Puffins,Coos and Kelpies oh my! :16 day , photo travelogue on the Caribbean Princess to the UK, Ireland, and Iceland 7-12-24

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 We had sent a wish list several times and we were finally here and the parking lot was a zoo with the locals . We were only  give 20 minutes here at our turn around point .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  Jokulsarlon is the glacier lagoon first appeared in 1935 as part of the Vatnajökull glacier which is the largest glacier outside of Russia in Europe . A similar circumstance formed Glacier Bay in Alaska recently . We had  come here to watch the parade of icebergs floating out to sea from the glacier . We visited there on July 19 , but the road back to Vik and Reykjavick washed out on July 28th  less than 10 days later .

 

https://www.icelandreview.com/news/road-closed-between-vik-and-kirkjubaejarklaustur-due-to-flooding/

 

 More Icebergs photos with them floating out to sea under the bridge

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of them were quite massive and others quit busy , like people buzzing around like a swarm of angry bees .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 11 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  We didn't have time to ride the RIB boats like we did on the 5 Glacier Cruise in Patagonia . And never saw gray /black icebergs or calving like we did in Patagonia this year .

 

 

 

 

 

Perito Moreno glacier is 200' tall , 3 miles wide and about 19 miles long

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 More ice in Iceland

 

 

 

 

 

The birds on top of this berg must have cold feet

 

 

Birds of a feather hiking together

 

 

 

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 Diamond Beach 

 

  After being turned , tossed and tumbled , this is where the iceberg bits wash up on the Black volcanic beach to play and rest .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It looks a bit like walking on the moon

 

 

 

You have to keep an eye on the horizon for sneaker waves that can carry you away .

 

 

 

Edited August 11 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 

  A diamond on the coal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A diamond in the rough

 

 

 

In less than an hour we had to leave

 

 

Edited August 11 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 We had requested a quick stop at another glacier lagoon much lesser visited . It's called Fjallsarlon and Rick Steves says that you can see the glacier better from there . There was a lot of water running from there under the bridge and the guide said that it wasn't that good because of the moving water . 

 Well were all for seeing fewer people but we were told that he wanted to show us other places like these . At least the light was improving .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 11 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 With all of the driving we only saw one police officer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We crossed miles of lava fields

 

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 Iceland's Eldhraun lava field covers an area of 565 square km (220 square mi), making it the largest of its kind in the world. Nowadays, this peaceful spot in South Iceland is blanketed in soft , slow growing lichen moss .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A pair of waterfalls with an Artic Tern hovering over a waterfall

 

 

 

 

 

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  Ocean sea stacks on the shore and at sea . Please note that the light is backlit ( the light behind them ) , so you can't see their face 

 

 

 

 

 

 A Nootka Lupine

 

 

 

The view from Church

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 A view with the light at our back where we can see it's face

 

Edited August 11 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 We requested a stop at Reynisfjara black sand but Sultan wanted to take us somewhere that we haven't seen before . Here's the beach from before .

 

 The Dyrholaey promontory and it's lighthouse

 

 

 

 The Basalt Columns and the sea stacks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dry sea cave and the damp dirt

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Tomorrow we will climb the promontory with the lighthouse and it's steep cliffs . But will we see puffins ?

 

 

 

 The view of black sand and the silver sea

 

 

 The steep and high cliffs

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Our guide took us to the lighthouse and Dyrholaey Viewpoint with it's almost vertical drop . Using my hiking stick for balance I leaned out to see the puffins which would have been quite a feat to take a photo one - handed with a DSLR and extend my telephoto for a close up . All that I got was a batch of out of focus pics using the Spray and Pray technique that AK-47 shooters use instead  of the one shot and done that snipers employ for accuracy , results and economy of effort .

 Sultan then showed us his pics on his phone of what was . It reminded me of the classic line from the Endless Summer surf movie . It usually occurs when you are waiting for a wave while surfing and may remark out loud , " Nice waves " . The answer was almost always , " Wow you really missed it , but you should have been here yesterday " .

 But we did have a great view of the arch and sea stacks with good light .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  The tip of the sea arch is the southern most point in Iceland .

