A Cruise Ship Is All About Mobility

A cruise ship is of course, all about mobility but once in a while it is nice to be in one port all day or even overnight.  We docked in Isafjordur around 22:00 last night and didn't depart until 21:30 today. A ship at anchor or tied to a pier overnight is so peaceful.  Quiet.  Relaxing.  Here in beautiful Isafjordur we are far from the maddening crowd.  Although we are right next to a small town of approximately 3500 people, there is no traffic noise.  For the most part it was the plaintive sound of Gulls calling. Another wonderful thing about being in port all day, especially a beautiful place like Isafjordur, is that you have time to do everything, or, if you wish, plenty of time to do nothing at all.  It's totally up to you.

We had several terrific excursions available today which included: touring the nearby town of Sudureyri and tasting seafood,  hiking up to the Troll's Throne which had a magnificent view of

Isafjordur, a cultural walking tour of the town of
Isafjordur, and horse back riding on Icelandic horses.

The weather cooperated with us today.  We had periods of sunshine with great visibility.  We could see the top of the fjord and surrounding mountains and best of all, no rain! Yippee!  The great weather really contributed to making all of the excursions great!

In the evening two local young ladies performed in the Observation Lounge at 19:45.  Salome sang and Kristin accompanied her on the piano.  They were really excellent. Everyone wished they could have performed a little longer.

Then at 22:00 the officers and Expedition Team put on a fashion show modelling many of the items we have for sale in the gift shop here on board Fram.

Rocks & Ducks

Traveler, if you go to Iceland you are to choose if you want to be in Europe or in America first. This is no joke: Iceland sits atop, better: astride the mid-Atlantic ridge, so half of it belongs to the Eurasian and the other half to the North-American plate. And they move away from each other, at the neck-breaking speed of one inch a year. Because it is right here where new crust, new terrain is formed, a process involving a lot of fire and ka-boom. Usually this happens at the bottom of the ocean, but not so in Iceland. So powerful is the Earth’s mantle supply that the whole mid-ocean ridge was lifted way above sea level, very recently, one might add. (Geologically speaking - we are still talking a few million years…).

And as this spreading of the ocean floor perpetuates, the rocks of Iceland are getting younger towards the island’s centre, Thingvellir.

Therefore, reaching the west coast, we are in the old part today. And it shows: Not that the basalt is darker or thicker, but erosion by the ice ages had more time to do it’s sculpting work. The coastline is tremendously serrated, the deep fjords are so numerous that the mountains in-between look like fingers on a hand.

Nestled in this impressive landscape lie small and smaller places, like Flateyri, a little village with just about 200 inhabitants. As we dock on the tiny pier, we are immediately the largest building in town, casually more than doubling the population.

A peaceful place, with very welcoming people, a cosy café and even a few (!) museums. One of them is proudly presented by Eythor Eyolfsson. It is the house of his great-grandparents, the one he himself was raised in. He kept it just the way it used to look a hundred years ago, a beautiful and very personal exhibition of the olden days. And next door he also sells books - by the weight…

The other end of Flateyri features a huge structure which looks like a fortress with a big solid tunnel in it. It is an avalanche protection wall, build after 1995, when 20 people of Flateyri lost their lives under the snow. That’s ten percent, convert this to your home town and you know the drama. Now the village is safe.

If you like soft pillows, our second destination for the day might be of interest - Vigur is one of the very well-known breeding places for Eider ducks. Their inner feathers provide the unbelievable combination of softness, warmth and almost zero weight. This precious material is collected once a year by the inhabitants and turned into a rather pricy product.

Due to breeding season the access to Vigur is restricted, so we have one part of the group visiting the island, and the others enjoying a happy ride deep into the fjords on board our Polar Cirkel Boats, where we can watch the famous ducks flying about, among many other pretty birds, like fulmars, guillemots, terns, kittywakes - and of course puffins, the sea birds with the tropical beak.

In the evening we hoist the anchor to go around the corner and spend the night in Isafjördur, in the peaceful silence of the fjord.

Grundafjordur & Stykisholmur

On a cool grey misty morning we pulled alongside the pier in the picturesque Grundafjordor harbour at 07:30.  Kittiwakes and Northern Fulmars wheeled about the ship.

