The Blue Lagoon

Today was the Blue Lagoon ,or at least Monday morning ,as we departed Reykjavik shortly after noon. The day was sunny (at last the sun!) and cool at 13C. Driving to the Blue Lagoon with 5 others in a taxi took about 40 minutes. Past lots of lava fields covered in moss and a lot of the countryside reminded me of the North Yorkshire Moors.

When we got to the Blue Lagoon I tried to take my first picture and quickly realized I had left the camera battery in the ship on the recharger. I did have my iPhone with me and gave Deen a quick course on how to take pictures with it. She did really well ! Transferring the photos to the iPad later on became an issue but ultimately easily solved with the cable and attachments I have.

So the photo here shows various aspects of the Blue Lagoon. Not so much blue as aquamarine. The water was lukewarm in spots and hotter in other spots. It had a slight sulphur smell and I joked I was swimming in sulphuric acid. The bottom of the lagoon was relatively smooth with some rocks but at lot better that what we encounter at our cottage. When we got there it was uncrowded but that changed as tour buses arrived.




After lunch the ship departed and I' m adding some photos of that. The ship was moored in a very tight spot at the pier and with the aid of side thrusters was able to slide out very easily. Imagine parallel parking being able to use side thrusters or turning the wheels 90 degrees. There was another ship in port and you can see it leaving at the same time. The picture of the white house is apparently "The Peace House" built by Yoko Ono to honour John Lennon. Finally I was fascinated by a dredging operation taking place just beside us.


I must add one last picture from the Golden Circle Tour on Sunday as Deen took it on the iPhone . It is a great shot of the geyser.


We are now heading to Djupvigor ,a small town (300 people) on the east coast of Iceland. Supposed to be very scenic. Rough seas for this portion of the trip so I had a gravol to help settle my stomach but all was OK. The post dinner entertainment was a country and rock n' roll production called Road House - very entertaining.
From RCD's iPad

Location:Reykjavik, Iceland

Golden Circle Tour

Twenty eight intrepid travelers headed off at 9am Sunday morning in two vans for our Golden Circle Tour in the area surrounding Reykjavik . Of course there were also many other people with similar ideas on HAL tours and from two other cruise ships in port. Lots of us out and about. And lots to see.

First up the collapsed volcano at Kerid. See some photos below. Very impressive.



Then off to the Faxa waterfall with a salmon ladder.


Another waterfall at Gullfoss was up next and it is very scenic and very powerful. They say more powerful than Niagara and it is fed from a nearby glacier called Langjokull ,literally long glacier. Second largest of 6 glaciers in Iceland.


Oh did I mention it was another cool (13C) and rainy day. It's been over a week since we last saw the sun.

And next the granddaddy of geysirs and the one that gives the name to all the other geysirs in the world. This one erupts every 6-8 minutes and is warm and sulpher in smell. My pictures don't really capture it so I had to include a photo of a photo -that one was taken on a rare sunny day. It is something strange to see with lots of steam venting in various spots throughout the area.


On our way back to town our driver stopped at a farm and called some horses over. We knew our granddaugthers would enjoy these. Unique Icelandic horses and Deen.




Then we stopped at an area where the tectonic plates meet and they too were spectacular. Pictured are the North America plates. As one guy commented "all this time at sea and we're still in North America?".





Iceland is also known for it's giant marshmallows as you can see in the distance. It's a big crop operation.

At last back to the city and I have to include a picture of the Opera House on the waterfront of Reykjavik. Very pretty.


Now I should mention I have purchased another hat. Deen thinks I've reached my limit but we have many countries still to go..... Oh my as yet unfunded research project into international gasoline prices shows that Icelanders pay 246.9 ISK ( Icelandic Kroner) per litre which translates to about $Cdn 2.00 per litre. Makes our gas at home seem cheap in comparison.

Monday morning we are going to the Blue Lagoon with some others from the ship then we set sail in the afternoon for Djupvigor on the east coast of Iceland arriving early Tuesday morning.

From RCD's iPad

Location:South West Corner of Iceland

When in Reykjavik do as the Rekjavikians do

Well finally land,although not so dry. Cool 13C and some rain today but everyone seemed happy to be here. We arrived after 2pm and were cleared to go ashore shortly after 2:30pm.

Now I don' t know really what Reykjavikians do or even if they call themselves Reykjavikians but English is widely spoken and the people seem very friendly. Some teenage boys passed us and said "welcome to Iceland". Presumably they meant it.

The morning was spent in a presentation by an Icelandic professor talking about guess what... A lot of the geology- apparently Iceland is on the mid-Atlantic rift (and that' s not Europe being unhappy with North America) although the tectonic plates are splitting apart,the active volcanoes, the glaciers, and the pronunciation of place names. The latter sounds like people coughing. Anyway some of this info will come up after we do our Great Circle Tour on Sunday and we go to the Blue Lagoon on Monday.

So this afternoon we took a shuttle bus into town and wandered around.


