Chapter 23: Goodbye Iceland

Continued from Chapter 22

This was our last full day in Iceland.

Our shuttle picked us up from Sosa's Apartments in Bolungarvik and transported us to the Ísafjörður Airport for our 9:15am flight back to Reykjavik.

Ísafjörður Airport

The regional airports in Iceland are very relaxed affairs and it was wonderful to be treated as humans again instead of sheep being screamed at by officious X-Ray Inspection staff, as in other airports around the world. There was no security, and when our aircraft was ready to depart, we walked about 30m from the terminal to the plane which then wasted no time in taking off once we had boarded.

40 mins later, we were back in cloudy and grey Reykjavik. As our Germany flight was early the following morning, we had opted to stay in a hotel in Keflavik for the night as it was closer to the international airport.

The easiest way to get between Reykjavik and Keflavik is on the airport shuttle bus, so we taxiied to the BSI Tourist Bus Terminal, caught the bus to the international airport and then got a taxi from the airport to the hotel in Keflavik township.

We stayed at the Iceland Air Flughotel in Keflavik. Most hotels in Iceland are owned and run by Iceland Air. Thankfully our rooms were ready even though we were checking in before the usual time. For €350 we had 2 connecting rooms. Gulp. The rooms were not huge and we wouldn't have liked to have stayed any longer than a night as there was not much room around the beds or places to store luggage without tripping over it. Plus, the rooms were uncomfortably hot - even with the heating off.

We decided to head to the Blue Lagoon to soak away the afternoon. The bus picked us up outside the hotel and less than 30 minutes later, we were basking in the warm water again, reflecting on our last 2 weeks in Iceland.

Back for another soak

The boys ham it up

Menacing clouds over the Blue Lagoon

Back at the hotel, we quickly assessed that there wasn't much around the vicinity in the way of restaurants, so we raided the closest supermarket for a roasted chicken and bread for dinner, as well as ordering a pizza from the local pizzeria.

The boys were exhausted, so they fell asleep very quickly. J did too, but I couldn't settle easily until falling asleep sometime after midnight.

At 6am, we were in a taxi on the way to the airport which was chaotic at that time of morning. We joined the end of a very long queue at the Iceland Air check-in which, to our delight moved quite quickly. We soon found out why - the check-in staff were extremely competent and efficiently processed our luggage and supplied us with boarding cards.

Up to Security where the first check was for passports and boarding cards and then we were in the queue for X-ray. Again, we moved though without delay aided by the friendly security staff. All too soon, we were in the departure area where we had about an hour to kill before our flight boarded.

Keflavik Airport is as relaxed as an international airport can be. We didn't even have to clear immigration.

Boarding our Iceland Air plane, the kids were delighted to find that we were flying back in an aircraft which had received an upgrade to its entertainment system, and we each had individual screens with movies, music and games. That kept them occupied while J and I managed to sleep most of the way home!

Iceland in Retrospect
It is an expensive country to visit, and I feel that the latest financial problems will not make that any better. Yes, airfares may be reduced and perhaps accommodation rates (hopefully), but food, beverages and transportation prices will remain high because it costs a lot for these items to be exported to Iceland.

Our costs would have been lower if we had avoided the main tourist season of June, July and August, but then we wouldn't been able to go to the north-western Hornstrandir area which is only accessible in these months. If we do go back, we would do so in April/May or September/October when the accommodation and car rental rates are much cheaper.

We would not return with the kids. Even though we had a great time with them at Hesteyri and some tourist amenities in Reykjavik were free for under-12s, it was still an expensive affair to take the boys with us; as well as less flexible. In a land where it remains light all though the night, getting the kids to bed at a reasonable hour was sometimes difficult. In the days where we had the rental car, J and I could have travelled further and for longer if we hadn't the boys' needs to also consider. We could also have chosen cheaper accommodation if we had not been travelling with the children.

We did have an amazing time in Iceland: saw some wonderful sights; met some truly genuine people; experienced some entertaining moments and very much enjoyed ourselves.


I would love to go back and see the eastern part of the island, as well as photograph at a different time of year when there is a different quality of light and some snow, but I think that I would have to do a major persuasion job on J to get her to go back with me!