Photo © Lisa Anderson

The first tours of our Icelandic Odyssey set off at 08:30.  We hoped to see Snaefelsjokul but the constant low cloud cover and steady drizzle rendered that possibilty null and void.  Snaefelsjokul is the glacier capped mountain where Jules Verne’s famous story Journey To The Centre Of The Earth took place.  According to Jules Verne, the entrance to the centre of the earth is found on Snaefelsjokul.  The word jokul is Icelandic for glacier and is generally included with the name of the glacier as one word.  To say, “Snaefelsjokul glacier” would be incorrect.  It would be akin to saying, “Snaefels glacier glacier”.  Despite not being able to see the famous glacier it was wonderful to tour through the national park.  Tortured lava fields were everywhere.   The lava fields were largely covered in dense, luxurious moss. With all of the spring rain the mosses were turning a bright green.

Photo © Lisa Anderson

Shortly after 13:00 the motor coaches were back at the ship. In short order the AB’s cast off the lines and we were under way to our second landing of the day.

Our plan was to drop anchor outside of Stykisholmur and then use the Polar Cirkel boats to tender everyone in.  Our Icelandic Pilot informed us that it was possible to get Fram into the harbour and that we could tie up at the pier.  Great news!  It was an impressive docking.  The pier was tiny and the maneuvering space next to nil.  The ship’s officers and sailors did themselves proud by sliding Fram into the tight docking area as if they had been there 100 times before.

The cold rain continued on and off through the afternoon, but undaunted the hikers set off into The Berserk Lavafields.  Is it just me that thinks that is a great name?  The Berserk Lavafields.  It sounds straight out of a fantasy novel or a movie like The Princess Bride.

Another group went on a boat tour and visited many of the small islands close by.  It was possible to get great views of Puffins and many other seabirds.  One of the highlights of the tour was to taste seafood that they trawled up from the bottom of the sea.

At 20:00 we cast off our lines once again.  Our destination for tomorrow Flateyri!

The BIG Change

There are days when everything is culminating, like a well written detective story. Usually a changeover day is enough to deal with in its own right, we’d like to make sure our departing guests have a safe ongoing journey while at the same time we have to spend some thought to the logistics that have to be managed with the arriving group a few hours later. It feels like wiping the blackboard clean for a new formula.

This time, we don’t just wipe the board clean, we dismount the whole blackboard and throw away the chalk: Today was the introduction of the brand-new “operating system” for the whole ship, called Fidelio. Basically everything that runs on electronics here got merged into this vital piece of soft- and hardware. It’s a bit like a brain transplant while the patient is playing a game of chess. No wonder we all were very excited to see the transition at work, after weeks of having parts of the ship looking like the NORAD command centre. (Or rather the CHAOS computer club, as nobody was wearing uniform…)

And what can we say: Job well done, smooth opening, check-in worked like a charm, the new machines spat out the new cruise cards for the new system. Phew!

And now to the main thing, the upcoming expedition. What an excitement - we are going to go around Iceland now! FRAM has never done this before, so everybody is very much on his/her toes, wondering what the next ten days will bring. Many familiar faces arrive throughout the afternoon, the new destination lures many loyal fans of FRAM back on board.

Already during the welcoming speech the new arrivals seem eager to explore the new places with us. And after the necessary procedures like check-in, jacket distribution and safety instruction we cast the lines under a rather grey sky, heading into the Icelandic evening, while Captain Hårvik welcomes the new group.

A Day At Sea



Gannet

Today was a perfect sea day.  The skies were clear for the better part of the day.  The sea was calm.  

It was a good day for bird watching.  Graceful Gannets were present throughout the day as well as Northern Fulmars and Arctic Terns.  In the morning we were visited by a group of Long-finned Pilot whales.

A day at sea is often a welcome respite to a busy holiday on Fram.  It is a chance to sit back and relax.  It is a time to collect your thoughts and review the exciting places we have been and all of the things we have done.  It is a chance to edit and collate photos and a time to write postcards.  You could also spend time in one of our two hot tubs, both of which have an amazing view of the sea.  You could elect to go to the gym or to the sauna. Or you could do just nothing at all.  just watch the ocean glide by. 

