This post is just one day of our nine day honeymoon and road trip around Iceland.  Where better to start than the middle..

Day 6-Husavik and Hofsos

Matt and I woke up on Lake Myvatn to a beautiful sunny day.  The tent had ice on it, but we stayed warm all night.  The muffled chatter of ducks and birds called from outside.  We packed up and made breakfast in the common area, sharing a table with a family from Italy.  They were planning their day, just like us.  We collected our hanging clothes and my camera battery (which were left in the main house to charge the night before) and headed out past Lake Myvatn  to Husavik.

 

The road to Husavik. The road turned into dirt.  Not like “sorry for the inconvenience, we’re repairing the road” dirt road, but more like “this is the road to Husavik, if you can’t make it then I guess you’re not going to Husavik” dirt road.  It wasn’t like this the whole time, it turned back into a paved route eventually.  

We were so excited for this day.  We booked a tour with Gentle Giants- a whale watching company on the northernmost coast of Iceland.  Husavik was all about the whales.  They tout a reputation for being the “whale capital of Iceland”.  The tour would include a stop to a puffin colony, then a few hours in the Arctic Ocean in search of some larger friends.  We arrived in Husavik early, ready for the day ahead.  

We parked, soaked up some free wifi outside a hotel in town, then got out to walk around.  The town itself is small and picturesque.  Main street includes a church, some restaurants, a museum and about a million whale watching tours.  We went into the whale museum and poked around, then walked around town and checked into our tour.  Gentle Giants’ ticket office was bustling.  There were tourists anxiously waiting in line to pick up their tickets.  Clearly they were as excited as we were to be there, and how could you not be on such a beautiful day in such a gorgeous location?  The woman at the counter was so welcoming.  We chit chatted a bit and she filled me in on our tour-what to expect and what to wear (pretty much everything we owned).  We walked back to the car to gear up.  It was like we were going into battle.  We opened the trunk and our suitcases and pulled out anything we thought would save us if the weather changed or we ended up at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean- winter hats, gloves, scarves, a few pairs of pants, several layers on top including our winter jackets.  

 

We were ready for anything (except a day at the beach).  Having all of this on, we waddled back to our meeting point to meet our guide, Ricardo- a very friendly man from Portugal.  He immediately started handing us equipment- goggles, gloves, rain boots, a life jacket and the best item- a giant, heavy, bright, one piece snowsuit.  I took a mental note to purchase one of these for everyday use when we got home.  We put them on over our already bulky layers and started to sweat.  Ricardo reassured us that we might have heat stroke now, but we’ll thank him once we get out there.  When everyone was ready and sweaty, we headed across the street to Helga (the perfect name in my opinion), a rib boat with about 20 seats.  Our guide explained that the front of the boat was very bumpy and the back was calmer.  Of course, Matt and I scooped up the front row.  If anyone was going to take a swim.. it would be us.  Faaantastic.  I love swimming in dark, cold water filled with giant sea creatures.  I wasn’t scared at all..  

 

Ricardo went over some safety precautions regarding the deep sea dive I was about to take and we took off.  He wasn’t kidding about the bumps.  We were sitting in individual seats that you straddled like a horse while holding onto a half ring.  I understood why they had this ring almost right away.  The boat flew in the air and dove down into waves.  I could feel myself slightly airborne.  I was holding onto that ring like it was the last donut on Earth.  It was exhilarating.  The boat was speeding out towards an island just outside the harbor.  Big waves could be seen crashing into the cliffs and the breakers.  The boat slowed down until the engine was cut.  

 

 

Thousands of small tuxedoed parrots with giant feet zoomed around us- PUFFINS!  They were so adorable you just wanted to take one (or five) home with you.  They awkwardly took off out of the water flapping this way and that, then went zooming around like bees.  The best part?  Their giant orange feet could be seen behind them dangling in the breeze.  Some were floating in the water, others were catching fish.  They were great.  Ricardo filled us in- although they looked clumsy, puffins can fly up to 88 km/h.  A puffin’s main diet is fish.  They spend most of their lives at sea and are a threatened species.  We hung out for a bit, watching them take off and zoom around us, then we headed past the breaking water to find some new friends.  

The boat quickly slowed down for a harbor porpoise, which Matt spotted. The porpoise was too shy for us and didn’t pop up again so we sped back up.  We were told to look for a swarm of birds or whale spouts.  Whale spouts are the puff of air that shoots out of the water when they come up to breathe.  We scanned the seas, straining our eyes to find something.  We didn’t see any signs, not even other boat activity.  We learned from our last whale trip that when there’s a swarm of boats in an area where you’re searching for whales.. they’ve already been found.  Just when I had prepared myself for that fact that a boat ride in the Arctic Ocean with a puffin show on a beautiful day in Iceland is still a great day and maybe we wouldn’t see whales today, I noticed the boat was headed in a clear direction.  It wasn’t scooting around the ocean, we were speeding towards a specific spot (unbeknownst to anyone but the captain and maybe Ricardo).  As I realized this, I set my sight straight ahead and- THERE IT WAS three spouts!  HUMPBACKS! There weren’t any boats around, we were the first to arrive.  

