The itinerary for our 3rd day in Iceland was a gentle hike to the Valagil falls, whilst Borealis was held at anchor in the bay at Ísafjörður. Despite it being midsummer, we looked out at snowcapped hills, and although I hadn’t intended to, I wonder if captured some dolphins in my photo, or perhaps nessie had joined our holiday
Ísafjörður is a fishing town and the farms were visible from the ship,
This was the only port where we had a tender transfer to shore.
No need for waterproofs today, but we both wrapped up well in our hand knits
Is it wrong to bring your own Icelandic jumper to Iceland, if it is I apologise. Traditional Lopi yarn is usually exported to the UK, but for some reason there has been a shortage, so our sweaters were knitted in another Scandinavian yarn called Drops Alaska, Amanda’s is a traditional icelandic design called Riddari and mine is a modern variation called Telja. We did visit some local yarn stores and saw both yarn and completed knits for sale but I decided not to buy any more.
After my mini photo shoot, our guide pointed to the head of the valley and sent us on our way
Thankfully we didn’t have to climb to the top
I also had chance to enjoy some of the many flowers in bloom, many were familiar to me, but the white flower with yellow middle is Holtasóley, Icelands national flower.
Valagil was probably the least dramatic of the waterfalls we’d seen but having the opportunity to stroll and have enough puff to chat to our fellow travellers made it a very enjoyable day.
It also meant that we had the opportunity to have a stroll through the town before we returned to Borealis , Many of the Icelandic towns have embraced inclusively and taken to adding a rainbow street to mark Gay Pride.
Iceland did feel a very welcoming place and we got an overwhelming sense of pride in the country, its history and heritage, as a whole, from our tour guides.
And I saw some colourful Iceland poppies growing in a garden
But it was time to return aboardand as we couldn’t swim that far, we got squashed onto the tender like sardines,
For an exhilarating speed ride – it probably wasn’t all that fast but it was close to the water and felt it
Luckily for us there was a boarding platform but at the end of the day the tenders were hoisted back to deck 3, where they reverted to becoming lifeboats again
We had time to lounge by the pool
Enjoy a curry for dinner
Before an evenings entertainment from a Neil Diamond tribute act
Before we headed up to the observation lounge for some late night dancing
while we watched the midnight sun.
A perfect day that never ended
(And no apologies for the number of photos today, Emma has asked for lots more,)
