Day 7 - Heimaey, Westman Islands

 Day 7 - Heimaey, Westman Islands

It was an interesting night last night.  The sea was a little rougher and the ship was moving much more than it had been.  We definitely noticed it while we were in bed.  Nothing troubling - just noticeable.

This morning, we found out why.  Looking at the map on our TV that tracks our journey, it looks like we took a shortcut and traveled across the island last night.  These new ships are amazing!

After breakfast, we went out on the front deck to watch our approach into the Westman Islands. The entry into Heimaey's port is quite narrow so we dropped anchor and will be tendered ashore.  The opening is more narrow now as volcanic activity in the 1970s narrowed the already narrow entry.

A pilot ship guided us in as a ferry was passing into the harbor.

The volcanic activity has created different levels in the rock face just wide enough for the local seabirds to nest.

The dark area is a newer volcanic build-up from the 1970s

This feature was created as a new rock in the 1970s.  Over the last 50 years, the ocean carved this gateway, and over time, it will collapse it as well.

Lots of birds were flying around as we approached.

We saw sheep on the hills.

On closer inspection, we could also see puffin - look closely at the next couple of photos and you'll be able to pick them out.

One even made a semi-close approach to the ship.

We took our tender into the city around noon.  This was our tender pilot.

At the dock, we were greeted by a puffin statue.

Puffins are a big part of the identity of many Icelanders.  They even include them on street signs.

Icelanders are also heavily into statues.  I didn't take photos of all the statues we saw, but every town had tons of statues.

Like many of Iceland's coastal cities, fishing is an important industry in Haimaey.  Heimaey has about 3% of Iceland's population but generates 12% of Iceland's fishing income.  That industry is so important to Heimaey that when a ship returns loaded with fish, it is all-hands-on-deck.  Kids come from school, other residents drop whatever they're doing and go to the factory to help process the fish.

A big part of Heimaey's identity is the 1973 volcanic eruption.  This not only destroyed a large part of this island but also increased its physical size by hundreds of meters.  They built a remembrance museum that chronicles everything that happened over the four months the volcano erupted.

This includes the remains of a home that was recovered from the lava.

After touring the museum, we took a shuttle back to the harbor.  We considered walking, but this was the first day we had with poor weather. With steady rain and temps in the mid-50s, we took the ride.

We boarded our tender and returned to our ship.

We received our luggage tags and disembarking instructions.  We have to be off the ship tomorrow morning at 6:15am.  I would normally describe that as the butt-crack of dawn, but the sun comes up at around 3am, so, yeah...

Of course, we had to make the obligatory pre-dinner lemon drop martini stop in the Explorer's Lounge.

For dinner, we opted again for the World Cafe buffet. This is why.

We just couldn't say no to a pile of crab legs.

As we sailed away from Heimaey, the weather dramatically improved.

 We tried our hands at trivia again, and in a controversial decision, we were edged out 21-22 for the win. Oh well, there were no prizes.

Off to bed for an early departure tomorrow.