Saturday, 22 August 2009
It's A Madhouse Out There
Well, today concluded my diving tour of Iceland. We were back at Silfra, the site of my first dive and took two more runs through it, following slightly different routes. I charged the camera last night, but it still only had enough juice to be constantly on for the first dive. Still, I seem to have got a better handle on the operation of the underwater camera, and my pictures turned out a lot better. However, I will not be posting any of those pictures tonight as I'm currently at the library. It's Culture Day in Reykjavík (the accented "i" is much easier on an Icelandic keyboard!) and the place is packed! By "the place" I don't mean my usual Internet café, I mean Reykjavík! The main street and many of the streets connecting to it are shut down and full of people. Every little shop and restaurant is full of people. Even the library is a pretty happenin' place right now. I tried to get into my usual spot, but without success, so pictures will have to wait till tomorrow. Once I'm finished here I'm going to go check out the wild street party happening outside. Just a quick five minute walk brought me across numerous live music acts, so finding entertainment shouldn't be an issue. Getting to bed before sunrise with all this commotion might be another issue, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I've got nothing booked for tomorrow, and I'm just going to play it by ear. Monday is my day on the glacier. I should be on with a more thorough post tomorrow. Take care for now!
Friday, 21 August 2009
Okay, Now I'm Safe To Describe The Day
I just wanted to get some pictures posted before anything else prevented me from doing so, therefore the previous post is full of my favorite shots from the past few days. With any luck I can get back to integrating the day's pictures in that day's post. Speaking of which, apparently tomorrow is "Culture Day" in Reykjavik, which turns the city into a giant party. Depending on what time I get back from diving and how much of a madhouse the city has become I may not get a chance to make a post tomorrow. The cafes that serve as hotspots throughout the city tend to be pretty happening pubs in the evenings, which may make it impossible to get any blogging done. So if I'm MIA tomorrow I'll try to make up for it on Sunday.
Okay, on to today. After my late night last night I decided to pass on breakfast and sleep as late as I could manage. That worked out fairly well and I didn't rouse myself till ab out 10:15. By the time I'd got out the door it was past 11, so I just started a tour of Reykjavik and grabbed a hotdog along the way. I'd already wandered around a bit on my first day, but I was just way to tired to take it all in, so I started again, this time refreshed and in the mood to explore. I wandered down the main street, taking a brief detour to check out Tjornin (lit. "Pond" in Icelandic) a small lake in the middle of town. It's full of ducks and gulls, some of which look like a typical seagull except bulkier, and with an odd red marking on their bottom beak. I'll have to look them up sometime.
I also made a detour into a clothing shop to buy a jacket. I equipped myself with clothes that assumed a slightly cooler summer temperature, which is what I'd been seeing while monitoring the temperature from Canada. Way off base. It's been quite cool here, and fairly windy, which is apparently pretty common. I've been making due, although I was a bit chilly yesterday. However, I was a bit concerned that I was going to continue to be slightly less than comfortable, and also that I would be woefully unequipped for my glacier hike on Monday. Fortunately the Icelanders know how to gear up for the weather. Unfortunately this comes at a cost. The most popular brand (or at least the best advertised) seems to be 66 degrees North. I took a peak in there and was unable to find a light jacket for less than 29,900 ISK. That's $252.43 CAD according to Google at the time of writing. They're all very technical garments, but I can get technical in Canada. Just go down to the MEC... WAY technical. I managed to find a different brand in a small shop and got a groovy coat that's very breathable and waterproof, but light and warm for 19,900. I got a tax-free receipt which I can take to the airport on my way out and get 15% of that back too. Still more than I wanted to pay since I ALREADY HAVE A JACKET, but it's cool, and I needed it. I'm just embarrassed as a Canadian abroad to be caught off guard by the weather.
I wandered out to the coast of Reykjavik harbour after that, and then made my way back to the guesthouse in time to get changed and meet my ride for the diving day. Our Divemaster today was Louis, and it was just Louis, Helmut, and myself on the trip today. We went out to Gardhur, which is out past the airport on the south peninsula and did two dives there. As you'll see if you've checked out the pictures, the water clarity wasn't so hot, but it was still very interesting. We were constantly trailed by huge schools of Herring, and we saw quite a few Scorpion Fish and Skates chilling out on the bottom.
I learned an important lesson today on my second dry suit dive. When checking things out on the bottom I generally like to kick my feet up so that I'm head-down and able to get my face close to what I'm observing without crashing into it. Not a great idea in a dry suit. You see, you keep it filled with air to control your buoyancy, and if you become too buoyant you vent air from a vent on your left shoulder. Well, if you get your feet too far above your head all the air rushed up to your feet and you lose the ability to vent it from your shoulder. Being perfectly upright streamlines you, and you shoot up to the surface at an ever increasing rate as the pressure lessens. Fortunately I wasn't very deep and was therefore sparred the kind of debilitating injury that this kind of bonehead maneuver would normally bring. A lesson well learned in controlling my buoyancy and body position.