Final Chapter: The Iceland Sagas - a link list to all our Icelandic posts

Chapter 22: Ísafjörður and walking back to Bolungarvik

Continued from Chapter 21

Click images to enlarge

By the time we had finished breakfast, we were kicking ourselves for not staying another night in Hesteyri and taking the evening ferry back to Ísafjörður as our friends C & F were doing. The Bolungarvik ferry had been arranged by J's friend before we had arrived in Iceland and, as we weren't familiar with the area or the ferry timings, we had gone along with the plans.

However, the apartment in Bolungarvik was costing us €240 for the 2 nights and it was annoying us that we had to spend another whole day and night in Bolungarvik, twiddling our thumbs until the next morning when our plane flew out of Ísafjörður. We were stuck - no transportation to go anywhere and if we did fly out a day earlier, we then had to find even more expensive accommodation in Reykjavik/Keflavik for an extra night. Damn!

When I had gone down to the wharf to photograph the boats the previous evening, I had also checked out the local bus service timetable between Bolungarvik and Ísafjörður. There were only 3 trips per day both ways, so we didn't have much choice.

After breakfast, the kids went fishing with the son of J's friend, so that got them out of our hair for the day. J and I decided to head into Ísafjörður for something to do - plus we had to stop at the Information Centre to arrange our early morning airport shuttle pick-up.

We caught the 1pm shuttle to Ísafjörður and 15 minutes later, we were at the Information Centre arranging the shuttle for the next morning. After doing that, we decided to walk around the town to see what we could find.

A brightly coloured building by the Information Centre

The inner fjörd with the main wharf area

Another cruise ship was in port. Smaller than the QE2, it was able to tie up at the wharf. From the accents that we heard from its passengers who were walking around town, the Silver Cloud was filled with Americans.

Silver Cloud at the wharf

By now we had managed to fill in an hour to reach 2:15pm. The shuttle bus back to Bolungarvik wasn't due to leave until 6pm. What the hell were we going to do for the next 3.75 hours?

Desperate people do desperate things. We decided to walk back to Bolungarvik.

It.was.only.15.kilometres.away.

The green line shows the 15km between Ísafjörður and Bolungarvik

We set off along the Óshlíd road, fighting a cold headwind the whole way. My feet, knees and right hip had not fully recovered from the Hesteyri hiking, so I was taking a battering. Still, it was better than trying to fill in time while waiting for the shuttle.

Along the way, we did see some pretty sights including a few waterfalls.

All that pure water cascading down the hill

We also saw a seal fishing off the rocks and there were quite a few birds to watch as well. Plus, we had to look out for vehicles which passed close to us as there was no footpath and we were walking on the side of the road. The cliffs towering above reminded us of our off-road adventures in Oman - albeit a lot greener than the Hajjar Mountains.

The rock faces were teeming with nesting birds

After 2.25 hours, we came around the corner to see the lighthouse, and behind it was Bolungarvik. At least we could now see our destination! We paused to take photos of the lighthouse which was very vivid against the blue sky.

The lighthouse with Bolungarvik just showing on the left

Highly visible - even with the light off!

As we passed the fishing village which is now a tourist attraction, we noticed this portable toilet on top of the cliff. To our amusement, it was tied down to 2 very heavy concrete slabs. We guess that it must get very windy at times!

Tie the toilet down!

Finally, we were back in Bolungarvik. The town's sign was great motivation to keep going, even though we knew that we still had a couple of kms to go. It was now 6pm.

Bolungarvik city limits

We detoured to the supermarket where we treated ourselves to ice creams before walking back to the apartment to put up our weary feet. Unfortunately the boys arrived home shortly after, demanding dinner. No rest for the walkers!

Next Chapter: Our last day and leaving Iceland

Chapter 11: Preparing for Hesteyri

Continued from Chapter 10

Click on the images to enlarge them

Waking the next morning in Bolungarvik, we had to get up and out reasonably early as we had no food in the house for breakfast. We were due to catch the ferry to Hesteyri at 6pm but we had shopping to do for food beforehand, as there aren't any shops in Hesteyri and we were going to be there for 8 days.