We do our best to keep you busy and to add to your understanding of the places we have visited.  A day at sea is a time for our lecture team to shine.  We had a full program of lectures in three different languages.  We also managed to squeeze in some bridge visits and of course there were the necessary briefings for tomorrow and how disembarkation would work on the following day.  But it’s too early to talk about that.

In the evening at 22:00 our whisky experts Bernie & Beastie enlightened, entertained and educated us.   Once again they provided three different whiskies to taste. What better way to end a relaxing day than sampling fine whisky whilst regarding a setting sun?

The Outer Hebrides: Stornoway on Lewis Island

We enjoyed a cultural morning in the midst of fantastic scenery.  This morning we had two different tours by motor coach available.

The first two motor coaches went on a circular tour over the moors between Stornoway and Barabhas to the standing stones of Callanish and the black houses at Gearrannan.  We traveled through a large area which is famous for its breeding birds in summer.  Solid grey skies and rainy cold weather added a sombre touch to the wind swept moorlands.  Highland cattle grazed beside the road and raised their heads ruminatively when we stopped the bus to admire the hardy shaggy bovines.  

Callanish Stone Circle
Photo © Steffen Biersack

Our first stop was at the Callanish Stone Circle (or more accurately, Callanish Stone Circle No.1 since there are a whole group of them).  We all enjoyed seeing this mysterious group of standing stones, contemporary with the Pyramids of Giza and built for reasons which are still obscure.  Many passengers found the visitor centre and its hot coffee particularly welcome.

Black Houses
Photo © Steffen Biersack

We then moved on to the small village of restored black houses at Arnol, where we marvelled at the resilience of the people who lived an incredibly tough life. The distinctive smell of a peat fire permeated the damp air.

Inside a black house
Photo © Steffen Biersack

The third motor coach went on a tour into a remote area in the north of Lewis to the Bostadh Sands and a replica Iron Age House.  The rain continued through out the morning so it was a welcome relief to shelter inside the “ancient” stone longhouse where a local guide described in detail how the longhouse would have functioned and what life might have been like way back then.

The two different tours managed to be back at the pier at 12:30 which gave us time for a stroll through town as all aboard was not until 14:30. 

We departed the pier at 15:00 and headed out into the increasingly stormy weather.  As evening approached Fram pushed solidly through the heavy seas.  It seemed many people were unfamiliar with the unsteady footing and rolling of the ship as the dining room and ship seemed somewhat subdued through the course of the evening.

Summertime and Scottish Castles

What a beautiful day! Yesterday it was rainy and windy and today – more than 20° C, so we really enjoyed the day in Oban.

Oban is a beloved town of around 8000 inhabitants but during the summer season there a lot more because of the tourists. Strolling around you find many nice restaurants and B&BS in the small streets. Oban is a Gallic name and means “little bay” and indeed the bay is lovely, therefore many houses are facing the sea. You have a marvelous view from the MacCaig’s Tower over the town and the bay towards the islands Mull and Lismore. Another good places to visit are the Oban Destillery and the Dunollie Castle closed to a beautiful forest and park.

Today we had three different excursions to explore again the Scottish highlands and see some interesting places. So one trip headed to the south leaving again the mainland and visited the island Seil and the village Ellenabeich. In former times this area was a center of slate mining. We

 stopped at several places to enjoy the view especially over the sea towards Mull and explored the village. On the second trip we drove through the wonderful landscape of the Scottish highland with its Lochs and hills, the heather and the woods. We past Kilchum Castle and the Three Sisters, three mountains. 

The destination of the third trip was the Inveraray Castle close to the small and beautiful town Inveraray. The castle was built in 18^th century and belongs to the family of the Duke of Argyll. We visited several impressive rooms which are still in use on special occasions and had a short walk to the amazing park of the castle.
Being back onboard of Fram we all agreed it was a fabulous day and especially the Hebrides and the northern part of Scotland are beautiful areas. Now we are heading further north and passing the most western point of the mainland of Scotland.

Staffa and Iona

Staffa Photo © A. Wenzel

Our plan was to land on the lee side of Staffa at 08:00 but a strong ocean swell made that a risky proposition at best.  In the interest of safety we decided it would be far more germane to do a Polar Cirkel boat cruise.  Staffa is not known as a major seabird colony but lots of seabirds nest here including: Herring Gulls, Glaucous Gulls, Black-backed Gulls, Flumars, Black Guillemots and everyone’s favourite - Puffins!  Just about everyone got really great views of these endearing little sea birds.

