West Coast Excursion

The weekend before last (wow time flies!) I was invited to join my friend Gummi for a trip to his family’s cabin on an island off of the west coast of Iceland. The drive from Holar was fairly uneventful but upon reaching the coast, we parked his car in a farmer’s seaside field where his dad was waiting for us in a boat. After a 15 minute boat ride, we arrived at an island no bigger than a soccer field where Gummi’s mom was waiting to greet us.

This idyllic setting has been the family's summer cottage home for the past 15 years. The island, called Bjargey or “Cliff Island” is also home to several Eider birds which are coveted for their down which can sell for over $300/kg. Of course it takes quite a lot of down to make a kilogram, but nevertheless, the birds are beautiful in their natural setting.

Bjargey as well as Toftarey, “Island of Ruins” are both owned by Gummi’s family and are 2 of countless islands and rocks that freckle the body of water called Hvammsfjordur.









I had a fantastic weekend as both I and another friend Tyler (a Canadian finishing off his masters degree in Holar) were treated to a personal tour of the area. We saw spectacular rock formations, more species of birds than I can count; including puffins, terns and a rare breeding pair of Icelandic Sea Eagles - 1 of only an estimated 35 breeding pairs alive in Iceland. We also visited islands with nests and collected eggs and mussels for a birthday feast for Gummi which included leg of lamb cooked on an open pit BBQ (Gunnar’s Grille).

The evening, capped with a spectacular sunset, was spent watching pairs of Eiders frolic in the tidal current in front of the cabin.



Many thanks to Gummi and to his parents, Sikka and Gunnar, for the magnificent weekend. Say not goodbye but see you again!

---

Traditional Icelandic Cuisine

Last weekend was my weekend of Icelandic gastronomic sampling. I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to taste some of the culinary delights that have been staple dishes for Icelanders since the time of the first Viking settlers. My friend Broddi happens to have been able to borrow the necessary equipment (a large pot, cauldron in fact) to cook one of his favourite traditional meals – boiled sheep heads. Now before you start thinking that Icelanders must be barbarians to eat these, I must tell you that it is for the succulent taste of sheep heads that they have chosen this meal – and I was lucky enough to be invited to the feast. The heads were tasty, and not surprisingly tasted rather like lamb. Nowadays because of Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (Mad Cow) the brains of the animal are removed. However there is still plenty of meat thus a half head can make a substantial and fulfilling dinner. Trying desperately to show my gratitude for the meal and perhaps trying to prove a warped sense of self worth, I ate as much of the head as I possibly could, devouring all that was physically edible. These pictures show before, during and after our meal.

The other traditional dish that I was able to sample was seabird eggs. Broddi bought 6 Guillemot eggs at the supermarket as an appetizer to our meal. The pretty mottled pastel blue eggs were a real treat. They are collected from the rocky cliffs of the nearby island of Drangey at this time of year only (egg laying season). We boiled them for 7 minutes and then cracked open the sturdy shells to reveal a translucent egg white and a treasured golden yolk. The pointiness of the egg is an evolutionary trait that prevents them from rolling off of the rock ledge/nest and into the ocean. Having this conical shape, they tend to roll in a circle and hence back towards the center of the nest.

Other seabird eggs that I was able to try this past weekend were gull and goose eggs from the Hvamms Fjord on the west coast of Iceland. I’ll post pictures of that trip soon.

I would like to thank Broddi and Christine for being the gracious hosts you are and for giving me the opportunity to try traditional Icelandic cuisine. I hope I didn’t come across as the overzealous tourist taking pictures of, instead of taking pleasure in, the experience. And thanks also to Bjarni for showing me that the ear and the palate are indeed edible. Yum!

An Evening Hike

One evening last week my friend Allan and I decided that the weather was just too nice not to be outside enjoying it. For some time I had been wanting to climb the peak that watches over Holar and here was a fine opportunity to stretch our legs, get some fresh Icelandic air into our lungs and enjoy the outdoors. Also, Allan climbed the peak last summer and since arriving in Holar earlier in the week, had been wanting to climb it again. One of the luxuries of the northern summer is the fact that it never really gets dark. So at 7 o'clock in the evening we set out on our hike that was to take between 4 to 6 hours. Armed with water, smoked salmon, crackers and camera, we ascended the peak. We scurried up the mountain side with nothing other than the direction up to guide us. For the most part, a path was unneccessary but there were a few times when I was thinking that should I slip, it would be a long roll to the bottom. Here are a few pictures from the hike. To view individual images of the collage, click here. To view a slideshow of the pictures, click here.

Here is a photo of our route. Click the photo with your mouse to view our path.

Welcome to Iceland, may I see your credit card?

I knew before coming here that Iceland was going to be expensive. The friendly folk at Lonley Planet claim Iceland is second only to Japan in cost of living. I successfully managed to overlook the cost of goods in Japan for 3 years (perhaps to the chagrin of my bank account) thus thought 2 months here would be a cinch. However just how expensive the supermarket in Sauðárkrókur is versus the rest of Iceland caught me a bit off guard. Even though I am on an account, I cannot bring myself to take chicken breasts to the cashier at $44/kg - no matter whose money it is! In order to quench my chicken appetite I’ve purchased legs at a reasonable $12/kg. Last week I was in Akureyri, Iceland’s second largest town at 15,000 people and went to a store with prices that were remarkably comparable to Canada. I was in shock. Amazingly Campbell’s Mushroom Soup goes for about $1 there compared to the $2.50 that I shell out. The chicken legs were probably free...

However being an island nation, fish is a bargain in comparison. Anyplace where smoked salmon lox is cheaper than salami can’t be all that bad. Thus my sandwiches have comprised mostly of smoked salmon and for that I can't really complain.