J's friend had told us that Bónus was (again) the supermarket at which to shop, so we piled into the car and headed for the only Bónus in the area, in Ísafjörður and located halfway between the main town area and the airport.

Ísafjörður township from the road to the airport. It's built on a sandspit where the inner Skutulsfjörður fjord meets the waters of the outer main Isafjarðardjúp fjord

Our hearts sank as we neared the building as there were no cars in the parking area and it looked very quiet. Sure enough, the supermarket was shut and wasn't due to open until mid-day. It was now only 9:30am!

We headed back into town, locating a smaller, (open) supermarket where we bought food for breakfast and lunch, and then headed back to Bolungarvik to pack our stuff and rest up.

I took a little walk around town which wasn't that big. Bolungarvik is surrounded by 4 big mountains - Óshyrna, Ernir, Tunguhorn and Traðarhyrna. Its main industry (and reason for existence) is fishing, although even that has considerably slowed down in recent years.

Mt. Ernir in Bolungarvik

When I was researching Iceland before our trip, one of the most interesting articles that I found on Bolungarvik was this piece written by Jonas Moody and published in the Autumn 2007 edition of Iceland Review. From personal perspectives of some of the townsfolk, Jonas writes of the dilemmas people are facing as the fishing scales down and the work dries up.

Isafjarðardjúp fjord from Bolungarvik

The 2008 census counted a population of 905 in Bolungarvik. The West Fjörds now only account for 2.3% of the total Icelandic population, down from the 14.2% in the 1920s when fishing and whaling were experiencing boom times.

The house in which we spent the night

I'll have more images of Bolungarvik in a later post which will describe our day spent in the region on the way back from Hesteyri.

At 3pm, we packed up our stuff and headed back to Ísafjörður. Just as we left Bolungarvik and headed along the coast, we spotted a small family pod of Orca making its way down the fjörd towards the open sea. Although they were too far away to take photographs, we were thrilled to be able to sit and watch these beautiful creatures which we hadn't seen before in the wild. There looked to be one big male with a very tall dorsal fin, and perhaps 2-3 females with a couple of calves.

Yay - Bónus was open! Equipped with a couple of trolleys, we waded our way into the shop and bought enough provisions for 8 days in the wilderness. To store all the food we also had to buy 2 plastic bins with lids which were €20 a pop. We approached the check-out with some trepidation - how much was all of this going to cost? To our surprise, the total was €220, including the €40 for the 2 plastic bins, and we didn't consider that to be too bad for 4 people for 8 days. It was certainly less than we had expected to pay.

We headed for the dock where we were to catch the fast ferryboat to Hesteyri. We were about an hour early, so while J returned the car to the café, I walked around the wharves and took some images.

Ísafjörður fishing boats

Ísafjörður Port

I liked the Primary colours

Most of the larger fishing vessels are no longer in operation

Just before 6pm and with the help of the crew, we loaded all our gear onto the ferry and off we went - heading at high speed across Ísafjarðardjúp - towards a smaller fjörd called Jökulfirðir (Glacier Fjörd) on the Hornstrandir Peninsular, the most isolated part of Iceland. As you can see on the below map, there are no roads in these parts!

The blue line shows the ferry route from Ísafjörður to Hesteyri across the Isafjarðardjúp

The crossing was invigorating and we were excited to be on this leg of our trip. The boat shot across the calm water and we watched fishing gulls and puffins scatter out of our way as we neared them.

Adieu to Ísafjörður

In the far off distance, we saw a whale (most likely a Humpback) surface, and the high mountains of the fjörd were breath-taking - as was the cold wind if we happened to stick our heads over the side of the boat and out of the shelter of the cabin!

Looking up the Isafjarðardjúp

We saw some impressive cloud formations as we got closer to the Hornstrandir side.

South side of Jökulfirður

North side of Jökulfirður

As we approached Hesteyri, the boat slowed and crawled to the jetty. The tide was out, so not bottoming the boat was a prerogative.

Our first sighting of Hesteyri - beautiful isolation

We were met by Hrólfur, the husband of J's friend, who helped us with our gear and showed us the way to the lodge which is run by his mother Birna.

