An island retreat [Vestmannaeyjar -- 3 days]

Figuring that if I'm spending a month on a big island, I ought to spend a few days on a tiny one. Boarded the 10am ferry boat for the 40min trip to the Vestmannaeyjar Islands just south of the mainland. This is a group of about 15 small volcanic islands formed during the last Ice Age (10-20,000 years ago) although the most recent one, Surtsey, was formed during an underwater eruption between 1963-1966. The largest island, Heimaey, is the only inhabited one and is home to over 4000 people. It's a popular destination for bird watchers and has quite a few of the famous puffins living on its cliffs.

The campground here [there are two actually- Porsheimili is far nicer than the other up the road] is really a great setting- overlooking a cool golf course built into a lava field, the ocean and several small islands; backed by an amphitheater of towering cliffs with swarming birds and a few errant sheep. I ended up settling in for 3 pleasant nights, enjoying the chance to rest, explore, soak and linger at the town coffeeshop.

Porsheimili campground

Early on the agenda was a nice soak at the town swimming pool, with an extra hot hottub. I was randomly given a locker for my valuables, and it was (appropriately) my old courier number from the past 8+ years:

lest I forget my past...

On my second evening as I was heading to the campground's communal kitchen area, a nice Polish couple I'd met earlier were hanging out at the picnic table. Upon my arrival the exclaimed, "Come, we have made you fish! Eat dinner!" This was no joke- they'd been down at the fishing docks trying to buy a fresh fish for dinner. The fisherman must've liked them and said, "We have plenty, here take these two for free" and handed over two big fish (cod and haddock) that were so fresh they had yet to even be packed into the ice chests. Talk about a score for me! We had a little campground feast with several others, and the fish was deliciously grilled with garlic butter and lemon. I'd been intent on eating some fresh Icelandic fish, although was reluctant to fork over the $40+ most nice restaurants were charging for a good seafood meal. Talk about a bargain!

catch of the day

the Chefs of Honor- Mia & Lukas from Poland

The next day I rode the couple of miles down to the southern tip of Heimaey to what is, statistically speaking at least, "the windiest place in all of Iceland." The weather station here at Storhofdi records only an avg of 4 calm days per year and often has winds over 30m/s. It was only a gentle breeze today, however.

Storhofdi

Along the way I watched some killer whales coming up for air as they feasted on fish schools a ways off the coast. I didn't spot any puffins, although I didn't really go searching them out like most visitors do. Guess I've never been much of a bird watcher. Next it was up to the northern tip of the island by the harbor to climb the island's highest point, Heimaklettur, at 283m above sea level. The views were pretty cool, especially of the lava field created by a 1973 eruption that evacuated the island, buried 300+ homes, added 2.3 sq km of land mass and threatened to block off access to the harbor. I'm told some of the lava is still hot enough to light a cigar from the ground, although I did not test this out personally.

sheep ain't afraid of heights!