The second dive of the day ended up being a learning experience as well. We got caught in an unexpectedly strong current and had to resort to a technique that most divers would normal avoid: making direct contact with the ocean life. We dumped the air out of our suits to become quite negatively buoyant and then pulled ourselves along the bottom by the stems of the kelp until we were out of the worst of it. I owe Helmut a beer, since he grabbed hold of me while I was still positively buoyant and kept me from getting swept away. It's great when you're a novice to be diving with experienced people. I was actually really fortunate that I'd run out the battery to Dad's camera on my first dive of the day and left it behind for the second. Any extra drag would have been detrimental at that point.
Well, it's almost 10:00 now, and I think I'm going to start making my way back to the hotel. I rushed over here as soon as I got in to make sure that I'd finally get some pictures posted, and I could still use a shower. The dry suit doesn't cover your hands and face from the salt water. Also, I don't have the luxury of sleeping in tomorrow, it's up at 7:00 to be ready for another 8:00 pickup, and then back to Silfra. I'll try to get some better pictures this time, although I'll probably do one dive without the camera so that I can be more focused on the actual diving.
I'll check in soon. Hope everyone back home is doing well!
Okay, on to today. After my late night last night I decided to pass on breakfast and sleep as late as I could manage. That worked out fairly well and I didn't rouse myself till ab out 10:15. By the time I'd got out the door it was past 11, so I just started a tour of Reykjavik and grabbed a hotdog along the way. I'd already wandered around a bit on my first day, but I was just way to tired to take it all in, so I started again, this time refreshed and in the mood to explore. I wandered down the main street, taking a brief detour to check out Tjornin (lit. "Pond" in Icelandic) a small lake in the middle of town. It's full of ducks and gulls, some of which look like a typical seagull except bulkier, and with an odd red marking on their bottom beak. I'll have to look them up sometime.
I also made a detour into a clothing shop to buy a jacket. I equipped myself with clothes that assumed a slightly cooler summer temperature, which is what I'd been seeing while monitoring the temperature from Canada. Way off base. It's been quite cool here, and fairly windy, which is apparently pretty common. I've been making due, although I was a bit chilly yesterday. However, I was a bit concerned that I was going to continue to be slightly less than comfortable, and also that I would be woefully unequipped for my glacier hike on Monday. Fortunately the Icelanders know how to gear up for the weather. Unfortunately this comes at a cost. The most popular brand (or at least the best advertised) seems to be 66 degrees North. I took a peak in there and was unable to find a light jacket for less than 29,900 ISK. That's $252.43 CAD according to Google at the time of writing. They're all very technical garments, but I can get technical in Canada. Just go down to the MEC... WAY technical. I managed to find a different brand in a small shop and got a groovy coat that's very breathable and waterproof, but light and warm for 19,900. I got a tax-free receipt which I can take to the airport on my way out and get 15% of that back too. Still more than I wanted to pay since I ALREADY HAVE A JACKET, but it's cool, and I needed it. I'm just embarrassed as a Canadian abroad to be caught off guard by the weather.
I wandered out to the coast of Reykjavik harbour after that, and then made my way back to the guesthouse in time to get changed and meet my ride for the diving day. Our Divemaster today was Louis, and it was just Louis, Helmut, and myself on the trip today. We went out to Gardhur, which is out past the airport on the south peninsula and did two dives there. As you'll see if you've checked out the pictures, the water clarity wasn't so hot, but it was still very interesting. We were constantly trailed by huge schools of Herring, and we saw quite a few Scorpion Fish and Skates chilling out on the bottom.
I learned an important lesson today on my second dry suit dive. When checking things out on the bottom I generally like to kick my feet up so that I'm head-down and able to get my face close to what I'm observing without crashing into it. Not a great idea in a dry suit. You see, you keep it filled with air to control your buoyancy, and if you become too buoyant you vent air from a vent on your left shoulder. Well, if you get your feet too far above your head all the air rushed up to your feet and you lose the ability to vent it from your shoulder. Being perfectly upright streamlines you, and you shoot up to the surface at an ever increasing rate as the pressure lessens. Fortunately I wasn't very deep and was therefore sparred the kind of debilitating injury that this kind of bonehead maneuver would normally bring. A lesson well learned in controlling my buoyancy and body position.
