A bright welcome from the Land of fire and ice

MapisM

MapisM

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Sooo, tonight I'm posting from Stykkishólmur.
A small village located exactly in the middle of nowhere, that can only be reached after a 3 hours drive on icy roads from KEF airport.
What am I doing here, rather than in the much warmer S Sardinia, I hear some of you asking?
Well, essentially I'm indulging swmbo's wish to chase (again, after Alaska) some northern lights.
Not that I'm complaining in principle, but the drive was indeed exhausting, and I'm now at the keyboard just because I'm too tired to sleep.
Anyway, on the bright side, along the road we were greeted by the following view, just before arriving.
Nothing exceptional, but a decent start anyway.
As an aside - and I'm saying this as someone who never bought anything that could contribute to Tim Cook wealth - the pic was taken with a hand-held iPhone 11, non-pro. And there's no denying that the camera of that thing is indeed impressive, in extremely low light.
Aside from the aurora, which is even brighter in the pic compared to what we saw in flesh, once the car headlight were turned off, our eyes could hardly distinguish the road from the fields around it, in terms of colour - it was just all VERY dark.
Unsurprisingly, at around 11pm in Dec in Iceland.
But the image shows the road and the fields almost as they would have been in daylight!
LXHbvfsZ_o.jpg
 
Bah! I'm envious. I love Iceland. I've been twice; once in summer then again in winter. Landed on Jan 1st. Work rather than pleasure, but it was all pleasure nonetheless. Saw the lights, and in summer drove into the wilderness in a 4wd, and saw geysers and what-not. Flew there in summer in a light aircraft (Cessna 414) piloted by my boss, with me in the right seat, because he didn't have the solo pilot licence. But all was good, except for the "beer", and prices.
 
good luck,

came back after ten days in Copenhagen and Malmo and tbh not looking forward to visiting again in December ever. Bloody cold, humid and windy, no snow but freezing my balls off nevertheless. Happy to be back at two digit temps (on the right side of zero that is...) and SUN!

V
 
vas said:
good luck
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Thanks for your wishes V, but I'm afraid you should have tried harder...
We are right in the middle of one of the worst storm ever seen around here, according to the locals.
To the point that "Authorities advise residents and visitors in all regions to avoid travel until Wednesday evening."
Oh, well. We must take the bad with the good, I reckon.
At least the house is great, the internet connection is fantastic, and the food stock is large.
So far, that is.
Should you not hear from myself anymore, please form an orderly queue when you will come to put flowers around the mountain of snow that buried us! :rolleyes:
 
I thought about the forecast when first reading your post. Sounds like you are in a good position the enjoy the storm though, it will be a memorable addition to the experience for sure.

All the best to you both!
 
AndieMac said:
How long are you there for? :encouragement:
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Not much, just a week and a half.
It wasn't meant as a proper exploration of the place, like the much longer trips we made to Aus/Tas/NZ, but just (well, mostly) for northern lights spotting, as I mentioned in the OP.
Which in Iceland and at this time of the year, was practically a given, on paper.
But of course, latitude and darkness are necessary but not sufficient, to enjoy this amazing phenomenon at its best.
Clear sky is also essential, and based on the forecasts it looks like we were not very lucky with the timing of this trip.
Anyway, we'll see. It should get better in couple of days, fingers crossed....
Stay tuned!
And thanks anyhow for your wishes - also to Scubaman, of course! :encouragement:

PS: in hindsight, I must say that elton point is a good one, anyway.
At first sight, the place gives the impression to deserve a longer stay, travelling around a bit, possibly in the summer.
Trouble is, we still love living aboard in the summer enough to not wish going anywhere else.
Choices, choices... First world problems anyhow, not complaining at all! :cool:
 
MapisM said:
.....Trouble is, we still love living aboard in the summer enough to not wish going anywhere else.
Choices, choices... First world problems anyhow, not complaining at all! :cool:
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Haha, I don’t think anybody who knows your great lifestyle is going to feel sorry for these difficult decisions you have to make ;-)
 
Well C, Tasmania is very far from being a bad place in terms of life quality, either.
And also amazing for boating, as I can confirm to anyone who have yet to see it. :encouragement:

Oh, apropos of boating in Tas, any news on the search for a larger boat?
Don't be shy, you know how much these stories (with pics!) are appreciated, here in the asylum! :cool:
 
MapisM said:
....... any news on the search for a larger boat?
Don't be shy, you know how much these stories (with pics!) are appreciated, here in the asylum! :cool:
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Things are moving forward, we have only just parted company with our beloved Bertie after 15 years of loyal service :(, wow didn't realise how emotionally difficult that was going to be!
We haven't quite closed a deal on the next one yet, but pretty close, subject to a successful survey etc. We will still walk away if things don't stack up, but basically wanting a trawler style around 45'.
We had the deposit paid on a Sydney based boat a couple of months ago, which ended up being a polished turd under survey.
After our last holiday in Sardinia and CF with yourselves and Bart and E, we need to get our act together and get something big enough to accomodate a few guests to hopefully reciprocate the fantastic hospitality shown to us by you guys. :encouragement:
 
BartW said:
I'm sorry to hape put you in to that kind of big expenses :nonchalance:
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Just time to change up a gear with our boating Bart, expenses are just part of the cruise. I feel newly inspired by all the man mathematicians on the forum, and of course our Sardinian summer cruising was the perfect catalyst to get our family thinking bigger is better ;)
 
No worries B, I'm pretty sure that AndieMac was already bitten by the bug of a larger boat also before coming to Sardinia last summer! :cool:

Sorry to hear of the time wasted, C.
A Sydney-Hobart transfer would have been an epic cruise, btw.
600+ Nm as I recall, including the notorious Bass Strait crossing... Not for the fainthearted, that's for sure!
Anyway, all the very best for the next attempt.
If there's anything I can suggest, it's to take your time, because with used boats, there's no such thing as a missed opportunity.
There are only other opportunities out there, which are just waiting to be found! (y)
Cheers, P
 
Thanks P, appreciate the sentiments. This next one is more local, which is convenient for my own surveyors etc, but the intention will be relocation over our winter, somewhere between Sydney and central Queensland.
Besides the logistical relocation difficulties, the boat we did like was your old trawler, the mighty Ant!
 
AndieMac said:
the intention will be relocation over our winter, somewhere between Sydney and central Queensland.
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Aha. Either we didn't discuss that part of the plan, or I forgot it. In fact, I had in mind that you wanted to keep her in Hobart.
Are you thinking to stay somewhere along the Gold/Sunshine Coast permanently, or just for some time, before coming back to Tas? I can see the appeal of both places, mind!
Anyhow, all the very best. Looking forward to hear/see more, whenever you will feel like it.

PS: Thanks for the appreciation of our old lady. We fully share the feeling, as you perfectly know, but trust me, you will not miss the maintenance headache...!
PPS: re. Iceland, hang on for a while - more pics are coming!
 
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