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@63.4056538,-19.1231197,4826m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

 

 A local man came up to me when he saw us looking for  puffins again . He asked me if I wanted to take photos of puffins . He tried to direct me and I asked him if he would tell our guide , which he did .

 So we drove back the same way and made a different turn . After parking , he stayed in the car while we hiked a little to the group of people standing there . I watched and checked equipment before entering the small strum .

 

 

 This very large boulder looked like it had Basalt Columns

 

 

 

 

Hiding out

 

 

Hanging out

 

 

Busted

 

 

Edited August 12 by scubacruiserx2

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 On the edge of the ledge

 

 

Getting ready to go fishing

 

 

Puffins mate for life

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Skogafoss Waterfall is 80 ' (25 M ) wide and 200 ' ( 65 M ) tall . It flows from the melting Glacier .

 

 

 

 

 There is a stairway to the right with 500 steps if you wish to climb to the viewing platform above the falling river  

 

 

 This was as close as the guide wanted to go . We will show some closer photos from the last time that we were there .

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 Seljalandsfoss was our last scenic spot that we stood off at a distance because of time constraints . Just a couple of quick snaps at a distance . Thus we will use our old photo stop from 2019 . On that trip we had an overnight but couldn't convince our guide to stay at the Glacier to do it properly so we did a South on one day and the Golden Circle the next day . 

 

 

 

 At this waterfall you can walk behind the falls as the queue formed to the right going counterclockwise . According to our guide then , he said to go opposite for Pat's bad leg at that time . I would have went if we had hiking poles then - but we didn't .

 

 

 

You can pretty well see the route in this photo if you double click on any photo to enlarge .

 

 

 

Behind the water

 

 

 

 I just settled for a handheld , slow - speed shutter to blur the water and make it look like a wedding veil .

 

 

 

 

Edited August 12 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  As a side bar , if you can do a 1 day private/small group tour to the South shore and don't go to the Glacier Lagoon , there is a closer glacial tongue that will save time called Solheimajokull .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sólheimajökull

 

 It's a giant ice cube that takes about a 20 minute walk so take warm clothes . Some people can hire a guide company to hike with proper equipment and supervision only . Here's our photos and note that there is a group of geared climbers . We called it the ugly glacier whos mother dresses her funny .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We like our glaciers the color of my wife's baby blue eyes in this photo from the 80's .

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  It had been our longest day on the ship time and we checked off and missed a few boxes . An extra hour + that we waited and wasted is not conducive to great tours , tips or reviews .

 We did see a lot and made it to the ship on time and had a new port to visit in Grundarfjordur on the next day . But it's only a 2 hour drive if we had to miss the ship and we had their phone number to let them know . It's another long day tomorrow finished by The Super Tuscan Dinner on the ship so get plenty of rest and bring plenty of money and plastic .

[scubacruiserx2]

Saturday July 20th

 

 We looked forward to this new port , but not with a bus load of our closest new friends . All things in moderation . We had eaten an early breakfast and reported to Vines , the meeting place for the suites to be taken directly to the water taxis . At this point is seems to become survival of the rudest  ( we saw the movie Lifeboat before the cruise  ) . But better there than on the bus so we moved out to find our bus and guide Jennifer . Because of walking issues we staked out a seat behind Jennifer ( We had learned our lesson on the tender ) . The morning sunrise was interesting .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The first stop was Kirkjufell - Church Mountain , AKA the Rick Steves Iceland 2nd Edition guide book cover photo . I first tried to duplicate the shot before people and buses busied the shot .

 

One before and after the clouds moved in .

 

 

 

 

Edited August 13 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  Time to play

 

 

 

 

 

 Jennifer had remarked that we had a good view of the ship . It's hard to get a good photo being backlit and with the glare and fog reflection . Later in the day would be better at this place .

 

 

 

 An attempt to clean it up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We stopped at a pit stop that is the Djupalonssandur National Park Headquarters .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Djupalonssandur Black Sand Beach is about a 10 minute walk from the lot to the water .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hole in the wall

 

 

 

On the road again

 

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 Londranger and Arnarstapi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water looked clear enough to swim or snorkel but cold

 

 

 

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 We were told to beware of aggressive Artic Terns nesting nearby

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some people decided to wave their poles at the birds

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 13 by scubacruiserx2