Staffa is one of the most romantic and dramatic of Scotland’s uninhabited islands. Immortalized by various artists including Walter Scott, John Keats, Felix Mendelssohn, J.M.W. Turner, William Wordsworth and Jules Verne.

Staffa Photo © A. Wenzel

Fingals Cave is named after Finn McCool, the third century Irish hero who is said to have defended the Hebrides against early raids by the Vikings. Great hexagonal columns of basalt from lava flows 65 million years ago give Staffa a rather striking  appearance.  Similar hexagonal structures can be seen across the world including the Giants Causeway in Antrim, Northern Ireland. 

Iona Photo © A. Wenzel

In the afternoon we arrived at Iona at 14:00.  The Expedition Team went on shore by Polar Cirkel boat and then were soon followed by an enthusiastic group of hikers.  Next came three different groups for the guided walk around Iona and finally those who wished to explore Iona on their own.

It rained for most of the afternoon but even in the rain Iona is a very pretty little village. 

The walk led past the ruins of the old nunnery, the cemetery with the gravestone of John Smith, and numerous little craft shops. The first thing to greet us past the ticket office were the high crosses of St Martin's and St John's (replica) still standing after the centuries, and resplendent in their intricate carvings of floral and knotwork motifs. More crosses (and the original St John's cross) are now laid out in a small museum behind the abbey, along with many decorative grave markers of knights, nuns and other important personages.

Iona Photo © A. Wenzel

Iona is the fabled island of St Columba, who founded a monastery there in 563 AD. From here the teachings of Christianity spread throughout pagan Scotland and much of northern England. It is thought that the famous Book of Kells (now residing in Trinity College in Dublin) was at least partly produced here. Although the original wooden monastery was abandoned later in the 9th century, a Benedictine abbey was established in 1203, which still stands (and functions) today. 

Iona - The Nunnery Photo © A. Wenzel

By 19:00 everyone was back on the ship.  The skies had cleared and the rain seemed to be finished for the day.  On board Fram the evening was filled with presentations for Oban and Stornoway. At 22:00 Ralph entertained everyone in the Observation Lounge with the songs of Frank Sinatra.

Sheep and Stories – the Isle of Skye

When we arrived close to Portree the sky was close to us. The clouds were hanging deep and some of the mountains were covered by them, but when we just waited for a short while suddenly other parts became visible. It was like magic.

Today was the first time we used the Polar Circle Boats and therefore is was a special excitement for us. Close to Portree Fram anchored and the first went ashore. Portree is the capital of Isle of Skye with around 2500 inhabitants. There are shops, restaurants, pubs, hotels, schools and the administration. Arriving on a sunday we expected that everything would be closed, but some shops were open and also a Fish & Chips Restaurant. Nevertheless most of the inhabitants went to church and had dressed up. Portree is a lovely town with small and colorful houses and narrow streets. We really enjoyed it to stroll around.

We also had the chance to go on two excursions: to the northern part the so called Trotternish peninsula and to the western part and the Eilean Donan Castle.

The highlands on the Isle of Skye are beautiful with the heathland, many different types of trees and huge flocks of the yellow gorse. And of course sheep – most of them together with one or two lambs. Beautiful and remarkable places in the north are Kilt Rock or the rock formation “Old  Man of Storr” and of course the grave of the Scottish heroin Flora McDonald – who rescued Bonnie Prince Charlie in the 18^th century. The next stop was in the little village Uig.

Going to the south-western part we also saw the heathland and remarkable mountains which are very famous for hiking and climbing. The main stop was at the Eilean Donan Castle an impressive building in the style of a mediaeval castle. The image of Eilean Donan has been seen in many books, on postcards and in movies as the Highlander. We could visit all the rooms of the McRae-family who is now the owner, an amazing place in a very beautiful surrounding. It is a place full of stories and fights.

For the first time on this trip we had the opportunity to go out on a kayak-trip:  An exciting experience in calm water and unexpected encounters with seals. We also discovered quite nice caves.

For all of us, it was a great day.

Did I ever mention that there is a great evening entertainment on FRAM? Last evening Bernie and Beastie invited for a Whiskey tasting and today there will be a fashion show.