Pictured are me before we left the ship with some properly dressed Canadian friends Geoff, Bert, and Alan . Also two shots of Deen, one with her new Viking friend, and Abra in her new Icelandic hat. BTW there are 143 Canadians on board.



The houses are very colourful and ,aside from the church shown below, there are no highrises in town.



This is one of the famous churches in Reykjavik called Hallesgrimmkirkja. But it is stunning. Outside is a statue dedicated to Leif Ericcson , a son of Iceland who discovered North America long before Columbus.



This picture includes another colorful building, some steam outlets in the centre of town, the local version of Ottawa's Bank St.,and the stunning opera house.

We wandered about and I purchased a 2013 Calendar of Iceland and a t-shirt that says " eg tala ekki islensku". This apparently means " I don't speak Icelandic" but could also mean "another idiotic tourist in Iceland".

Lots of other interesting stories to tell but they will have to wait for another day.

From RCD's iPad

Location:Reykjavikur,Island

Not Nanortalik , Greenland

In spite of the posting date above this really covers Friday July 20. Another sea day and it's been awhile since we've seen land or the sun. All fog and cloud and we haven't ventured outside in a few days preferring the cocoon of the ship.

We went to a presentation about Reykjavik and Djupivigor , Iceland where we'll be starting Saturday afternoon . Iceland has about 320,000 people 2/3 of whom live in Reykjavik. Fishing represents about 40% of the economy but tourism is increasing with over a million visitors per year. It has a temperate sub- arctic climate and we are expecting temps of about 13C. Apparently it is very expensive there so I doubt we'll be hanging out in bars and restaurants.
In contrast Djupvigor has about 350 people so we'll be overwhelming them with our 1200 passengers. Iceland is north of 60 degrees latitude - Ottawa is at 45 so we are a fair bit north with lots of day light.

The Captain told us all we'll be passing near the spot where the Bismarck sank the HMS Hood in 1941.


Some scenes of the miserable weather.




Also a picture of one of the folded towel animals that appears in our room every evening and a photo of a painting of an earlier incarnation of the Maasdam. One of our readers (and Nancy you should recognize this) was on that ship and HAL still wants back their deck chairs.

Late in the afternoon we went to the happy hour in the Crows Nest and I had the drink of the day - a tropical cable car. It was way to good. We ended up staying for a second happy hour.

Dinner was in the Canaletto, an Italian styled restaurant on the Lido deck. After dinner as we were walking back to our room some friends came up to us and persuaded us to go to karaoke in the Crows Nest. Much to the disappointment of the crowd there I did NOT get up and sing. However a couple of on board friends Abra and Mike (aka Saltdog) did each get up twice and did very well.

Another 1 hour time change overnight so we are now 4 hours ahead of Eastern Time or right on UTC. And land on Saturday .....woohoo!

From RCD's iPad

Location:Somewhere off the South East coast of Greenland

"Alert from Remote Weather Service"

We thought it was going to be another day at sea with all the usual activities. Sometime before 9am the Captain came on the PA with a special announcement ( not a good sign). He talked about a gale storm forming behind us with high winds and seas and ,following consultation with multiple weather services and HQ in Seattle , they decided we would be best off to speed up and stay ahead of the storm. This meant skipping Nanortalik and the scenic cruising of Prins Christian Sund and instead head straight to Reykavik arriving there early on Saturday evening and staying for 2 nights. They also decided to add an extra stop in Molde, Norway. So a somewhat revised itinerary.

The Captain called a general information session for 10am and explained what is happening, why, and what they are doing about it. The Chief Officer showed us all the weather maps they use. Then open for questions. A light but informative touch and people were greatly reassured. As one passenger said " Captain where you go, we'll follow". In response to a question about missing the two small ports the Cruise Director said the people there were sending the t-shirts ahead to Molde.





Pictured above the Chief Engineer, the Captain, the Hotel Manager, and the Chief Officer at the information session. Also the opening slide from the presentation. We were told we'd get to Greenland on the way back.

So the rest of the day we did sea day stuff. I went to meeting of an informal photo club while Deen went to a cooking class. After lunch I saw the computer lady expert who gave me some upgraded photo software for the Netbook and Deen went flower arranging. I also stopped by Club HAL , the area for kids so I could see what it is like for our grand kids. We' ll be with them on a bigger ship next year for an Alaska cruise and it has a bigger Club HAL including The Loft for the teenagers (Casey will be 13 by then). Club HAL below.

I



Later on I went to a Mixology Class - lots of fun and as you can see below I now have a new career as a ship's bartender.



Like other major cruise lines HAL has it's own rewards program for repeat customers. In this case every day at sea plus some bonus formula goes towards your Mariner status. After a first cruise of any length people become one star Mariners. Deen and I are now two star Mariners and by the end of this cruise will be three star Mariners -generally speaking 75 days. Now we happen to think that's a lot but it turns out we are mere rookies. This evening there was another special party for 4 (200+ days) and 5 star (1200+ days) Mariners. There were over 350 people at this event with an equivalent of over 128,000 days at sea.

