2010 Travelling Alone in Iceland - Grimsey, North Arctic Line (English)－旅行は私の人生なのだ

Does anybody know the name of this kind of bird?

Someone said that is black-headed gull, but I'm not sure.

Another possible answer is Stema paradisaea (Arctic Tern).

2010.8.18

I didn't sleep well last night.

The wind was very big that my tent seems to be blew away.

Though the rain was not big, it never stop.

I think this may be the feeling as you get close to the Arctic.

Because I just used only four of the ten nails to fix the outer cover, that is also the reason why my tent was so unstable. I think I should fix the inner tent as well.

This is the first time that I'm glad I'm heavy. The tent keeps well in the morning when I get up.

I could not image how worse it is to camp within the North Arctic.

It should be very awful.

When I'm awake in the cloudy morning, the rain has stopped but the wind is still strong that I have to keep the wind away from my gas stove. Otherwise, it will take a long time to cook the breakfast.

I enjoy the hot spaghetti with some lobsters I bought yesterday. Besides, I found that the cup soup makes the source of the spaghetti much thicker and you could also eat some small vegetables.

As I told before, I'm sure about the location of the ticket office. Therefore, I drive to the harbour at 8 o'clock.

Maybe it's still too early. While I look around the harbour, I only meet a local. Unfortunately, his English is limited.

I just want to know where to buy the ferry tickets. Is there anyone could answer me?

As I get confused, I meet the familiar Taiwan tourists nearby.

It's lucky that they also want to go to Grimsey today.

They tell me the ticket office is inside this building. Okay, it's quite obvious.

I park my car in the space near the ferry and look around here during the waiting time.

Grimsey, the only territory of Iceland that cross over the North Arctic.

I'm so excited now.

The ferry takes about three hours to arrive at Grimsey. Originally, I thought it should be very stable on this big ferry. I even eat some toast and drink the juice as the ferry departs.

But it's beyond everyone's expectation that the ferry shake violently, and everyone feel sick almost.

I find that it's not good for the sickness to stay inside the cabin. To ease the seasickness, I stay at the stern outside and sit on the chair to sleep until we arrive at Dalvik. Luckily, I don't throw up during the shipping.

As for the Taiwan friends, they said that they all get throwing up and feel bad.

I think we all forget an important thing, to eat the seasickness pill.

The weather in Grimsey is colder than any other place in Iceland. Though I've known the temperature will become lower when we go northwards to North Arctic, I'm still surprised with the freezing condition.

Besides, the wind is very strong.

I don't know why did I forget to wear my snow-paints. Normal paints is not warm enough in the Arctic.

Grimsey is a very small town. It was said that there is only 100 inhabitants. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C3%ADmsey)

The restaurant is close to the harbour that almost every tourist goes there for some refreshments or hot soups. The shop is beside the restaurant and is also the post office in this island.

Walking for a few minutes, a simple airport is located in the north of the town.

I go to the restaurant for the toilet. The tourists occupy all the seats inside.

Actually, I'm fine as I leave the ferry so I don't need resting. And the time for walking around the Arctic area is only three hours. Thus, I don't waste any time and ready for walking through the North Arctic Line.

You see the map below. The black dashed line underneath in the left is the shipping route for the ferry. The end of the line direct to the harbour and the restaurant. That's where we are now.

The black bold line in the island is the road, and the white wide line is the runway of the airport.

There is a red dashed line in the middle that crosses over the island. That is the North Arctic Line, and the area in the north of this line is in North Arctic. As for other red dashed line inside the island is the walkway for trekking.

Our target is going to the northmost area in Grimsey.

A mother and a daughter, Mavreen & Meaghan, who come from Canada follow my direction and walk northwards together.

Every Icelander or tourist seems to be very friendly. It's easy to make friends.

Since the inhabitants in Grimsey are few and Grimsey is a desolated place, you could see lots of birds here.

It's the heaven of the birds.

Of course, the birds' poo is also available if there are birds around.

Walking for thirty minutes, my body becomes warm and I don't have to zip up my coat.