The second dive of the day ended up being a learning experience as well. We got caught in an unexpectedly strong current and had to resort to a technique that most divers would normal avoid: making direct contact with the ocean life. We dumped the air out of our suits to become quite negatively buoyant and then pulled ourselves along the bottom by the stems of the kelp until we were out of the worst of it. I owe Helmut a beer, since he grabbed hold of me while I was still positively buoyant and kept me from getting swept away. It's great when you're a novice to be diving with experienced people. I was actually really fortunate that I'd run out the battery to Dad's camera on my first dive of the day and left it behind for the second. Any extra drag would have been detrimental at that point.
Well, it's almost 10:00 now, and I think I'm going to start making my way back to the hotel. I rushed over here as soon as I got in to make sure that I'd finally get some pictures posted, and I could still use a shower. The dry suit doesn't cover your hands and face from the salt water. Also, I don't have the luxury of sleeping in tomorrow, it's up at 7:00 to be ready for another 8:00 pickup, and then back to Silfra. I'll try to get some better pictures this time, although I'll probably do one dive without the camera so that I can be more focused on the actual diving.
I'll check in soon. Hope everyone back home is doing well!
First, The Much Anticipated Pictures
Okay guys, you've all been very patient waiting for pictures, so I'll post the details of today's adventures separately. First, here's a bunch of pictures!
Not a great shot, since I've got a lot of the inside of a bus here, but it displays the general look of the landscape between Keflavik (the airport) and Reykjavik.
The Blue Lagoon! This shot comes closest to really capturing the weird colour of the water.
Also from the Blue Lagoon. This is what the rocks look like at the water's edge... and I swam in that. Hmmm....
Hallgrimskirkja, probably the most distinctive monument in Reykjavik. Not normally covered in scaffolding.
My humble abode.
A nice shot of the main shopping street in Reykjavik.
An underwater shot from Silfra. Sadly this didn't turn out in perfect focus. It's a real shame, but I hope you still get a sense of the amazing clarity of the water, and the incredible geology which I was swimming through.
Another Silfra shot which is, sadly, not in perfect focus. I was still trying to figure out the camera at this point, all while wearing thick wetsuit gloves, so I think I was hammering down on the shutter too quickly and not giving the camera time to focus.
A better Silfra shot. Starting to get the hang of it at this point. Fun fact, my dive buddy Helmut had a dive computer which recorded the water temperature at a balmy 1 degree Celsius.
An above-water shot of the Silfra dive sight. We followed that network of pools out to the main lake.
Some random super-cool dude in a dry suit. At this point he is blissfully unaware of just how wet he's about to be.
The original Geysir.
The mighty Gullfoss! Can't get that bad boy all in one shot, but I liked this one best.
The crater at Keridh. It's hard to tell from this shot, but that's a LONG way down!
A random shot of a Reykjavik street. This city has an incredible number of brightly coloured buildings.
Today's Divemaster Louis in the foreground, and in the background Helmut checking out the fairly significant jump we were going to be making to get into the water. I don't think I'd ever done a giant-stride entry from 8 feet before.
A picture of Helmut. Please note the water level here. This is after our second dive and the tide had come in to the point that it was washing over the pier.
Helmut found a shark's egg! How cool is that?
Water clarity wasn't so hot today, but I did manage a shot of these Herring. There were tons of them trailing us on our first dive.
Managed to get close enough to this Scorpion Fish that it negated the poor water clarity.
Not a great shot, since I've got a lot of the inside of a bus here, but it displays the general look of the landscape between Keflavik (the airport) and Reykjavik.
The Blue Lagoon! This shot comes closest to really capturing the weird colour of the water.
Also from the Blue Lagoon. This is what the rocks look like at the water's edge... and I swam in that. Hmmm....
Hallgrimskirkja, probably the most distinctive monument in Reykjavik. Not normally covered in scaffolding.
My humble abode.
A nice shot of the main shopping street in Reykjavik.
An underwater shot from Silfra. Sadly this didn't turn out in perfect focus. It's a real shame, but I hope you still get a sense of the amazing clarity of the water, and the incredible geology which I was swimming through.
Another Silfra shot which is, sadly, not in perfect focus. I was still trying to figure out the camera at this point, all while wearing thick wetsuit gloves, so I think I was hammering down on the shutter too quickly and not giving the camera time to focus.
A better Silfra shot. Starting to get the hang of it at this point. Fun fact, my dive buddy Helmut had a dive computer which recorded the water temperature at a balmy 1 degree Celsius.
An above-water shot of the Silfra dive sight. We followed that network of pools out to the main lake.
Some random super-cool dude in a dry suit. At this point he is blissfully unaware of just how wet he's about to be.
The original Geysir.
The mighty Gullfoss! Can't get that bad boy all in one shot, but I liked this one best.
The crater at Keridh. It's hard to tell from this shot, but that's a LONG way down!
A random shot of a Reykjavik street. This city has an incredible number of brightly coloured buildings.
Today's Divemaster Louis in the foreground, and in the background Helmut checking out the fairly significant jump we were going to be making to get into the water. I don't think I'd ever done a giant-stride entry from 8 feet before.
