Day 5: Heading for Heimaey

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10:15 AM

The half price bus journey to Þorlákshöfn took us down Iceland’s main Route 1 for the first part, the same way we had gone the previous day on the first leg of the Golden Circle. This same road was almost unrecognisable to 24 hours earlier though, the snow that had covered the flat landscape was gone, and the misty mountaintops where clear, letting the morning sun glint over them. The second half of the journey took us towards the south coast, where the rocky hills gave way to flat plains so quickly you can almost see the faultline that separates Europe and America - the Mid-Atlantic Ridge basically cuts Iceland in two, forking in two directions in the middle of the country to take a detour through Reykjavik.

The bus to Þorlákshöfn is designed to link up nicely with the ferry that we were catching, and dropped us right next to it around 10 minutes before it was due to leave, time enough for us to buy our tickets and jump aboard. The seas around Iceland are well known for being unpredictably rough on some days, but today the sea appeared calm, there was little wind and just clear blue skies for as far as the eye could see, so it should have been a nice, gentle crossing. Appearances can be deceptive, though, and looking around at the small number of people on the ship, it was amazing how many looked sea-sick. Lyndsey felt particularly bad and I was starting to feel a bit ropey by the end of the 2 hours 45 minutes journey, although John put his IPod on and sang to himself for most of the trip, which seemed to work wonders for him.

Arriving in Heimaey, Vestmannaeyjar’s only inhabited island, was almost unreal, like the scene out of a pirate film; from a distance, the island just seems to be tall, jagged cliffs that you feel you may need to climb to get in, then as you get close the ferry rides alongside them, until suddenly it turns into a narrow inlet between the cliffs, almost like a secret entrance to the island. Once through the secret entrance, the land seemed to open up and we were able to pull up in Heimaey’s harbour, which was the entry point both for the tourists and for fishermen, Heimaey’s only real business operations. It was clear that the fishing trade pulled in a lot more than the tourist trade - of the people we had met up to now that were travelling the country, none had any plans to head for Heimaey. Its ease of access from Reykjavik probably made it a good weekend getaway in the summer months, but the number of people on the ferry and the deserted streets to the hostel made it clear that this wasn’t a popular destination out of season. The island is basically a small town slotted onto the available land between the high cliffs that the boat had just navigated on one side, and two volcanoes on the other.

The hostel that we were staying in did not have its own reception as such, instead using Hotel Thorshamer next door as a point where we could check in. The hostel itself is not really a hostel, more like a few small apartments with a communal kitchen. Our room had five beds in, although it looked very much like we wouldn’t be sharing with anyone else, so we threw our bits and pieces all over the room to mark our territory and give it that homely feel. Once we had thrown our belongings into the room, we went straight to the local supermarket for food. It was pretty clear that Heimaey was not the kind of place we would be able to eat out, as the town was pretty much empty, and so, wanting to get our food budget back on track, we just bought enough food to cook for the next couple of days. The supermarket had plenty of range, so we spent a while debating whether to try out some local specialities, but the shrink wrapped version of famous Icelandic dish Hákarl (basically shark that has been allowed to rot for six months or so) and the whole sheep’s head really didn’t appeal, so we opted for spaghetti bolognaise for one night, and, trying to at least go for something that seemed Icelandic, we also picked up some fritter-type things from the local fish aisle. With food and drink sorted for the weekend, and the mid-afternoon sun blazing gloriously, we decided it was time to move on from the dull practicalities of our stay and explore the island.

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