In fact, I really love the cold weather in Grimsey.

If in other place not so cold as Grimsey, doing exercise will make me feel badly hot.

In Grimsey, everything becomes perfectly fine. Maybe I was a bear in the previous life.

On the way, this bird hovers over around us, and then stops on the road.

I think he tries to tell us this place is his territory.

There are many kinds of birds in Grimsey, but I don't know any of them.

The only birds I know in Iceland are Gull and Puffin.

I see an egg on the path. Is it dead or alive? I don't know.

Because the wind is extremely strong, the grass moves like the wave on the sea.

You could see the movie I recorded.

For about one and half an hour, we reach the end of the walkway.

I'm glad that I'm not only in the area of North Arctic, but also come to the northmost of this island.

YEAH!

You should be very careful when walking around here, for the birds' Poo is more than you could image.

If you look at the cliff, you will see some white droppings there.

By the way, does anybody know why the poo is so big?

I think the most beautiful scene in Grimsey is composed of Birds, Grass, and the Arctic sea.

Even we walk the same path returning to the harbour, it's still very enjoyable.

Sometimes, you will see the dead bird. That is also a part of the nature.

On the return way, I meet a bird which seems to be not afraid of people.

I get quite close to the bird and take photos.

After 3 o'clock, we have returned to the restaurant. Mavreen, Meaghan, one of my Taiwan friend and I gossip for a while.

I share my photos with them, especially the cave exploration which is the most unforgettable part in my journey.

Besides, the waiter maybe find that I speak mandarin to Taiwan friends. He shows me a note written some Chinese words.

Though the words are not complete, I know these words means one Jiao used in China (一角, 中國人民銀行).

I try to explain, but I'm not familiar with the English terms about the currency.

I think that I don't express very clearly to him. He seems to be a little confused, and after a few minutes, he show me the banknote of 1角.

This is a very small and basic dollar used in China, I said. (P.S: Currency unit is precisely right. I didn't express very well at that time.)

I'm a little surprised that a Chinese tourists has visited Grimsey and gave 1 Jiao to the waiter.

It's really interesting.

It's a pity that I didn't bring any Taiwan currency with me.

Otherwise, I should also be openhanded to show the friendliness of Taiwanese by giving him a coin or a banknote as a memorial.

Whether in China or Taiwan, 「元 (Yuan)」is equal to the meaning of dollar or pound, and 「角 (Jiao)」means ten cents or ten pence.

Although China and Taiwan both adapt these two letters for currency unit, our currencies are not the same. The currency of China is Chinese Yuan (Ren-Min-Bi), and Taiwan is New Taiwan Dollar (Xin-Tai-Bi). Additionally, Taiwan doesn't adapt 角 (Jiao) for the basic unit now, that is the old unit in the past.

(See Chinese Yuan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_yuan and New Taiwan Dollar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Taiwan_dollar)

We go back to the ferry before the departure time, and another terrible experience is waiting for us.

The sea become peaceful on the way back, but in order to release the sickness, the Taiwan friends and I all sit on the chair in the stern.

I feel freezing cold again as I fall asleep.

The ferry arrived at Dalvik at 7:00.

The weather doesn't change at all. It's still cloudy and cold.

I say goodbye to my friends, and then drive very fast to Akureyri. I think that I only spend less than forty minutes to the city.

Why did I drive so fast? Because I have to wash and dry my dirty clothes and I don't have any idea about the facilities of Akureyri campsite.

Compared with the unclear road signs in Dalvik, The direction to the campsite is much clear, but I still drive around the campsite for three circles for the reason that I don't find the entrance.

The entrance is located in the parking area. (A is the Akureyri Church, and B is the entrance of the campsite).

Akureyri campsite is good. The toilets and a open kitchen is beside the guardian office.

You could pay for bathing, clothes washing and drying in the office.

Because there is only one washer and one dryer, the guardian has a schedule table and you have to choose the empty section on it.

I think that I'm still too late so I have to wash my clothes at 9:30 and dry them at 11:00. It means that I have to wait until 12:00 before deep sleeping.