… advantage of my early night, such as it was, I awoke at about 04:15 or something and had to make a trip down the corridor. And to find my dictaphone because I had forgotten to put it to hand. This kind of thing defeats the whole purpose of having an early night. I don’t have too many of them and I don’t seem to be able to take advantage of them at all.
I suppose that I must have gone back to sleep eventually because the alarm awoke me at 06:00 and I leapt out of bed with something rather less than the usual energy. Up on deck taking a few photos and wandering into breakfast, I was halfway through my muesli before I realised that I had once again forgotten my medication.
Our luck was in too, for the captain came to join us and we had a lengthy chat.
We were right down the end of a very spectacular fjord and ahead of us was an equally spectacular waterfall, the highest in Iceland and known as Dynjandi. That was our destination for the morning.
Having been first off the ship yesterday, we were last off today so we had plenty of time to watch them loading up the zodiacs and preparing the kayaks for those who had reserved that option.
The ride out was incredibly smooth, due in no small measure to the sheltered location and we arrived at the shore without even a hint of spray and dampness. And divesting ourselves of our warm clothing and wellingtons, we headed off.
It was a stiff, steep tough climb up to the waterfall with plenty of stops for breath for the less-fit members of our party, but most of us made it to the top of the path at the foot of the falls, passing several smaller cascades on the way. Some even made it higher still by scrambling over the damp rocks but in my case discretion was the better part of valour in my state of health.
Strawberry Moose made it up there too and he had a great time, being photographed on several occasions and by many people.too. His fame is spreading.
After a lengthy pause for a rest and good look around, we descended. And that wasn’t as easy as it might have sounded because the path was steep and there were plenty of loose stones about.
Back on the ship I headed for a nice hot shower and to wash my clothes. They are now nice and clean, as am I and it really was beautiful in there.
After lunch there were several lectures. I attended the one about the Norse (not the Vikings as our lecturer insisted on calling them) but it was one of these brief shallow discussions with much glossed over and several opinions that don’t accord with more informed thought. All in all, I was somewhat disappointed.
A little later on I felt a wave of fatigue creep over me so seeing as there wasn’t all that much going on, I retired to my cabin. 90 or so minutes I was there, and I actually dozed off for about 20 of them. But I was quite comfortable and for the want of anything better to do, I stayed in bed until we were called for the briefing for tomorrow’s events.
At tea we were joined by the host of our expedition and we had a lengthy chat about Sable Island off the coast of Nova Scotia. And while we were so engaged, a voice came over the tannoy to inform us that we had now crossed beyond the Arctic Circle.
Later there was a party and dancing with social games and so on. But I don’t do this North American happy-clappy stuff so I retired to the upstairs lounge where there’s a power point and I did some work.
But I’m not going to be here long. Even though I had a lengthy repose this afternoon I’m pretty tired and we do have an early start tomorrow. I’ll go to bed and watch a film. That’s almost guaranteed to make me fall asleep. But things are so inverted just recently that I’ll probably still be awake at 06:00.
No point in waiting for the sunset because it’s overcast and tying its best to rain, as I expected. I’ll see nothing whatever out there this evening.
