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Our trip around Iceland is following the A1 ring road which circles the country. There are some quirks including a large number of single lane bridges. Unusual to see as part of a highway. They have been built across areas where there is potential flood risk following volcanic eruptions. Interestingly over time some bridges are now in the wrong place because the rock debris which also falls as part of the eruption diverts the water elsewhere. An ongoing issue.
Iceland has no predatory animals except for the arctic fox. They do have reindeer and min, which were introduced and are now considered feral. hunting permits are issued for certain times of the year.
Sheep roam free in the mountains during the summer drinking the pure water and grazing on the grass. They are rounded up and returned to their owners in September identified by their branding.
We travelled through a number of tunnels today. They were built to assist travel in the fjord country during the winter months where previously people had to drive over the mountains. In winter sometimes these roads were impassable so the people were isolated.
Another industry is fish processing and a number
of the processing plants in small towns have closed down as the individual fisherman have lost their quota for fish catching to the larger trawlers who then process all fish back in Reykjavik. Fortunately for some towns the fish processing has been replaced by aluminium smelters which are economical due to cheap electricity.
Iceland has 2% unemployment.rate but the small country towns are losing their youth to the larger cities.
Today we travelled through the Eastern fjords. We saw some reindeer, eider ducks, swans and many other migratory birds. We stopped at a curious museum set up by a woman, Petra, who spent much of her life collected precious rocks and minerals from the area. Amazing for its size and variety including jasper, quartz and many others. Not small ones but huge large rocks. Why it is not being mined is a mystery. Because of the time of the year many things are not opened yet including a museum set in in one of the Allied bases constructed in WWII. Iceland did not participate in the war but allowed itself to be occupied for protection against the Germans. First by England and then by the USA.
Overnight
in Herad.
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