A picture of Helmut. Please note the water level here. This is after our second dive and the tide had come in to the point that it was washing over the pier.
Helmut found a shark's egg! How cool is that?
Water clarity wasn't so hot today, but I did manage a shot of these Herring. There were tons of them trailing us on our first dive.
Managed to get close enough to this Scorpion Fish that it negated the poor water clarity.
Okay, I'll make another post right away to tell you all about what I did today, but before any further technical or time difficulties prevent me from showing off my pictures, I'm posting this!
Thursday, 20 August 2009
How Was My First Drysuit Dive? It Wasn't.
Okay, I'm going to start off by mentioning that it's 11:30 P.M. right now. It's be a VERY full day. I wouldn't even be sitting here writing this except that I desperately want to get my thoughts about this day down while they are fresh. I'm sorry, but I won't be taking the time to even attempt to post pics. Must write then go to bed.
Okay, so my day started at 7:00, and I was very lucky in that nobody else was in the washroom, so I was able to get a shower in. There are 2 other rooms, both double occupancy that share the one bathroom. Wasn't really expecting that. Anyway, I got up, had some breakfast in the main building (included in the price of the room fortunately) and got downstairs by 8:00 to meet my dive guide David.
We were a multicultural crew today. My guide David is, as expected, Icelandic, although he's been living in Sweden for the past four years. The other two people in our group were Helmut from Germany, and Anastasia from Greece. Fortunately for me the conversation was all in English, so I fit right in. We headed out to Thingvellir park with David providing all sorts of stories and cultural insights along the way.
We met up with a second group at the park and made our way to Silfra, the section of the lake that we'd be diving in. The second group was sticking around for another dive, but our group was just doing a single dive today and then heading out sightseeing. Two dives each for the next two days. Our group did end up stealing a person from the other group, so Cathy from Minnesota joined us for the rest of the day.
So, I'm sure that you're all wondering about the title of this post. We got geared up and walked (not an inconsiderable distance) to the entry point. For anyone considering it, this dive requires a certain level of physical fitness, lots of walking in your gear! Anyway, the dry suit had built in boots, but not gloves, so it seals with latex around the wrists and neck and then we wore wetsuit gloves and hood over top. Well apparently while pulling on my right glove I slightly lifted the seal of the suit at my wrist. We got ourselves in the water and I started playing with my buoyancy a bit. Well it only took a few seconds before I started to feel a steady, cold (2-4 degrees Celsius) stream running down my arm. By the time I got resurfaced, explained to David that I'd sprung a leak, and got back to shore I was pretty wet. One of the other instructors fixed up my wrist and got me back in the water. Now, at this point I'm a little wet and cold under the suit, which is why I didn't immediately notice that I had another, far more significant leak. At some point in the preceding events my dry suit's zipper had sprung a catastrophic leak. I happened to be in a suit where the zipper runs along the back of your shoulders, and it was leaking at my right shoulder, which was already wet from my first leak. My first indication that something was wrong was that I couldn't maintain buoyancy to save my life! I kept pumping air into my suit and just kept slowly sinking if I stopped kicking. It was David who noticed the steady stream of bubbles coming from my zipper and pulled me back to shore. By the time I got out my suit was probably about 20lbs heavier. We went back to the staging area and I pulled the suit off, dumping several litres of trapped water on to the ground. Of course, my thermal under layer was soaked. So I had to strip down and get into another one. That was a lovely time. In 12 degree weather I'm soaking wet, standing outside in my underwear. I got dried off, got a dry base-layer on, and got into a new suit. I went with the second instructor, obviously having lost the main group, but I was just thrilled that my equipment failure didn't lead to a missed dive.
Now that we're past the drama, on to the dive itself. It was incredible! I did my best to get lots of pictures, though most of them turned out a bit blurry. Still, once I get a chance to post them you'll see just how awesome the area is. You're moving from pool to pool going through massive underwater canyons. The water is from a melting glacier and runs through many kilometers of rock before coming out perfectly filtered into the lake, so the visibility is the best you could possibly ask for. It was an excellent dive, and I look forward to hitting it again when we return on Saturday. Tomorrow we'll be ocean diving, which I'm also really looking forward to.
Having completed the dive we got our gear off and headed out sightseeing. That worked out really well, since after the back-and-forth to get my equipment changed, and the serious chill I got from my flood I was pretty tired and not really up for a second dive anyway. We took a drive out to Geysir, which unsurprisingly is a geyser, since that's where we get the word geyser from. The original Geysir is largely inactive now, but there is plenty of activity elsewhere on the site, including a geyser which erupts about once every 5 minutes. We took time for lunch, and I got to try my first pylsa, and Icelandic hotdog. It was pretty good, and is apparently made out of lamb, which seems to be a real staple of the Icelandic diet. I also had a very good lamb soup.
