With a 10.30am activity to get to today, we went for an 8am breakfast. It went much more smoothly than dinner. We got a lovely window table with views right down to the sea as the skies were clear. We are not taking for granted our Icelandic buffet and I am still following the policy of trying anything I don’t recognise (unless it is pickled fish… bravery only extends so far!). I have to admit that I didn’t fancy the cold chia seed porridge, but I did sample the cake with chocolate icing! I had great respect for the older lady who brought her walking frame with integral seat into the dining room and proceeded to collect an obscene amount of food on 5 dishes on the seat before she wheeled her “trolley” back to the table and picked at it. Humph.
We followed an Audley recommendation to visit Fjosralan glacier lagoon on the way to our activity, but we didn’t leave ourselves much time so it was a flying visit. The pristine icebergs were impressive and the lagoon was sparkly in the sun. I had my second conversation of the day about the digestive effects of black crust pizza, but I won’t go into that here!
Jokursarlon was easy to find as there was a big car park absolutely crammed with cars, camper vans and coaches. We found our guide and his shed/trailer chained to the ground and propped up with timber. I presumed that reflected how windy it can be (a fact that our guide confirmed later – apparently the chains were ripped out of the ground by wind a few weeks ago and the trailer ended up on its side. The weather here is not forgiving!) We agreed the number of layers required to be comfortable out on the water and then added the outer gear. Trousers with integral waterproof socks came first. No boob tubes were available with these even though it was tempting to try and pull them up that far. Then came a waterproof pullover with tight cuffs and ankle high wellies. Finally a life jacket and paddle completed the ensemble. Keith accessorised his with a fetching drybag for his camera. Jamie was our guide for the kayaking experience. He was born in Manchester and left when he was ten. He works in Iceland in the summer and then lives in the south of Spain for 6 months over winter. He doesn’t need to work in Spain as he makes enough to live on in the summer. He was impressed with Keith’s shoe size and congratulated me on being a lucky woman. That confused the children and non English speakers in the party…
We went down to the edge of the lagoon with the paddles and watched a paddling demonstration from Jamie. Keith and I chose the two person kayak so it would be easier for him to take photos and the children picked one each. To start with the only concern was trying to go in a straight line – Keith had a wonky row! But apart from that it was quite straightforward. We stopped near an iceberg to have a look and Jamie told us that the only tourist to go in the water from a kayak was too close to a flipping iceberg and got knocked off. He said that each iceberg has chunks fall off six or seven times a day and when they become unbalanced they flip over. We watched chunks fall off one but mercifully were not close to one flipping.
Jamie set off across the lagoon to where he thought seals most likely. Only the young ones stay in the lagoon all summer – about 30, but there are about 600 during the breeding season. This was the point that the wind picked up and the kids started to struggle. Mila in particular just couldn’t make any headway and got tired and upset. Jamie was not happy with how strung out we were and turned us around. I was happy to be in an enclosed area as every time we stopped paddling, we were blown back the way we had come. On the sea it would have been terrifying. The way back was much easier, except the waves really wanted us perpendicular to our direction of travel. I was the steerer and it was hard work to keep the boat straight. By this time we were nearly back where we started and Mila had had enough. Jamie took her back to shore to wait while we stayed in the sheltered bit to look at a few more icebergs.
We were all starting to feel the work in our arms and I was grateful when he said it was time to head back. Jamie was apologetic that we hadnt been able to do what he wanted and had only seen a glimpse of a seal’s head around the corner of an iceberg, but I think we were about done. The trip back to the beach was against a head wind and took determination. Jamie stayed with Danny – who is going to moan about sore arms and shoulders tomorrow I am sure!
Back on dry land, Jamie explained that the glacial tongue stretched to the sea, but by 1976 was where the lake is now, but 200m deep. Now it takes 5 hours to kayak from the parking lot to the glacier face. In the time he has worked here (ten years), it has gone from half way up the mountain at the side to the bottom.
We climbed out of our gear, rescued our phones, thanked Jamie and headed for the snack vans. There was a bit of a wait, but then we enjoyed our langoustine soup and fish and chips in the car. We wouldn’t be allowed to do that at home!
Just across the main road from where we had ben parked was Breioamerkursandur beach. This delivered on its promise of seals straight away and soothed my disappointment over the lack from the kayak. The chunks of ice washed up on the beach were amazing and the sun shone brightly on them making them look like blown glass full of bubbles. The waves were still a bit tricky and poor Mila tripped over a pesky hunk of ice trying to avoid getting wet feet. I loved spotting seals for Keith to photograph and watching the arctic skuas chasing arctic terns, followed by the arctic terns chasing the arctic skuas. I still haven’t seen a successful hunt but they were trying. I have learnt a lot about skua behaviour from observation – they hunt in packs, rest on land an water in-between and are regularly unsuccessful. Jamie had promised us whales if we waited long enough, but the wind was our enemy, whipping the waves into white water and leaching our body heat. Fingers crossed for the whale watching trip further north.
Keith didn’t manage many photos from the kayak, so we went back to Jokursarlon to take photos of the icebergs and laugh at the contortions tourists performed to take their photos. I am not sure about paddling in water with ice floating in it, but we walked past a young man doing exactly that. I kept my four head coverings firmly in place!
We were all ready for a rest now and headed back to the hotel. We found a comfortable corner of the bar and then Mila proceeded to comprehensively beat Danny and I at drafts. She and Keith drew twice and decided they wouldn’t win against each other. Mila gave credit to Sam for her expertise! I accidentally encouraged my family to steal bread from next to the complementary cucumber flavoured water, which resulted in a member of staff putting a price label on it. Whoops! I don’t know why I thought anything here would be free. We did decide though that anything with no label was free until informed otherwise!
We had booked a hot tub and sauna for 6pm so we donned swimming costumes, hotel slippers and dressing gowns and went downstairs. We had suspicions that some people had just turned up as I am sure they said it was private, but fortunately no-one tried to get in our hot tub. The poor family next to us had to share with some very noisy Americans. Quote of the day: “I know how to dress in Fahrenheit but just can’t get the knack in Celsius”.
We had a little time in the sauna while Danny went outside, but we were all so hot we couldn’t manage very long. Sitting outside in wet dressing gowns was pretty nice, so we must have been hot!
Service was much improved at dinner tonight, but the company was not. They put us on a table of four, next to two large tables of an American group who thought nothing of shouting from one table to the other and walking around with spoonfuls of food so parents and children could taste each other’s food. Our children were horrified by the waste – they all had three courses, but the children hardly ate any of it. Keith asked our waiter if we could move, but he came back and said the restaurant was full. We ordered, ate bread and waited for it to improve. We did attempt to plan our next day with help of the map and schedule, but it was very noisy.
Keith had enough and went to the bar to arrange a shift. Apparently it is not normal in Iceland to ask to speak to the manager, but it worked and the other end of the restaurant was much quieter… until they all sang happy birthday, in harmony. Sniff.
The food was delicious and we ate in peace – nearly an hour earlier than yesterday. We had a piece of chocolate brownie with raspberry sorbet for pudding before having a family snuggle watching First Dates and then sleep.