I was so excited this was going to be the perfect way to get a survey all I hádn´t seen and get a second glimpse at dettifoss to boot!

At 1:00pm we boarded our little prop plane. The seattle ladies, me and the pilot. At 1:05 the only bad thing to happen that day happened. No battery on my camera. What?!! I paid 1000 kr to charge it in landmannalauger. Something had gone awry! So here I was on this amazing adventure with no camera.

In a weird way it was sort of liberating. I was forced to sit back and just soak it in rather than looking for the perfect shot.

I saw craters and the lake myvatn. I saw the lava field I´d walked 13 kms over yesterday. I saw the earth crackling and splitting and steaming. I saw blue pools. I saw dettifoss and selfoss and the mighty canyon of jökulsárgljúfur national park stretching out from it. I saw the mountains of the northwest and their fjords and the falls that fall off them. I saw whales blowing and breaching. And then I a saw Grimsey.

We landed in a herd of thousands of artic terns. Amazingly, i think only one got caught in the propellar. Our guide met us at the plane. She was a woman of about 20. She had lived there for 11years. Her parents, grandparents and great grandparents still lived there. Her ancestors were buried there. We saw the fish business and the restaurant/post office that her family owns.

We saw cliffs and cliffs with hundreds and hundreds of puffins! Flocks of them fluttering about a mere 10 feet from us. We saw thousands and thousands of terns dive bombing us for fear of their nests in the grass. We saw kittiwalks and sandpipers. A thriving fluttering island.

The weather was calm and sunny and there was laundry fluttering in the breeze. It was one of the most picturesque and amazing experiences of my life. I wish I had had a month on this little island of 90 people. But we were only there for an hour. But it was just us. 3 tourists from seattle. There were no ferries today only monday, wednesday, and friday. So we had the place to ourselves.

I was noticing and we pulled back to the airstrip that my watch read 3:15. I tried not to look at my watch on the amazing flight back. "I will hitchhike" I told myself.

We landed in myvatn at 4:10. I had missed my bus.

I´m proud to say that after at least a half dozen trips alone and 2 weeks experiencing iceland that i´ve learned to trust travelers fate a bit. (knock on wood). The seattle ladies told me they were not going to let me hitchhike. We would check the information center in town for any later buses and if not, they would drive me. (an hour and a half each way!). The kindness of travelers never ceases to amaze me.

We raced to the information center. Were there any more buses? We were in luck. The day touring bus was just leaving. They would take me to reykjavik at no charge. ( just my bus passport number). And so it was that I got a guided tour of lake myvatn on my way to Akureyri complete with tales of the cleverness of the artic fox.

Upon arrival in akureyri I asked the tour director where my guest house was, and if it was possible to get a cab. "It´s too far to walk with all your bags" he said. Could i wait 15 minutes? If so, he would come back and drive me.

And so it was that i got my own private guided tour of akureyri on my way to my guesthouse. The old town, the cathedral, the botantical gardens. My guide was terribly sorry he didn´t have time to guide me through them himself. It seems he was running late to meet friends. "But it was too far for you to walk with your bags" he said.

Amazing. They more I see of Iceland. Or perhaps moreso, the more icelanders I meet. The more I love it. Do I really only have four more days? I feel I´m just now discovering it´s true beauty.