From Geysir we went to Gullfoss, the golden falls. The large falls are an impressive sight and one of the "can't miss" sights on an Icelandic tour, so I was happy that we got to check them out. From there we were scheduled to just return to Reykjavik, but we made a couple stops along the way. That's the great advantage of having a tour that just consists of 4 tourists in a Volkswagen van. We stopped at Keridh, which is the sight of a collapsed volcanic crater, which was pretty awesome. We also swung through a small town just because David had heard that a recent earthquake had opened up some new hotsprings. Sure enough we found an area where a huge crack had opened in the earth and water was boiling out of it. I love random discoveries like that!
When we got back to Reykjavik I had dinner with Helmut and Anastasia. We ate at the Fish Company, which despite the industrial sounding name is actually quite a posh and expensive restaurant. Of course I never realize these things until I've already entered in my hiking gear. Oh well, they didn't throw me out for being poorly dressed, and that's all that matters. I did their tasting menu, which turned out to be a great choice. I especially enjoyed a started that consisted of pieces of lobster over rhubarb coated in a sauce of some description. I got a picture of the very nicely presented main course of lamb wrapped in what they described as pancake, but was more crepe-like in consistency. Also very awesome.
By the time we finished that lengthy meal it was nearly 10:00, but I just had to come out to organize my photos and update my blog while the details of this VERY busy day were still fresh in my mind. I wouldn't have been able to do this, but it turns out that our dives won't begin until 2:00 P.M. tomorrow, so I'll be able to sleep in. My free breakfast is only served from 7-9 tomorrow morning, but I think I'm just going to leave the alarm off and sleep as late as I feel like. If I burn on the breakfast then so be it. It's midnight now and I'm very sleepy, and I don't feel like getting up early tomorrow. I haven't figured out how I'll spend my morning tomorrow, but I'll let you know when I've figured it all out... probably after I've got back from and afternoon of diving. Good night for now!
Okay, so my day started at 7:00, and I was very lucky in that nobody else was in the washroom, so I was able to get a shower in. There are 2 other rooms, both double occupancy that share the one bathroom. Wasn't really expecting that. Anyway, I got up, had some breakfast in the main building (included in the price of the room fortunately) and got downstairs by 8:00 to meet my dive guide David.
We were a multicultural crew today. My guide David is, as expected, Icelandic, although he's been living in Sweden for the past four years. The other two people in our group were Helmut from Germany, and Anastasia from Greece. Fortunately for me the conversation was all in English, so I fit right in. We headed out to Thingvellir park with David providing all sorts of stories and cultural insights along the way.
We met up with a second group at the park and made our way to Silfra, the section of the lake that we'd be diving in. The second group was sticking around for another dive, but our group was just doing a single dive today and then heading out sightseeing. Two dives each for the next two days. Our group did end up stealing a person from the other group, so Cathy from Minnesota joined us for the rest of the day.
So, I'm sure that you're all wondering about the title of this post. We got geared up and walked (not an inconsiderable distance) to the entry point. For anyone considering it, this dive requires a certain level of physical fitness, lots of walking in your gear! Anyway, the dry suit had built in boots, but not gloves, so it seals with latex around the wrists and neck and then we wore wetsuit gloves and hood over top. Well apparently while pulling on my right glove I slightly lifted the seal of the suit at my wrist. We got ourselves in the water and I started playing with my buoyancy a bit. Well it only took a few seconds before I started to feel a steady, cold (2-4 degrees Celsius) stream running down my arm. By the time I got resurfaced, explained to David that I'd sprung a leak, and got back to shore I was pretty wet. One of the other instructors fixed up my wrist and got me back in the water. Now, at this point I'm a little wet and cold under the suit, which is why I didn't immediately notice that I had another, far more significant leak. At some point in the preceding events my dry suit's zipper had sprung a catastrophic leak. I happened to be in a suit where the zipper runs along the back of your shoulders, and it was leaking at my right shoulder, which was already wet from my first leak. My first indication that something was wrong was that I couldn't maintain buoyancy to save my life! I kept pumping air into my suit and just kept slowly sinking if I stopped kicking. It was David who noticed the steady stream of bubbles coming from my zipper and pulled me back to shore. By the time I got out my suit was probably about 20lbs heavier. We went back to the staging area and I pulled the suit off, dumping several litres of trapped water on to the ground. Of course, my thermal under layer was soaked. So I had to strip down and get into another one. That was a lovely time. In 12 degree weather I'm soaking wet, standing outside in my underwear. I got dried off, got a dry base-layer on, and got into a new suit. I went with the second instructor, obviously having lost the main group, but I was just thrilled that my equipment failure didn't lead to a missed dive.