This evening was also a formal night so again a tux for me and nice dress for Deen. As I rarely dress up anymore it feels somewhat strange to do so. As we have an extra spot at our table we were joined for dinner by one of the Dance Hosts, a very pleasant man named Bobby from North Carolina. As part of this they also provide the wine for dinner.... We told Bobby he is welcome to join us anytime. Bobby is obviously a very good dancer and he has 6 basic steps he uses and regularly teaches. After he retired from a regular job at home he has discovered this new world of cruising and dancing and quite enjoys it.

We now have our revised itinerary showing arrival in Reykavjik on Saturday evening staying until Monday 1pm. So we'll be doing the 2 tours we had planned for there on the Sunday and Monday morning. Still at sea until we arrive in Iceland.
From RCD's iPad

Location:Somewhere in the Labrador Sea

Not Red Bay Labrador

My day started very early with a commotion in the hallway outside our cabin at 1am. There were people talking then a vacuum cleaner running- very unusual at 1 am. I got up and some of our carpet was wet. It appears a pipe had burst and things needed to be dried. They set up a drier in our room throughout the day. Visits and calls from the Guest Relations staff and finally a plate of chocolate for us in the evening.

So instead of Red Bay, Labrador we had another sea day and we busied ourselves with a variety of on-board activities. I went to a talk about Captain Bligh and his career, did a 5km run on the elliptical trainer , and went to another wine tasting. Deen went to another cooking demonstration and the wine tasting.

At lunch the Captain came on the PA and said they've seen lots of icebergs and whales on the radar but of course we saw none of this due to the fog. Deen is getting more anxious to see some whales which apparently other passengers have seen.






A couple of pictures from on board - a photo of the main dining room then the on board gym. More to follow.

Holland America Line (HAL) tends to the older passenger although there are certainly younger people than us on board ,the clientele is definitely older. Lots of people mobility impaired. So last night walking to dinner , Deen using her cane, we actually passed people slower than us.

We've gone through a few time changes and are now 2 hours ahead of Eastern Time. Because it's all so gradual you don' t really notice it. They also publish two short daily newspapers: the New York Times Digest and another called The Canadian.

Pictured below is a shot of the atrium, our dinner companions Henny, Keese, and Diane with Deen, the ever changing map of the ship' s position, and the carpet in the elevator- after a few days at sea it is very easy to forget things like what day it is.



For those interested I have now purchased two baseball caps: one at Fenway Park in Boston commemorating Fenway's 100th anniversary and another from HAL. Another sea day tomorrow as we head to Nanortalik, Greenland for Friday.
RCD's iPad

Location:Somewhere between Newfoundland and Greenland

Corner Brook, Newfoundland

Yahoo our first port after two plus days at sea and here we are back in Canada . The True North Strong and Free! Population of Newfoundland is about 500000 people and about 120000 moose. Gasoline sells for 129.8 cents per liter which translates to $Cdn 1.298 per liter.

It was overcast and about 20C and we dressed for rain and cool. So it was OK but foggy. The ship had entered Corner Brook through the Humber Arm which becomes the Humber River. The river and others like it were carved from retreating glaciers.

We saw a number of people fishing for salmon and 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the closing of the Newfoundland cod fishery. Many people now fish for shrimp and crab and other species of fish.

Our bus took over an hour to drive us up to Gros Morne National Park. As it was low cast cloud we were unable to see Gros Morne Mountain but the remaining views were spectacular. There are the Table Mountains which as the name implies are relatively flat and ,due to their composition of heavy metals,are barren.

We saw Bonne Bay, Norris Point, Rocky Harbour, and the Rocky Harbour light house. At the light house a delightful young Parks Canada guide in her best Newfie accent gave us a lot of the history on Newfoundland and the western shore. While in Norris Point we also learned a newfie expression for a cup of tea.... Mug-up. We had lunch in Rocky Harbour and the dessert consisted of two tarts, one of which was baked apple berries, a small yellow berry- very tasty.

Pictured below are your faithful correspondent with a bottle of Newfie wine called The Funky Puffin (I have not tried it yet but will report later on when I do) and a few scenes from inside the park.


The second picture is the light house at Rocky Harbour, Deen and I with Bonnie and Geoff from North Vancouver, a view from up in the hills, and a fishing boat in Norris Point getting ready to go out fishing for turbot. Bonnie is also a blogger and both she and her husband had volunteered at the 2010 Winter Games in Whistler, Bonnie at the Sliding Centre and Geoff at the anti-doping program at the down hill skiing. I didn't meet either one of them when I was there.


Upon our return to the ship Deen and I went up to happy hour in the Crow's Nest and managed to spend a few hours with a variety of people while enjoying wine and the drink of the day. While there the Captain came on the PA with an announcement. He said that due to fog and ice berg conditions we would be proceeding slowly from Corner Brook up the strait between Labrador and Newfoundland but would not be stopping at Red Bay, Labrador. Disappointing but better to be safe. So an extra sea day before we arrive in Nanortalik, Greenland.

A very nice dinner again in the MDR with our Victoria and Vancouver table mates. Early to bed.

From RCD's iPad

Location:South West Coast of Newfoundland