Iceland in January 4: Grundarfjörður

Now that we were settled in Grundarfjörður, we were excited about the whale watch -- especially because the weather had improved greatly. We dressed warmly and they provided waterproof suits like the ones fishermen wear, making the trip very comfortable.

The suit modeled Caty

It’s a good thing because we were on their older boat, a typical wooden Icelandic fishing boat. We looked like Michelin Tire Men, but we stayed warm.

A very cool boat

Láki also has a newer, faster boat with an enclosed cabin, but it was being used for a private charter.

The whale watch was beautiful, traveling throughout Grundarfjörður and out near the open sea. But, we saw no Orcas … no Seals … no Dolphins … no White-tailed Eagles. Only some Gulls ... 

Not much wildlife

... and some Eider Ducks.

Gorgeous Ducks

As Caty said, had it been billed a sightseeing cruise it would have been a big success – beautiful light, relatively calm seas, tolerable wind and temperatures. 

Kirkjufell

The mountains were snowy with sunlight peeking in and out.

Watery sunlight

In addition to the snowy mountains, there was also a basalt island that was supposed have Seals on it, but there were no Seals. The basalt was interesting ...

Definitely volcanic

... and the juxtaposition with the snowy mountains was striking.

Light and dark

It was interesting to do a trip like this in the winter because all my other whale watching has been in the summer. 

Not much light

We talked with a nice couple from New York who had also rethought a trip to West Fjords. We talked for quite a long time to Marie, the naturalist who was studying orcas. She was from Germany and had been in many of the orca hot spots around the world.

On the down side, we talked to some folks who had seen aurora on the south coast while we were sleeping in Reykjavik. Kicking ourselves on that one……

I was ready with my new GoPro, but didn’t get any Whale shots. Still, I did get some good tour video.

After the whale watch, we had some yummy sandwiches at Laki’s coffee shop (and we took some cake home) and we explored part of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, where we photographed Kirkjufellsfoss ... 

Frozen waterfall

... with some very interesting slabs of broken ice in the stream.

Ice

As we continued around the peninsula, we saw massive waves on black beaches.

Beach

Waves

We learned the hard way to never open both car doors when it is windy. One of Caty’s gloves is somewhere in the North Atlantic.

The sun played hide-and-seek, occasionally illuminating the mountains.

Cliffs

Peaks

More peaks

We made it all the way to the Badstofa caves, which sit in  the shadow of the 4,700-ft. Snæfellsnes volcano and glacier. OK, not exactly in the shadow because the mountain was in the clouds. 

Rough seas

Then, back to our mansion for leftovers and more aurora-wishing. 

Doing our socks

We also took advantage of the facilities and did laundry. 

We could not get the dryer to dry and could not figure out why (oddly, it was a “smart dryer”). It's always fun to use appliances in other countries (especially countries that care more about the environment).

Finally, we figured out that it collects the water rather than evaporating it out and the receptacle was full! 

After I emptied it, the clothes finally dried. But, the ones we hung on the towel warmer in the bathroom dried faster. 

While cozy in the living room, we also used the Wi-Fi to investigate options for our extended south coast stay and booked an ice cave tour.

A word about Wi-Fi and phone service. It was available almost everywhere and worked very well. Plus, Iceland has a nifty phone app with its 112 emergency system. 

You can check-in at regular intervals and it even has an emergency button, you can push if you run into trouble without having to place a call. It gives you a bit of comfort that they can track and find you!

We had another aurora-less night, followed by another whale-less trip to the bridge, where I did get a good picture looking back at Grundarfjörður. 

This is probably about 9:30 a.m.

Our second whale watch was also whale-less. This time, the weather wasn’t quite as good. We had a little rain, more wind and bigger swells. We had been thinking about a third trip the next day, but decided that Orcas were not to be and the weather wasn’t looking that great. We did see a White-tailed Eagle (I spotted it; the naturalist on this tour was not a talkative or engaged as Marie). It was way too far away to photograph.

We really liked the Láki people. Their café is cozy and warm. They are friendly and accommodating and we hope their little business thrives. It sure would help them if the orcas would show up more often and if the weather would calm down. After we got back, they posted a note on their site saying that they are concerned about whether the Orcas will return because the herring population is less than a third of what it was last year. And, they hadn't seen any on whale watches in January. Ironically, a small pod was spotted at the Kolgrafafjörður bridge the day after we left. This is Láki's photo of the pod.

Photo: Láki

We are glad that we didn't stay for a whale watch the next day because they had to come in early because of bad weather. 

Photo: Láki

My next blog will cover the rest of our time on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. 

Trip date: January 16-27, 2015