After introducing us to Birna and a couple of other lodge guests, Hrólfur showed us to our upstairs bedroom that was to be our home for the next 7 nights. It had 1 double bed and 2 bunk beds, so we organised who was going to sleep where, spread out our sleeping bags and set some ground rules with the boys about keeping the room tidy!

Going back downstairs, we re-arranged our food boxes. One with non-perishable goods stayed on shelves in the pantry area which also doubled as the entry way where jackets and outdoor shoes resided. It was about 10°C in there during the day, dropping to about 5°C in the later hours - I can't really say night-time as it never got dark!

As there is no power in Hesteyri, there is no refrigeration, so the other box with all the perishable items such as milk, Skyr, fruit, veges and meat went outside - into the stream which runs conveniently beside the house. The cool 2°C water kept everything nicely chilled!

Nature's refrigeration - a cold stream and rocks to stop the bins from floating away!

As it was now 8pm, we cooked dinner in the communal kitchen and talked a while with the others before collapsing into bed at 11pm.

Next Chapter: History of Hesteyri

Chapter 10: QE2 and Bolungarvik

Continued from Chapter 09

When we dropped the car back to Avis earlier in the day before flying to Ísafjörður, we had both commented on how empty the Reykjavik streets were during what should have been rush hour. There were very few vehicles. The Avis agent confirmed that it was a Public Holiday - Iceland's Labour Day or Verslunarmannahelgi - and that most Reykjavik residents head out of town to enjoy the last long weekend of Summer. That explained all the fully loaded 4WDs that we had seen over the weekend as we travelled in the southwest!

If it was quiet in Reykjavik, it was dormant in Ísafjörður and extinct in Bolungarvik, as we were about to find out.

We picked up the car and drove out along the coast road known as Óshlíd which is the only route between Ísafjörður and Bolungarvik.


When the QE2 visited Melbourne, Australia earlier this year on her final voyage downunder, I expected that this would be the last time that I would see her as a commissioned cruise ship.

QE2 at the wharf, Port of Melbourne, Australia, 2008

QE2 at the wharf, Port of Melbourne, Australia, 2008

While in Reykjavik, we had the unexpected pleasure of seeing her again in the far distance - steaming out of the harbour at the end of the day, as we were returning from down south.

Imagine our surprise when, as we had landed in Ísafjörður, we had seen the QE2 anchored in the fjord. As we drove out of town, there she was - set against a backdrop of snow and mountains. It was an impressive sight.

Queen Elizabeth 2 moored in Ísafjörður, August 2008

The stately lady, still one of the fastest ocean liners in the world with a top speed of 32.5 knots, is definitely looking tired. Her exterior paintwork is shabby and it appears that in recent times she hasn't been maintained to Cunard's high standards as she nears retirement. She's been sold to Dubai to be refurbished as a floating hotel.

Queen Elizabeth 2 in Ísafjörður, Iceland, August 2008

We made our way to Bolungarvik and drove around trying to locate the house in which we were staying, and found it with the help of a friendly local. Of course, the street sign was missing, so little wonder that we hadn't found it on our own!

J's friend was already at Hesteyri where we were due to meet her family, so we had the house to ourselves. Settling in, we decided to go back out to see if we could find somewhere that was open where we could buy some food for dinner.

Being a small town anyway, and a public holiday, Bolungarvik didn't have much to offer. The supermarket was closed as well as the restaurant, so we made our way to the Service Station which doubled as a burger bar.

Double duty: Gas station and Burger Bar

Walking in, we perused the menu board, thinking that we'd get some burgers and fries for dinner. J and I stood and looked at the options.

"That special of 4 burgers, fries and a 2l Coke would be ok for us," I said, pointing it out to J. We looked for the price - silently doing the currency conversion in our heads.

I looked at J - she looked at me.

I said, "Have I got that right? I think that I've miscalculated the conversion."

"No you haven't," said J, "You've got it right."

Up on the board, the price for 4 burgers, fries and a 2l Coke was 2,800ISK (Icelandic Kronur) which when converted to Euros, came to €25.

We didn't order the special.

Spying some sandwiches that looked ok, as well as some packets of potato chips and 4 pieces of pizza that were surprisingly cheap in comparison to the burger special, we headed back to the house, in shock, and ate our less than perfect dinner.

