Onion River Exploration Project: Horses, Icebergs and Containers

This horse thinks he is a TS

Day 9 (8/8/13)
The new day starts out windy, cool and drizzly, or perfect Icelandic weather. We have been very lucky because almost every time we would get to a place to stop the weather gets better. We continue our journey south through the fjords of eastern Iceland. Our first stop is just outside of Stodvarfjordur, a small fishing village on the north shore of the fjord of the same name at Petra Sveinsdóttir´s rock shop. Although Petra is no longer there, her family continues to run the shop which is the result of her life’s dedication to collecting beautiful rocks from the mountains around her house. According to the story apparently Petra’s name means “seeing the light within” and she definitely seemed to have a knack for picking rocks that held beautiful crystals inside. Many of the stones were so large that she would mark them and go back in winter so they could bring them home with a sled. We then continued around the fjord and back down the other side to the next fjord. Eventually we work our way down to Djupivigor, another small fishing village on the Berufjordur in the south east corner of the island. After stopping to see sculpted eggs which pay homage to Iceland’s many nesting bird species we enter the town which gives you the feeling of just stepping on to the set of “Northern Exposure” with its reindeer antler sculpture, one police car and quaint little shops. After a lunch of fish soup and bread we are back on the road and almost to Europe’s largest glacier Vatnajokull. Covering 8% of Iceland we start to see the fingers of the glacier off in the distance. Before we get to the glacier we make one more stop at a black pebble beach to do some cairn building and pick up some small stones for jewelry making. At this point I think we have our guide as addicted to rock picking as we are. It was a stunning point but we still have much to do. We do have one more unscheduled stop before we get to the glacier and that is to herd some horses that have managed to get out in the road. In Iceland the sheep are always outside the fences and it is no big deal but the horses are a different story apparently. When we come to a spot where some horses are out on the road the bus stops and everybody gets off and herds them back in to the fence. Of course we then have to take some time for petting and photos. Finally we make it to Jokulsarlon “glacial lagoon” for a chance to get up close and personal with some icebergs. The amphibious vehicles that we ride on are much like the ducks at Wisconsin Dells. The tour which includes a taste of some, at least 800 year old, ice takes us around the lagoon and includes a entertaining lecture on the nature of glaciers and icebergs. After that it is a short ride over another barren wasteland produced by a volcano erupting under a glacier and washing out everything for miles and leaving in its path a black ashen plane all the way to the ocean. Our accommodations for the night were a real treat. They were containers that have been joined together and redone to make very comfortable rooms. Again after supper Eileen and I sneak out and build one cairn in the wind and driving rain.