A boat trip to Grimsey

After breakfast (in the hotel this time!) we walked down to the bus station and caught the bus to Dalvík, a small port town closer to the sea than Akureyri but in the same fjord.

After a trip of just under an hour we arrived in Dalvík harbour, the bus actually dropped us right by the ferry to Grimsey. The boat left at 11:00. For the first hour of the trip the ferry was heading down the sheltered fjord and it was nice sitting on the top deck. We saw either some dolphins or porpoises swimming alongside the boat (I'm not sure which they were!). Further on out we passed an Icelandic Navy boat. However, having reached the open sea (actually the Arctic Ocean) things got a bit cold, windy and rough so I went inside. There was a TV in the lounge in the ferry and they showed a short video made by the headmaster (and only teacher) of the school of Grimsey. The island has a population of just over one hundred, mostly engaged in fishing. The ferry sails to Grimsey twice a week during the summer to deliver supplies and to take the fish back to the mainland.

We arrived in the small harbour at Grimsey a bit before 3 o'clock.

Grimsey is famous for two things. The first is that the Arctic circle passes through the island. The circle is drawn at 66° 33' North and Grimsey is the only part of Iceland through which it passes.

The other thing about Grimsey is the bird life. Walking north from the Arctic Circle you pass by the short grass strip of the airport. You then start to get dive bombed by shrieking seagulls. Fortunately they didn't crap on us.

We set off back for the mainland at about half past five. The trip back was much calmer than the journey out. We arrived back at the harbour in Dalvík at nine o'clock. The bus was waiting for us on the quayside to take us back to Akureyri bus station.