A “Whale” of a time!

This morning (Saturday) we dropped anchor in one of the beautiful Western Fjords next to the tiny fishing port of Isafjordur.

The little ship’s tenders were lowered and soon they were clucking around the ship waiting for their payloads of tottering passengers to take to the mainland.

When we got ashore we soon noticed a very nice “big boy’s” toy! …

…… and, handing over the required number of Krona, we got suited and booted ……..

……. and, after getting safely aboard, ……

…… we headed out into the spectacular waters of the surrounding fjords.

With scenery to die for and water calm enough to see yourself in, this super powerful RIB  boat took us through mile after mile of the most stunning scenery.

A look backwards we could see our “home” fjord in the far distance on the left and the spectacular snow and ice covered National Park area on the right which holds one of Iceland’s biggest glaciers.

Further along we came across thousands of Puffins having their lunch …

…… and all around us the vast expanse of the Isafjaroardjup Fjord.

Then the highlight of the trip!  A couple of humpback whales!!!!!  and, at this point,  words are really not enough ……..

….. so here are the pictures …..

……. what more can be said!

After an hour of watching those most wonderful creatures, and having finally retrieved our breath, we headed back – just managing a glimpse of the glacier in the National Park ……

….. together with loads more Puffins (James’ favourite bird) on land …..

…… and floating about and looking cute. Meanwhile ……

……. “Siggy”, our captain, owner, and very experienced driver of the ‘formula one’ boat we were strapped into, was giving us the ride of our lives whenever he had the chance.

Getting back to a more sedate pace we approached the tiny island of Vigur where there were seals to be seen ……

……. and the only windmill on Iceland.

Another first for us today – as we edged quietly closer to Vigur we saw an Eider duck walking up the beach in front of us.

After almost three hours of the most amazing experience we were back to the lovely fjord at Isafjordur and jetting  past our “home” to arrive safely back in the harbour. We can really recommend this trip www.westfjordssafari.is

We had a quick look around tiny Isafjordur with fellow passengers Chris and Joy, who accompanied us on the trip and who kindly took this picture of us –ahh!

Back on board we joined the party for a classical sail away (classical music) with Des, Emma, (Doug), and Rupert.

Being the 21st June we can’t say we’re  sailing away into the sunset because there wasn’t one!  Tonight the sun will remain above the horizon for us and, frustratingly, we shall not be sailing into the Arctic Circle (as we’d hoped) as the Captain has decided to keep us just a few inches to the south. Oh well, that means we’ll have to make another trip one day so that we can say we’ve actually done it.
We now head eastwards towards our next destination, Akureyi on Iceland’s longest fjord Eyjafjordur. (Does anyone know how to pronounce these names properly!)  We’ve had a totally brilliant day.