THE CRUISE - Akureryi (Iceland)

Day Seven - Friday, 24th June

Today we are due to get to Akureryi about noon, and only have half the day there. Lee woke up at 4.00am, and saw that we were sailing quite close to shore and there were rugged cliffs of snow and ice, and spectacular scenery including one rock mass that was almost a perfect pyramid.

As we sailed down the fjord, there was more scenery with cliffs, mountains and snow and ice. The most spectacular scenery is actually at the entrance, and as you get further in there are settlements and villages and areas under cultivation, and we thought the areas in here might be a little more sheltered and lend themselves to 'farming'.

At the end of the fjord, there is actually a small airport, with a causeway across from town to other areas. Lee thought she'd heard that the Azura was the largest ship to have visited Iceland, and it did take a while to dock. It was moored starboard side in, and because it was later in the day, we could actually watch the docking procedure.

The ship was just about "in" the town, and so we didn't need shuttle buses, just those for the people going touring. It is a small town, and with Reykjavik being only 180,000 people, and the rest of Iceland about the same, this town was small by comparison. Fairly cool at about 8 deg, and threatening rain, so we walked into town and had a look around and found some shops which had some interesting things, but particular T-shirts with rune alphabets on them, we thought Jeremy would like, but they didn't have the correct size. Got a couple of other small things with the Euros we had left.

Akureryi also has a very striking church, in a similar style to the one in Reykjavik, but not so grand, and with a long stairway leading up to it so we just took photos.

Again, ,many of the buildings are coloured and some seemed to be clad in corrugated iron, which seems a little thin for the climate, but maybe they have special insulation? However the overall effect of the building colours, roofs and styles is quite pleasing. 


Not really wanting to have lunch ashore we headed back to the ship for a quiet lunch and then a nap.
Tonight's sailaway is at 6.30pm, and there were still passengers coming back from tours at 6.00, and because we weren't going to the set meal time, we lined up again at the Trattoria, and were third in line and so got a very nice table for two at the window, and enjoyed a very pleasant dinner, watching the other side of the fjord pass by on our way out towards Norway.