… about the sunset last night. It really was beautiful. And still going at round about 23:30 too. We are approaching the Land Of The Midnight Sun and at the right time of the year too.
So having taken a few photos I toddled off to bed.
Much to my surprise I awoke bang upright with a jolt at 05:40. I’d been dead to the world, out like a light. And I’ve no idea what had awoken me because the engines were at “slow ahead” and we were crawling along, almost stationary. Mind you, 05:40 is actually 07:40 in real money due to the time difference so that might explain some of it.
Yesterday we had seen land in the form of a couple of islands. But this morning we really were in sight of the mainland.
So up and about, I took a couple of photos of the Icelandic coast, round by Keflavik to start with, and we hit a problem. The laptop hadn’t switched itself off last night and this morning the flattery was bat. So I had to find a power socket in which to plug it while I did some work. But that gave me an opportunity to gaze out of the window at the beautiful morning.
After breakfast, I went up aloft and watched as we slowly inched our way into the harbour at Reykjavik, picking up a pilot on the way. There was plenty of shipping in there, including an Icelandic gunboat, which I imagine will be seeing plenty of action pretty soon when the silly Brits realise just how stupid they have been.
I took a really good action photograph of one of the sailors throwing a line to the quayside.
We had lunch, which was a buffet, and then we headed off onshore. While the crew and the staff were sorting themselves out, they had arranged for the half dozen of us to have a guide and go for a walking tour for 90 minutes.
It was quite interesting, and I came to the conclusion that I could live quite happily live in Reykjavik, provided that I could afford it. Prices here are astronomical. A portion of fish and chips would cost something like €12:00.
We needed to find a bank, which was easier said than done, but eventually we came across a cash machine. So now I have 8,000 Icelandic Kronor, which is about €55:00. I might be able to buy a coffee or something with that if I’m lucky.
Back on board the ship we had a briefing and a lifeboat drill the latter of which took an age. We’ll be in trouble if we ever spring a leak. We were also issued with our expedition jackets, which took longer than it ought to have done too.
The portions of food at teatime seem to have diminished which is probably just as well because we were eating far too much.
Later on, I sorted out the photos and wrote up some of my notes, although not be any means all of them. Now I’m waiting for the sunset and if I’m lucky it will be another beautiful one. I’ll have to make the most of them because they won’t last for ever. It will be bound to rain before long.
