It is settled. This is definitely where I want a home. It is beautiful. It is remote. You can hike forever, you can paddle forever, and you can just hang out forever.
The kayaking trip in brief: started on Sunday by driving to Isafjordur. Met the other members for my group and my guide. Traveled with two Americans, two Canadians, two French, and one Welsh guide. Boat ride to the “old doctor’s house” which is part of the abandoned village of Hesteyri. We got settled, ate a wonderful dinner cooked by the German chef, and then loaded up in our gear: thermal underwear, wetsuit, paddle jacket, spray skirt, and pogies (special kayaking gloves that fit over the paddles). We took about an hour and a half trip down the fjord and then back to the house.
Monday we got up, packed up, had a lovely breakfast cooked again by the German chef, got our gear on and paddled about 24 km to Kviar. Kviar is an abandoned Icelandic home that Borea Adventures (the group I traveled with) rebuilt. Borea does not own the house as the homes that are in the national park are not able to be purchased and must stay with the original family who bought them. Anyhow, the kayaking was amazing – so quiet and beautiful. There were quite a few curious seals that popped up to inspect our progress and a few curious artic fox on shore that stopped to see what we were up to. As well, I saw some puffins swimming around, a white tailed eagle, fumar birds, and gillymot ducks. The paddling was challenging for sure. The other members of my group had all paddled quite a bit before (the French couple, for example, spent a month paddleing around the parts of the coast of Greenland last summer). I got quite a lot of paddling tips though I am not sure I was able to incorporate all of them. I did learn how to easily get in and out of a kayak which was great.
When we reached Kviar, we were greeted by a Finnish guy who was already at the house as he was leading two photographers who were there to get some shots of the two artctic foxes that live by the house. We settled in, and I went off to see the fox. The photographers were filming them just a bit of a ways away so I tiptoed my way there to watch. The female fox was out and so so so cute! She was playing with a stick! She seemed pretty friendly (not eat of your hand friendly but not shy). Fingers crossed that one of the photographers will send me a picture he took because mine do not show anything viewable.
We ate a lovely dinner together, and then had a Finnish sauna. There were actually two Finnish guys there – the guide and a man traveling around. So they inducted me into the ways of the Finnish sauna which I am completely sold on and the only member of our group to go all three rounds. The cycle is simple: sit in the sauna, add large wooden spoonfuls of water to the stove every few minutes, get so hot that you feel you may die, exit the sauna, run down the path to the river, jump in the 44 degree water, instantly feel like you might die, get out, run up the path back to the sauna, and repeat. I am now an honorary Finnish citizen and sauna advisor.
Tuesday we got up, ate breakfast which included silver dollar pancakes, geared up and headed out. We explored one fjord. It was so beautiful on the way to the back of the fjord. The sky was a bit overcast, but the sun was peaking out. There was no wind. The water was like glass. There were so many jellyfish! I have never seen that many and so many shapes and sizes. There were some starfish as well and the curious seals were popping around here as well. We stopped and ate lunch and made it all the way to the back of the fjord with the sun out in full. We then turned to head back. And that is when the wind started up and the current pushed the boat in the opposite direction I was paddling. It was really tough going. The whole second half was into a wind, waves, and current. I did feel as if I might need to have an arm replacement surgery when I got done. But I did it. We kayaked about 26 km on Tuesday so probably about 55 km in total for the whole trip.
Tuesday evening I again had the Finnish sauna experience.
Wednesday morning I packed up and caught the boat back to Isafjordur. Ate lunch in the cafe run by Borea which was an awesome bowl of carrot pumpkin soup, hummus, and homemade bread. Then I drove about six and a half hours to Reykjavik where I am today.
Amy Oswalt 