We kept wondering what lay in store for us the following day, when we had to go shopping for food supplies to keep us fed for the 8 days that we were going to be in Hesteyri.

Next Chapter: Preparing for Hesteyri and the ferry ride across the fjörd

Chapter 09: Leaving Reykjavik for Ísafjörður

Continued from Chapter 08

After 4 days in Reykjavik, it was time to head up to the Vestfirðir - the West Fjörds which are really in Iceland's Northwest. This is the most isolated part of the country and in some areas (particularly the Hornstrandir Peninsular) there are no roads and no vehicles, except for boats which are sometimes the only means to get to the remote places. It's not uncommon to see snowmobiles parked in people's driveways and garages in this part of the country!


We were due to fly to Ísafjörður, spend the night at the home of a friend in Bolungarvik, and the following evening, catch the ferry over to our ultimate destination, Hesteyri.

The airport for all internal Icelandic flights is actually in Reykjavik. Not to be confused with the International Airport in Keflavik (KEF), Reykjavik Airport (RKV) handles domestic services as well as flights to Greenland and the Faroe Islands. There are 2 terminals at RKV so it's important to know which airline you're flying with, so that you arrive at the correct departure point.

The terminal for Air Iceland is NOTHING LIKE what's described on this website. I guess that they must be talking about the other terminal which we didn't go to - or maybe they've never visited RKV!

The Air Iceland terminal is an old, small building, and the number of people it now handles begs for a new and larger one. Having said that, it's a very relaxed place and reminded me of the Nausori Airport in Fiji back when I was a kid.

We arrived to a crowded terminal where all the pax for the Greenland flight had just been told that their flight had been cancelled. It was bedlam, but the 4 staff on duty handled things very well from what we could see and hear. Save for a irate American couple and an uptight German group, all seemed to take the cancellation really well. Hopefully everyone had travel insurance to cover the extra night of expensive Reykjavik accommodation!

In the building, there are 3 check-in counters; toilets; café; a small, rickety luggage conveyor belt; duty free area which was closed; tiny waiting area with limited seating, and one door for people to exit through to walk to their planes.

Each check-in counter had a small monitor which displayed the flight number, and we couldn't check-in until our flight number showed on one of these screens. We waited, and waited, and waited - quietly starting to worry that our flight had also been cancelled and we hadn't been told. Alternative plans started to be discussed between us - just in case!

Finally, about 20 mins before our plane was due to depart, our flight flashed up on a monitor and we checked in. It was a very casual operation performed by very friendly Air Iceland staff - the same ones who had just dealt with the angry Greenland pax. They certainly didn't transfer any frustration onto us which reflected the professionalism in all the airline representatives that we encountered in Iceland. We received laser printed boarding passes and regardless of how many pieces of luggage was checked-in, only one baggage ticket is issued!

3 minutes before the plane was due to depart, we were allowed to exit the terminal and walk to the plane. The boys got a buzz out of walking across the tarmac and around the aircraft before boarding.


We buckled up, received the safety briefing from the smiling, lone woman flight attendant (well, it was a smallish Fokker F50!), the captain shut the door to the flight deck, and with a roar we were off. No endless taxiing and waiting for departure slots at this airport!

40 minutes later, we landed at Ísafjörður. The landing is an interesting procedure. Ísafjörður Airport is built on the edge of a fjörd between 2 steep and high mountain ridges.

The buildings at Ísafjörður Airport, dwarfed by the mountain ridge

Upon entering the fjörd, the plane descends along the far ridge, before executing a sharp, left diving turn to line up for the runway and drop down onto the deck.

This video will show you what I mean!



Taking off is straight out along the ridge shown in the below image.

The planes take off and ascend parallel to the ridge

Grabbing our bags, we headed out for the taxi bus to take us to the Edinborg Café in town, where keys to a vehicle parked outside the cafe would be given to us. From here, we would drive 15 mins to the next town, called Bolungarvik, to stay the night in a friend's house.

I managed this shot as a plane took off while we were in town. The pilot performs wheels-up very quickly to reduce the drag!

Taking off from Ísafjörður Airport

Next Chapter: The QE2 in Ísafjörður and Bolungarvik on a public holiday