They were magnificent (a word I do not use lightly or really use ever).  We sat there watching them come up for air, swim around, then dive straight down to hunt for more food.  Giants. Giant dark friends.  We were so close you could see their light underbellies, bulbous bumps, and their thin fins floating just under the water.  There is something so graceful about these animals that entrances you (maybe it’s because they are so big and bulky that you expect them to be slow and clumsy).  These whales are known for jumping.  Can you imagine?  It’d be like a giant torpedo shooting out of the water and belly flopping in front of you.  Our guide offered, “It seems like when it’s cloudy and bad weather they tend to jump more.“  I wouldn’t mind being on a tiny boat in awful weather in the Arctic Ocean to watch giants jump around, but that’s easy to say on a tiny boat in beautiful weather in the Arctic Ocean…  

We spotted several more spouts in the distance and headed their way.  6 HUMPBACKS! 6!  All going about their own business fishing and breathing.  We stayed for a while, watching them swim around.  They would dive down, we’d wait, they’d surprise us by popping up somewhere unexpected.  By now there were several boats around us.  Knowing some boating rules regarding whales from our previous whale watching trip, I noticed how respectful our captain was (and how Gentle Giants is as a company).  I also noted how close (sometimes too close) other boats seemed to get.  It’s important to give these wild animals their space.  They do not exist solely for our enjoyment.  Our guide told us how uncommon it was for humpback whales to hunt for food together.  We overheard other boats telling their groups as well.  We were so happy to be able to witness something rare.  

 

 

After our six friends dove down once again, Ricardo ended our trip with some spirits from the country’s only winemaker.  A mix of juniper and Icelandic moss.  It had so much flavor!  The perfect end to our trip.  We raced to shore, passing a large boat that had been whale watching with us and had headed back a while before us.  It just showed how fast our boat was, and how much extra time with the whales we were able to spend.  On shore we handed back our gear and thanked our guide and captain.  Back on land, we hunted for food.  We spotted a restaurant on the main street and popped in.  Matt got the fish of the day and was very happy.  I ordered the tofu, which apparently was not their forte.  We meandered through town ending back at our car, and headed out sad that it was over.  

Everyone we had met so far had been so nice, and it helped to make our experience so special.  The people from Gentle Giants from start to finish were incredibly friendly and accommodating.  They are truly excited about what they do and it permeates through their guests’ experiences.

Thus concludes the fun, exciting, and awe inspiring part of our day.  The second part of our day (a drive to Hofsos taking the scenic route) offered some adjectives too.. A beautifully terrifying, breath-taking, and anxiety ridden journey.  Maybe I’m being dramatic, maybe I was just exhausted, but here it goes.

Matt drove first while I napped (I’m a napper now).  We eventually pulled into a small fishing town to switch drivers and nappers.  I started out with everything going fine.  The weather started to sprinkle, no big deal.  We were driving on cliffs the whole way.  It was beautiful, but I was a little anxious in the rain.  Waterfalls are careening over the edge of cliffs into the ocean, it is truly a magical country.  Then the first sign of trouble, a one lane tunnel.  Now, I don’t mean each side of traffic has one lane equaling two.. I mean everybody in the tunnel non discriminate upon direction had one lane.  Okay.  There were pull offs every so many meters, it’s just a matter of getting to one before oncoming traffic gets to you first.  We make it out alive.  Of course Matt wasn’t napping anymore due to my anxious babbling (mainly to myself).  Then the rain starts a bit harder.  Another tunnel, then another.  They are getting longer (some including two lanes).  When I thought we were in the clear, the road turned into gravel, on the side of a cliff mind you, and we were going up and down the steep “road” roller coaster style.  It finally leveled off and we made it to our destination.  I can’t help but feel like Iceland had just hazed me into their tribe.  Aaaaanyways.  It had stunning views and we lived to tell about it.

 

Hofsos.  I know I’m being repetitive, but it’s a small town on the coast.  They have a handful of roads and houses, an infinity pool hot spring, and an awesome elementary school playground (I know I sound strange, but it had mini golf and a giant bouncy pillow-explanation on day seven).  We missed our camping spot the first pass through town so we turned around.  It was actually adjacent to the school (which I found a little odd).  Whoever ran this facility was so nice.  Their signs read something like, “Sorry if we don’t catch you to pay,“ and “Use our facilities even if you’re not staying.“  We had just set up camp as it started to drizzle.  We cooked dinner in our tent and rested (someone didn’t get a chance to nap).  When we left the tent, the rain had stopped and a beautiful sunset was taking place.  We jumped in the car to find a better view.  It was setting over the ocean.  Brilliant reds and oranges that lasted for hours.  Next we stopped at the pool to get some information on a zero gravity float Matt had heard of.  We were told to come back at 10 pm after regular hours.  Soon we were back, swimsuits in hand ready to float.

We showered and met in the hot tub for instructions.  The man running it told us to wet the helmet and pads before we put them on and gave us a thin towel–like blanket for the wind.  He went inside to turn light piano music on and left us to do as we please.  

I put my helmet and pads on ready for action and hopped in the larger pool.  There were several other people there too, but you wouldn’t know it as the pool was spacious and everyone was respectfully quiet.  Every once in awhile you’d hear someone laughing at themselves or flopping underwater.   I couldn’t help laughing too, to outside people, we must have looked like the weirdest meetup group.  The sun was still setting and we had the perfect view, as the pool was on a cliff in the harbor.  I floated for a while, swam to the edge to watch the sunset, paddled around, helped Matt float (apparently he’s not as buoyant as you’d think), periodically jumping into the hot tub.  The man in charge brought out some fruit, cheese and water.  It was such a relaxing evening compared to earlier in the day.  Eventually we showered off and headed back to camp for the night.

Day six was right in the middle of our honeymoon adventure.  It perfectly encapsulated Iceland- adventure, extreme conditions, and overwhelming beauty.  I couldn’t think of a better place to explore with my husband.