Days9 & 10, Friday and Saturday May 19th & 20th Bakkergerdi and Heimaey

 This is two days together, rather belatedly because the weather has not been good on Saturday and Sunday.  Friday was beautiful as we sailed into Bakkergerdi and there were two options where we could spend time.  There is an outcrop near 

Bakkagerdi from the harbour

the harbour which is famous for puffins and other seabirds and also there is a small isolated settlement.  Many of our crewmates had taken the inflatable boat ride and had decided to take the wildlife option before we had got ourselves into gear.  There were so many humans looking at the birds, we decided to take the short coach trip and visit the quite ancient settlement which proved to have significant attractions.  

Bakkagerdi church

church interior

We visited the very small church 

which served the population of around 100 was built in 1901. It has an altar mural painted by a famous Icelandic artist and at the moment it all looks in good condition.  It was unlocked and we went in for photos.   i don't think I've seen the sermon on the mount depicted in that way before.

grass rooved houses

Carrying on into the hamlet there were two buildings with grass roofs which is the way the houses used to be.  We had seen crofts in the Hebrides with similar features.  Further

Bakkagerdi school

 along was the primary school which certainly had a terrific mural fora school and community that size.  Well                                         done Bakkagerdi!

The next part of the visit was a real highlight of our holiday.  We returned on the bus to the harbour and proceeded to do our type of birdwatching. There were now less people on the platforms and so we were able to climb up and move about freely.  You will now have to indulge me as I share a few pictures. 

We had never seen so many puffins or got so close to them.  What a wonderful creature they are.  We never before realised how large they are (size of a small duck), how tame they are (at times we were within 2 yards and they stayed in position), how they like to show off to the cameras.  We spent a very interesting time there and can understand the primary school mural.  It was soon time to return to the mothership and she then weighed anchor.  The next 36 hours were not good cruising with the wind and wave heights increasing.  Not very comfortable for sleeping and impossible to write the blog.  The captain told us the waves reached 21 metres in height and so we had to abandon the Heimaey visit and make our way slowly to Reykjavik.  Will continue the story soon.   

the harbour