Now that we're past the drama, on to the dive itself. It was incredible! I did my best to get lots of pictures, though most of them turned out a bit blurry. Still, once I get a chance to post them you'll see just how awesome the area is. You're moving from pool to pool going through massive underwater canyons. The water is from a melting glacier and runs through many kilometers of rock before coming out perfectly filtered into the lake, so the visibility is the best you could possibly ask for. It was an excellent dive, and I look forward to hitting it again when we return on Saturday. Tomorrow we'll be ocean diving, which I'm also really looking forward to.
Having completed the dive we got our gear off and headed out sightseeing. That worked out really well, since after the back-and-forth to get my equipment changed, and the serious chill I got from my flood I was pretty tired and not really up for a second dive anyway. We took a drive out to Geysir, which unsurprisingly is a geyser, since that's where we get the word geyser from. The original Geysir is largely inactive now, but there is plenty of activity elsewhere on the site, including a geyser which erupts about once every 5 minutes. We took time for lunch, and I got to try my first pylsa, and Icelandic hotdog. It was pretty good, and is apparently made out of lamb, which seems to be a real staple of the Icelandic diet. I also had a very good lamb soup.
From Geysir we went to Gullfoss, the golden falls. The large falls are an impressive sight and one of the "can't miss" sights on an Icelandic tour, so I was happy that we got to check them out. From there we were scheduled to just return to Reykjavik, but we made a couple stops along the way. That's the great advantage of having a tour that just consists of 4 tourists in a Volkswagen van. We stopped at Keridh, which is the sight of a collapsed volcanic crater, which was pretty awesome. We also swung through a small town just because David had heard that a recent earthquake had opened up some new hotsprings. Sure enough we found an area where a huge crack had opened in the earth and water was boiling out of it. I love random discoveries like that!
When we got back to Reykjavik I had dinner with Helmut and Anastasia. We ate at the Fish Company, which despite the industrial sounding name is actually quite a posh and expensive restaurant. Of course I never realize these things until I've already entered in my hiking gear. Oh well, they didn't throw me out for being poorly dressed, and that's all that matters. I did their tasting menu, which turned out to be a great choice. I especially enjoyed a started that consisted of pieces of lobster over rhubarb coated in a sauce of some description. I got a picture of the very nicely presented main course of lamb wrapped in what they described as pancake, but was more crepe-like in consistency. Also very awesome.
By the time we finished that lengthy meal it was nearly 10:00, but I just had to come out to organize my photos and update my blog while the details of this VERY busy day were still fresh in my mind. I wouldn't have been able to do this, but it turns out that our dives won't begin until 2:00 P.M. tomorrow, so I'll be able to sleep in. My free breakfast is only served from 7-9 tomorrow morning, but I think I'm just going to leave the alarm off and sleep as late as I feel like. If I burn on the breakfast then so be it. It's midnight now and I'm very sleepy, and I don't feel like getting up early tomorrow. I haven't figured out how I'll spend my morning tomorrow, but I'll let you know when I've figured it all out... probably after I've got back from and afternoon of diving. Good night for now!
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
I LIVE! AGAIN!
Wow, two posts in one day from the guy normally can't manage two in one month. I'm doing pretty good here!
I just thought that you might all be interested to know that I've fixed my computer problems. Woohoo! Turned out to be simpler than I thought too. While the main unit for my plug converter only accepts non-grounded plugs, all it's doing is transforming the 220V to 110V. It's just a block, and you attach various plugs to it depending on what part of the world you're in. Well, those little attachments can be attached directly to a plug if you want, and it turns out that the AC adapter for my computer can handle the full 100-220V range. So I had the right equipment all along, I just didn't realize it! I find it mildly disturbing just how much that's lifted my mood. Do we have a computer geek in the room?
I also attribute my uplifted spirits to a good dinner that I had a couple hours ago. Sadly I just haven't been hungry at all and was only able to eat a fraction of my meal, but I think the calorie intake has given me the energy I was so sorely lacking. I had a traditional Icelandic dish who's name escapes me at the moment, but it was basically fish and potato cooked down till it was very nearly a stew, placed in a shallow dish, covered with cheese, and baked. Needless to say, it was pretty awesome. Hopefully a good night's sleep tonight will adjust my body to this timezone and restore my appetite.
If you're wondering why I felt the need to share all of this immediately instead of appending it to tomorrow's post, well, for one thing I was pretty happy about the working computer. Also, I don't have anywhere particularly comfortable to sit and work on my computer in my hotel room, so coming out here to a cafe gave me the opportunity to sort my photos in a more comfortable environment. Primarily though, it's now only 8:10, and I've been at this for a bit. If I'd stuck around my hotel I'd have inevitably ended up trying to sleep, and probably failing. While I would love a good 12 hour nap right about now, I don't want to risk getting up at 3:00 A.M. and not being able to get back to sleep. I've got to get up at 7:00 to get breakfast before my dives, so I want to give myself the best chance of getting a decent night's sleep. I'm hoping that by 9:00 it will at least start to get dusky and I can have a reasonable chance of getting a full night's sleep. Wish me luck.
