Our last stop in Iceland is the island of Heimaey, the largest and only populated island in the Vestmannæyjar archipelago.
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| Sundog rainbow |
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| Picking up a pilot |
The island boasts of being the windiest place in the world with the fierce
st winds ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere measured here.
Our visit to Heimaey began with an early morning sundog rainbow as the sun was beginning to rise. Our cruise director had mentioned the previous evening that the route to Heimaey would be “really tight,” and as we continued on it became obvious that room to maneuver the ship was becoming less available.
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| Really tight! |
Finally, we were met by a pilot boat and took on a pilot that would guide us through the maze. As our ship docked, we were struck by how charming the port community appeared to be.
We were tickled that we had been able to book a last minute shore excursion for the stop. We disembarked the ship and made our way to a waiting bus that would take us on a guided tour of the island.
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| The black houses |
Our guide, who has no name because we couldn’t even begin to interpret it, was a lifelong resident of the island whose husband was a fisherman. She began the tour by showing us the commercial and industrial sections of the town in providing background information on economic, educational, medical, and leisure activities that are carried out on the island.
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| Heimaey harbor |
The island economy is primarily based on fishing and fish processing and tourism in the summer months. She was proud to point out the town’s one and only stoplight, which she acknowledged was not found in most small towns in Iceland. But she did confess that this pride sometimes turns to frustration when people have to stop for a red light!
Our first stop was at a sports complex that was built in the caldera of an extinct volcano that had one side blown out.
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| Viking houses |
Our guide told us that a really large music festival is held here the first week of every August and brings approximately 20,000 visitors to the island. She pointed out two Viking houses that had been reconstructed to represent typical originals. Leaving the complex, we passed a residential section and ascended a steep mountain that gave us a panoramic view of the North Atlantic Ocean and other islands in the archipelago.
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| In the caldera |
We partially descended the mountain to see nesting puffins at a place called Stórhöfði. Aside from its claim of being the windiest place in the world, Heimaey also claims to have the world’s largest puffin population and every summer about 8 million birds come here to nest along with a complement of puffin-seeking tourists.
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| The North Atlantic Ocean |
Our last stop on the tour was a memorial at the base of the Eldfell volcano commemorating the volcanic eruption of the mountain.
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| Puffins on a rock |
Early in the morning of January 1, 1973, the ground shook, fissures formed, and lava began to erupt. Volcanic ash was blown to the sea in a concentrated lava flow headed toward the harbor. During the night, 5000 inhabitants of the island were evacuated, mostly by fishing boats.
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| Puffins on the cliff |
The lava flowed for 5 months and 5 days and the encroaching lava flow threatened to destroy the harbor. The town’s only hope for survival was the spraying of the lava with 6 million tons of cold seawater with pumps provided by the US Army causing lava solidification and diversion and saving the harbor. While the harbor was saved, 300-400 houses were buried and remain so to this day. This was a very sobering account of the history of Heimaey.
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| Where the lava stopped |
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| Town and cemetery |
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| UD Army water pump |
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