Meals

The only meals that I really have to cook are dinners. Breakfasts, lunches, and teatime snacks are in the university cafeteria. Mmmm… teatime… Icelandic cooking isn’t the friendliest to calorie counters, and the teatime cakes are dreadfully delectable. Once the clock hits 3, it's off with the rubber gloves, off with the raingear and out the door for a relaxing afternoon tea. Trevor, my predecessor here, said teatime was his favourite. Now I know why.

Accommodation

Thankfully I don't have to pay for lodging because I have read that for rustic (shall I say meagre) accommodation anything upwards of $100/night, even as high as $800/night, is not uncommon. My accommodations are definately better than rustic, thus would probably fall somewhere within that range. However, if I do venture out of Holar it may cost me a small fortune to find a place to rest my head. It's a good thing there's lots of camping.

More Icelandic Moments - Photos

To view the collage, click on the collage.
Or to view each individual photo, click here.
Or perhaps a slideshow of them all, click here (this may require some time to load depending on your connection speed).

Því miður, ég tala ekki íslensku. Talar þu ensku?

I'm sorry, I don't speak Icelandic. Do you speak English?

Friends have asked how my Icelandic is coming and I have to frankly reply that it's not. I have resigned myself to not learning it for the following reasons:
1. Icelandic is not easy. It would take some serious brainpower and time to learn - two things that I already seem to be slightly short of.
2. Almost everybody speaks English.
3. I am only here for 2 months – thus spending time studying does not seem to be an efficient use of my precious time. Plus, who wouldn't rather be out exploring than hovering over books?
4. Virtually everybody speaks English.
5. There is very little opportunity for me to use Icelandic once I get home – I may be able to find someone to talk to in Vancouver, but chances are slim, especially since there are only about 260,000 people in the world who speak Icelandic with a native tongue.
6. Nearly everybody speaks English.
7. There is really no one to teach me here. Obviously there are many people around me who speak Icelandic but speaking and teaching can be 2 very different things, especially when one asks questions like, “Why are there 8 conjugations of the word table?”
8. And practically everybody speaks English.

Thus I’ll stick with my native tongue for now. Even the French girl who is here for 5 months has resorted to improving her English over studying Icelandic. However I have met several people at the college who have been able to decipher and communicate in Icelandic – most impressive. I'll still try to pick up a few words here and there, but any ambition that I had of becoming fluent is quite honestly, beyond hope.

---

If you are more ambitious than I to learn Icelandic or just want to hear what the language sounds like, there is a great website hosted by the University of Iceland called Icelandic Online. It offers basic Icelandic lessons with sound demos as well.

Postcards from Iceland

For those of you who may be wondering if I made it to Iceland or not, I thank you for remembering me stationed atop of the world. I did make it here and am surviving quite well. I apologize for the radio silence that has fallen on my communications. No excuses really, except that I have been experiencing the experiences that Iceland has been offering.

Already, it has been 3 weeks since I left Vancouver’s YVR and landed in Reykjavik’s KEF. I had my fair share of trials and tribulations getting here, the first of which was at customs entering the country – not the warmest welcome I can assure you. Next I was transported by taxi, bus and then car to the edge of the world, here to Holar - where I did receive a warm Icelandic welcome.

Where, What and How is Holar?

Holar i Hjaltadal is a small village about 12 km inland from the ocean, perched on the side of the Hjaltadal Valley in north-central Iceland. An area of once great religious significance, the village is, and has been for the past 900 some-odd years, home to Holar School. Nowadays called Holar University College, it is here that I have been volunteering as an Aquarium Technician. Yes, a fancy title for a tank cleaner but you’d be surprised that when cleaning tanks, the number of issues that arise and require more than just the knowledge of a water bucket and scrub brush. However that’s not to say that I am good at solving all or any of these problems – it’s just a title. Back to Holar though...

The town, village, berg, is very small. On most maps it would constitute little more than a speck of dust or a pinprick. Here in Iceland though, it is a full-fledged dot. With a population that swells to a whopping 200 during the school year, the summer has about half that number of residents. Of the summertime transients, there are about 15,000 tourists that flock to this area to take in the history that Holar has to offer. The buses have already started arriving, though by June I hear that they will be thick as the mosquitoes will be.

Needless to say, a village this small does not have any stores, shops or cafes. Here I can lead a quiet country life and live a slice of Iceland that most tourists don't get to see. The largest nearby town, Saudarkrokur, is 30 min away by car as is the only supermarket. The supermarket, named KS (pronounced Cow-Ess), is known for it’s exuberantly high prices, even by Iceland standards. But they are the only one in town, literally, so it's a feeding frenzy of laissez faire capitalism.

What have I been doing?
When I left Canada, I was telling people that I wasn’t really sure what I would be doing other than cleaning aquariums as a volunteer. That, however, is exactly what I've been up to for the past two and a half weeks. In theory, it’s easy – grab a brush and scrub. In reality it is not that easy. Cleaning the tank itself is not that hard. The algae scrub off of the rocks and glass without too much difficulty. It's the cleaning of the gravel and sand, then putting it all back into the tank so that everything is presentable that presents the problem. An artistic eye and a patient attitude are virtues in this job, both of which I've been striving to cultivate. But the job is getting done and I am proud of the results. Though, whether visitors to the aquarium will notice the TLC or not, is another question.

---

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and take a look. I'll be updating No Postage whenever there is something noteworthy or when the wind blows just right - whatever happens first. If you like, please leave a comment, or send me an email when you get a chance. Takk Fyrir!