Well, I was going to post some photos from today, but Blogger is cracking up on me here, so I'm going to publish this before I lose it completely. Thanks for putting up with my rambling today.
I just thought that you might all be interested to know that I've fixed my computer problems. Woohoo! Turned out to be simpler than I thought too. While the main unit for my plug converter only accepts non-grounded plugs, all it's doing is transforming the 220V to 110V. It's just a block, and you attach various plugs to it depending on what part of the world you're in. Well, those little attachments can be attached directly to a plug if you want, and it turns out that the AC adapter for my computer can handle the full 100-220V range. So I had the right equipment all along, I just didn't realize it! I find it mildly disturbing just how much that's lifted my mood. Do we have a computer geek in the room?
I also attribute my uplifted spirits to a good dinner that I had a couple hours ago. Sadly I just haven't been hungry at all and was only able to eat a fraction of my meal, but I think the calorie intake has given me the energy I was so sorely lacking. I had a traditional Icelandic dish who's name escapes me at the moment, but it was basically fish and potato cooked down till it was very nearly a stew, placed in a shallow dish, covered with cheese, and baked. Needless to say, it was pretty awesome. Hopefully a good night's sleep tonight will adjust my body to this timezone and restore my appetite.
If you're wondering why I felt the need to share all of this immediately instead of appending it to tomorrow's post, well, for one thing I was pretty happy about the working computer. Also, I don't have anywhere particularly comfortable to sit and work on my computer in my hotel room, so coming out here to a cafe gave me the opportunity to sort my photos in a more comfortable environment. Primarily though, it's now only 8:10, and I've been at this for a bit. If I'd stuck around my hotel I'd have inevitably ended up trying to sleep, and probably failing. While I would love a good 12 hour nap right about now, I don't want to risk getting up at 3:00 A.M. and not being able to get back to sleep. I've got to get up at 7:00 to get breakfast before my dives, so I want to give myself the best chance of getting a decent night's sleep. I'm hoping that by 9:00 it will at least start to get dusky and I can have a reasonable chance of getting a full night's sleep. Wish me luck.
Well, I was going to post some photos from today, but Blogger is cracking up on me here, so I'm going to publish this before I lose it completely. Thanks for putting up with my rambling today.
I LIVE! Well... kinda...
Okay, I'm here in Iceland. Boy am I tired! No, that's not a "I just flew in from Toronto..." joke, I really am beat. As previously mentioned I didn't sleep well Monday night, so I was already pretty run-down Tuesday night when I began my journey. Fortunately I slept really well on the flight over, but that's still only 5 hours of sleep when I was already tired, so I'm cooked right now. I was through security and officially into Iceland by 7:15 A.M. local time, but I wasn't able to check into my hotel until 2 P.M. so I had some time to kill. I jumped on a bus to the Blue Lagoon, since it's supposed to be a pretty major Icelandic attraction. For those not in the know, the Lagoon is a mineral-rich lake formed by the nearby geothermal power plant. The water is bathtub warm and purportedly quite good for the skin. It's a pretty relaxing place to go chill out when you first arrive. Unfortunately the earliest bus to Reykjavik from there is 11:15, so if you arrive at 8:00 you'll be pretty bored with the place long before you can escape to the capital. There's only so much sitting in a hottub that a guy can do.
Of course, having said that, I missed the 11:15 bus. I was hanging out with some travelling students and we got ourselves convinced that the bus was at 11:30. Oops. It's okay though, we hung out and waited for the 12:15 bus, which got us into Reykjavik by about 1:00. After briefly touring around with one of my new friends I went to go check into my hotel. The accommodations aren't anything to write home about, but they'll do, and I'm just happy to be able to finally start my tour of Reykjavik without my full backpack on. The first thing I've done is find a nearby cafe with a wireless hotspot so that I can update my blog. I know my priorities. Unfortunately since I'm not really operating at 100% right now I brought my laptop and the A/C adapter, but left the European plug adapter in my hotel room. Due to the stunning power of my nearly dead battery I've used up half of my available battery life already. Tomorrow I'll try coming back with all the necessary equipment, assuming that I don't get in too late from diving. There's the distinct possibility that I'll be under the radar for the next three days if the diving doesn't get me back at a decent hour.
