After breakfast this morning we made our way to the ferry port where we caught a ferry over to the island of Heimaey, which is increasingly being marketed as ‘Pompeii of the North’ An island, like mainland Iceland, volcanic in origin and one which dates back 5,000 years. After a smooth boat journey we taxied into the harbour surrounded by rich bird life flying around us, including puffins and kittiwakes.
Unfortunately, today has been rather on the wet side but with waterproofs and walking boats on and excitement mounting for climbing the volcano we began our adventure! After a short walk up to the base of Eldfell we began our ascent. Despite being rather wet, spirits were high and we soldiered on. Unfortunately low cloud and wind meant it wasn’t safe for us to go right to the top however we managed to get a good way up the volcano and the cloud lifted enough for us to get some fairly clear photos looking back over the harbour.
Next we visited the fantastic new museum (http://eldheimar.is/en/about-museum/) on the Eldfell eruption and the birth of Surtsey. The museum has been built around a house which was destroyed and covered by the ash fall out during the 1973 eruption and has now been exposed so the damage is clear. The interactive exhibits give a great insight into the events of the eruption and how it was managed to save the town.
We ended our day with a swim at the Heimaey pool with all of its slides before catching the ferry back to the mainland and returning to the Husid guesthouse.
Iceland 2015 