On leaving Húsavík, our summer circumnavigation of Iceland continued east along the country’s north coast until the point at which our journey required us to turn south if we wanted to return to Reykjavik rather than continue east across the Arctic Sea to Norway.
The wind had got up a bit and there was a bit of a swell, so we were told at our evening briefing that there had been a change of plan for the following day. Instead of anchoring off Bakkagerdi and being tendered ashore on zodiacs as scheduled, we would continue further south and stop instead at Seydisfjordur, where we could tie up alongside and walk ashore. Seydisfjordur lies at the end of a fjord and so offers a bit more protection from the wind and the waves.
When looking at the itinerary for our voyage prior to departure I was actually surprised to see Bakkagerdi as being our stop on the east coast. Seydisfjordur looked far more interesting and inviting to me, so I was secretly delighted by this sudden change of plans. I’m not sure my pleasure was shared by the Expedition Team on board who had to arrange a fresh range of shore excursions and activities at fairly short notice.
In the event, I didn’t join any of the planned excursions, preferring instead to wander around the relatively small town on my own. I did, however, sign up for the outdoor photography workshop which was both instructive and informative. Lots of hints and tips and shared ideas on our 90-minute wander up and around the Budareyrarfoss waterfall a short distance from the harbour.
The main tourist attraction in town is the ’blue church’ so I then made my way towards that. It lies at the end of a street painted in rainbow colours and there a couple of other brightly coloured shops along the way.
I stopped at a local cafe for lunch before exploring a little more. For all that Seydisfjordur is a pretty little town, it is also the main ferry port in the east of Iceland. There is a scheduled summer service to / from Denmark and the Faroe Islands. My meanderings took me to a path above the town and I was able to get some good views from there before making my way back to the ship, which sailed just before 3pm. I had enjoyed my time in Seydisfjordur and glad of the unexpected opportunity to visit.
Our circumnavigation would continue down Iceland’s east coast and then along the south of the island. Next stop the Westman Islands. But that’s a blog post for another day.
The China Penguin 