At this point I'd like to mention that I'm writing from the Reykjavik public library. Shortly before finishing the last sentence of the above paragraph my laptop, till showing 50% battery power, simply turned off. Yay. Now the fun part. I was quite willing to blame my absentmindedness in forgetting my plug adapter to being tired. However, I've got no excuse for leaving the country in the first place with a plug adapter that doesn´t have a ground prong on it. Yeah, that´s all me. So, unless I´m able to find one to purchase here, which strikes me as unlikely, my laptop is only so much dead weight. If that turns out to be the case I should still be able to post from the library, but I won´t be uploading any pictures. I´ll see what I can do.
I´m going to head out now and explore Reykjavik. First impressions indicate that I should have no problems getting around on foot. The main city centre is quite compact, and anything I you could possibly want to see appears to be in easy walking distance. Tomorrow I really get into things as I start my diving adventure. With any luck I´ll be back on to report on that tomorrow evening.
Of course, having said that, I missed the 11:15 bus. I was hanging out with some travelling students and we got ourselves convinced that the bus was at 11:30. Oops. It's okay though, we hung out and waited for the 12:15 bus, which got us into Reykjavik by about 1:00. After briefly touring around with one of my new friends I went to go check into my hotel. The accommodations aren't anything to write home about, but they'll do, and I'm just happy to be able to finally start my tour of Reykjavik without my full backpack on. The first thing I've done is find a nearby cafe with a wireless hotspot so that I can update my blog. I know my priorities. Unfortunately since I'm not really operating at 100% right now I brought my laptop and the A/C adapter, but left the European plug adapter in my hotel room. Due to the stunning power of my nearly dead battery I've used up half of my available battery life already. Tomorrow I'll try coming back with all the necessary equipment, assuming that I don't get in too late from diving. There's the distinct possibility that I'll be under the radar for the next three days if the diving doesn't get me back at a decent hour.
At this point I'd like to mention that I'm writing from the Reykjavik public library. Shortly before finishing the last sentence of the above paragraph my laptop, till showing 50% battery power, simply turned off. Yay. Now the fun part. I was quite willing to blame my absentmindedness in forgetting my plug adapter to being tired. However, I've got no excuse for leaving the country in the first place with a plug adapter that doesn´t have a ground prong on it. Yeah, that´s all me. So, unless I´m able to find one to purchase here, which strikes me as unlikely, my laptop is only so much dead weight. If that turns out to be the case I should still be able to post from the library, but I won´t be uploading any pictures. I´ll see what I can do.
I´m going to head out now and explore Reykjavik. First impressions indicate that I should have no problems getting around on foot. The main city centre is quite compact, and anything I you could possibly want to see appears to be in easy walking distance. Tomorrow I really get into things as I start my diving adventure. With any luck I´ll be back on to report on that tomorrow evening.
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Almost Time To Go
As I start writing this the time is 5:10 P.M. My flight leaves at 9:10. I'm expecting Graydyn home from work around 6:00, at which point he'll take me to the airport for my flight. This trip has been a long time in the planning, and it's finally about to kick off. Honestly, at this point I couldn't be more nervous. It's a bit of an odd reaction for me since I'm used to being really excited when I'm this close to the start of a trip, but this one, as my first fully solo venture, is a bit unnerving. I think that's heightened by the fact that I slept TERRIBLY last night, and haven't allowed myself a nap this afternoon for fear that it will disrupt my ability to sleep on the plane. You see, due to the time difference my 9:10 P.M. flight will land in Iceland at just about 7:00 A.M. the next morning. Unfortunately that means that my best chance to quickly adapt to local time is to sleep for the duration of my 5 hour flight and then call that my night's sleep. That might be a tall order given that I won't be going into that flight at all rested. Something tells me that tomorrow is going to be a long and difficult day. If I can just get through it without napping in the afternoon I should be switched around to Iceland-time and ready to rock by the next day. Here's hoping.
I did a bit of research this afternoon that alleviated one of my concerns. I was under the impression that, it being summer, the sun wouldn't set in Iceland until VERY late at night. It turns out that by the end of August that trend is starting to swing around towards the shorted days, and that I'll be right in the middle where Iceland will be experiencing something close to what we would call a normal day-night cycle. What's interesting though is that when it shifts between always being light in the summer and always being dark in the winter it does so fairly dramatically. According to the chart that I was reading each day that I'm there the sun with rise roughly 3 minutes later, and set roughly 3 minutes soon. So every single day that I'm there will have about 6 minutes less daylight than the one before it. I thought that was pretty cool. The good news is that those sunsets are happening between 9:30-10:00 P.M. which should mean that I'll have no worried about sleeping in the daylight. Hooray!
Well, that's all for now. I imagine that the next time you'll hear from me (short of some posts on Twitter from my phone) I'll be in Iceland. Local time there is GMT, so I will be 4 hours ahead of everyone in Toronto, which should mean that by the time anyone here finishes work I should have had plenty of time to make a post. That's the theory anyway. Wish me luck!
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