tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52046872011-04-21T19:21:27.245ZGraeme's Iceland Blog<B>The Blog of a Trip to Iceland June to August 2003 <br><br>mail@graemedavis.com<br><br><a href="mailto:mail@graemedavis.com">Graeme Davis</a><br><br><a href="http://www.jllonline.net">Journal of Language and Linguistics</a><br><br>Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comBlogger531100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1168104513117922472007-01-06T17:27:00.000Z2007-01-06T17:28:33.126ZGraemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1141313985748981652006-03-02T15:39:00.000Z2006-03-02T15:39:45.763Z2006Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1064236315660686932003-09-22T13:10:00.000Z2007-01-06T17:31:19.920ZThese Blog notes have been re-organised as a continuous narrative. They are available as a Word file at:A Brit in Iceland.docPrinted version available for £1.99 + p&p contact mail@graemedavis.comGraemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1062077119914633772003-08-28T13:25:00.000Z2003-08-28T13:29:02.486ZBack to base It's a strange feeling to leave a house for 10 weeks, and wonder what state it will be in on return. In fact everything was okay. Gardens were baked as a result of Britain's heatwave - though the begonias were in full flower, flourishing in a hot, bone-dry compost. Wasps nest required a call to pest control. Gas boilers required a call out to re-start them (they were serviced last Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1061670722220259292003-08-23T20:32:00.000Z2003-08-23T21:09:39.580ZIceland faces protests over new whaling Financial Times August 23/24 2003 “Sales of fresh meat from the first Icelandic whales to be harpooned for 14 years were brisk in the supermarkets of Reykjavik this week, but outside the small island nation the decision to resume whaling has been greeted with less enthusiasm. Foreign governments and environmental and animal welfare groups have protested Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1061481546365389682003-08-21T15:59:00.000Z2003-08-23T21:10:51.136ZHOME! More to follow .... NorthLink ferry Lerwick - Aberdeen The crossing was .... interesting. First of all they had a loading problem because the ship was transporting a crane which filled up a good chunk of the car deck. Fitting the cars on was tight. I drew the short straw and had to reverse down a very narrow and steep ramp to access parking space. Not funny. Then in the middle of the Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1061390186648682642003-08-20T14:36:00.000Z2003-08-20T14:36:26.660ZICELAND RESUMES WHALING The IFAW website has information about Iceland's resumption of whaling, and how to protest. Iceland's stated reason for whaling - "scientific whaling" to find out what minke whales eat - is bunk. Rather the government of Iceland is responding to support for whaling from over 80% of the Icelandic population, who feel that the international community has no right to tell Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1061388419494227692003-08-20T14:06:00.000Z2003-08-23T21:08:24.490ZWednesday To Esha Ness cliffs. Great cliffs, weird geology (there is a geo here) and lots of wind. Artist's Studio. A guy from England who has bought a croft (for £10,000), is managing it, and running a studio - mainly commission painting. He seems to be doing okay. Crofts have to be managed, though rather than graze sheep he is as it happens paid by the EU to manage the land to promote heatherGraemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1060957682149498072003-08-15T14:28:00.000Z2003-08-15T14:32:23.346ZFriday Arrived Faroes at 5pm and was off and through customs etcetera in 5 minutes. The time is a bit early for any arrival, but with sunshine it really didn´t matter. Torshavn is a surprising town with a distinctive culture. Rain and fog this afternoon has discouraged too much exploring, but have been to the Viking farm ruins at Kvivik, as well as checking the ferries for the bird cliffs. With Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1060786834078843332003-08-13T15:00:00.000Z2003-08-13T15:05:21.050ZWednesday Visited Hengifoss, which is Iceland´s third highest waterfall. I´m in danger of getting an overload of waterfalls, but they really are magnificent. Britain and the continent are too weathered to have the big falls. Off to see another fall this afternoon, one we can walk under. Next post should be from the Faroes, not before Friday and possibly not then. NB the archives should now be Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1060522414027722442003-08-10T13:33:00.000Z2003-08-10T13:33:34.063ZSunday Around Reykjavik. Last day at base. Saturday To Blue Lagoon. Raining, and therefore a very different experience. Indeed all in all a very wet day.Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1060445474664104392003-08-09T16:11:00.000Z2003-08-10T13:39:44.730ZReflections A few photos uploaded this time in link format (below). Most 60 to 160K. Time in Reykjavik is all but at an end. The trip back is via Grimsstadir (Graeme’s Town) and Egilsstadir (Egil’s Town), so the northern route. By the time I get to Egilsstadir I will have driven right round Iceland. I’ll also have chalked up about 6,000 miles on Icelandic roads, of which about a thousand will Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1060275186367579952003-08-07T16:53:00.000Z2003-08-07T16:58:53.506ZWhaling Iceland has announced a resumption of whaling, with a "harvest" of Minke whales. I find this very hard to justify. Killing a whale is a particularly painful business, a form of slaughter we would not accept for farm animals. Additionally it is not economically needed by Iceland, and traditionally most of the meat has ended up in pet food. Does anyone reading this blog know an on-line Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1060275165836528492003-08-07T16:52:00.000Z2003-08-07T16:52:45.700ZThursday To Thingvellir - probably my favourite place in Iceland. Also the Culture House in Reykjavik. Wednesday Spent today in Reykjavik. It is very hard to tire of this city. It is small, tiny by the standards of most capitals, smaller than for example England’s recently designated city of Brighton. Yet there is a tremendous amount of interest in its streets and the Greater Reykjavik area. Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1060183985819871392003-08-06T15:33:00.000Z2003-08-06T15:38:57.236ZPartial blog update SUNDAY Dropped David off at Keflavik airport and returned via the Blue Lagoon. The day a scorcher by Icelandic standards (18 degrees), and I´´m getting used to the temperatures here to the extent that that felt hot. Britain can keep its heatwave. MONDAY A work day. Also a bank holiday in Iceland. Out to Keflavik airport to pick up Damian. Getting familiar with that route. Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1060006633768471532003-08-04T14:17:00.000Z2003-08-04T14:25:00.266ZJust odds and ends to post on the blog today. I´ll go back in a few days and sort them. At least that is the intention. SSSHHHH! Don’t tell the Icelanders! Iceland is NOT an arctic nation. Of course this begs the question what an arctic nation might be. Probably the simplest statement is that people live north of the arctic circle, north of 66.33 degrees. By this definition Norway, Sweden andGraemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1059749861089337282003-08-01T14:57:00.000Z2003-08-01T14:57:40.956ZWhale watching this morning from Reykjavik, using the Elding whale-watching boat. The star was a Humpback Whale. Good, close sighting of a young Humpback Whale, from as close as 60 feet. Super views of tail flukes and the whale spouting. There are estimated to be only 10,000-15,000 Humpback Whales worldwide, about 5% of their pre intensive-whaling level. They winter around Iceland and summer inGraemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1059676406903386432003-07-31T18:33:00.000Z2003-07-31T18:51:51.056ZTHURSDAY Climbed Helgafell today. This is the Helgafell outside Reykjavik, not the one at Stykisholmur. It was Icelandic. The weather deteriorated from overcast to high winds to rain to hail. The path got steeper and steeper. Nonetheless a memorable climb. Trip to North Iceland - Headings for Last Few Days Hardly a proper Blog entry, as heavy-duty touristing has got in the way. Saturday Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1059154436739975802003-07-25T17:33:00.000Z2003-07-25T17:42:01.330ZFriday Nesjavellir and Thingvellir today, with some walking at both. Thursday Geysir and Gullfoss. These places get better the more they are seen. The Great Geysir fizzed a bit but didn´t go off. Strokkur is every 5 minutes or so. On the road back past Thingvellirvatn saw SIX GREAT NORTHERN DIVERS at close range plus a glimpse of more well out on the lake David´s Iceland Bird Wish List Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1058964255222162972003-07-23T12:44:00.000Z2003-07-23T12:44:15.176ZRandom Witterings Visitors to Iceland often get the idea that Icelanders don’t have a sense of humour. They might just be right. Icelanders have a very serious view on life. Maybe months of Gothic night every winter has its impact. Their television news is read in a monotone, even when it is clearly a good-news story. Their television weathermen must feel they will be sacked if they ever smile.Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1058880647400365382003-07-22T13:30:00.000Z2003-07-22T14:14:23.246ZTUESDAY Well today's good news is that the book looks like a book. All the chapters are there, and it just about hangs together. 58,000 words written. With links and descriptive bits and pieces it will get up to 70,000, maybe even a tad more. And I don't think just at this moment I can stand to look at it again! The Old Icelandic material proved gritty. I don't think there are optative clauses Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1058792010182622292003-07-21T12:53:00.000Z2003-07-21T12:53:30.436ZA severely text=based post this one, but here goes anyway! Monday Okay, I’ve been too long in Iceland. Today it is raining, and it’s almost a relief. I’ve seen no night for six weeks. And when it is not only light but bright sunshine hour after hour it gets weird. Disorientating. So it bit of gloomy weather actually comes in very welcome. Sunday Blue lagoon today. As good as ever, though moreGraemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1058537007306815872003-07-18T14:03:00.000Z2003-07-18T14:03:27.210ZFRIDAY Conference today on Null Subjects and Parametric Variation at the University of Iceland. I remain surprised at the general inability of academics to give papers which fit within the allotted time. One this morning thought he could get through over 50 examples (in Welsh) and make his case within the 30 minute slot. He would have done better with 5 examples. 50,202 words. THURSDAY Up Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1058448255624867072003-07-17T13:24:00.000Z2003-07-17T13:24:15.666ZWEDNESDAY Temperatures hit 17 degrees today in Reykjavik, without a cloud in the skies. On the weather programme this evening they had on their best funeral faces. Clearly much suffering will result for Icelanders from enduring temperatures at this level. The highest temperature ever recorded in Reykjavik is just 24 degrees. Inland it was actually higher – 20 degrees on Mossfell. The unique Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1058281331531695442003-07-15T15:02:00.001Z2008-10-01T10:08:39.530ZMiscellaneous witterings today. I seem to have got stuck with the book at around 53,000 words, hence the sudden interest in anything other than book writing.1492In fourteen hundred and ninety twoColumbus sailed the ocean blueI’m pretty sure I was actually taught at school that Columbus was the first European to discover America. Which is a neat example of how wrong information can be perpetuated.Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1058185188586882562003-07-14T12:19:00.000Z2003-07-22T14:04:13.576ZMUSEUMS In the last few days have checked out a few more of Reykjavik’s many museums. The Einar Jonsson sculpture museum is within the former home and garden of the sculptor, dating from the 1920s. His art presents a rather tortured mix of Christianianity and Nordic myth – the sort of thing that in Germany in the 1930s was taken over as a Nazi art style – not that any official information in Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1058115263025573892003-07-13T16:54:00.000Z2003-07-13T16:54:22.896ZSUNDAY To the Blue Lagoon. Getting to be a habit ... SATURDAY Went to the Hveragerthi geothermal area the day. I rather think I need at least two glasses of Claret to get my tongue around Hveragerthi. It’s rather over the hills from Reykjavik - Icelandic style. Basically there is a mountain in the way, so the road goes straight up and straight down. Somehow it put me in mind of the Scottish Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1057928319215891502003-07-11T12:58:00.000Z2003-07-11T13:39:26.616ZFRIDAY As a footnote to earlier posts have discovered that there is a pub in Reykjavik called the Gaukur a Stong. so the Gaukur story would seem to live on in popular memory. The pub seems a little on the lively side, but perhaps not quite axe fights, at least not on most nights. And as a footnote to Reykholt, thirteenth century scholarly activity there surely counts as the renaissance that Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1057858860202492582003-07-10T17:41:00.000Z2003-07-11T12:55:38.376ZTHURSDAY To Reykholt and the super mediaeval studies library there. This is a remarkable collection - very mediaeval, even down to being uncatalogued. Lookking along lots of shelves is an interesting way to find the unexpected. I´ve come across a book published 1780 which has something original to say on Old Icelandic syntax and which really doesn´t seem to have been picked up by anyone since,Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1057754900229286522003-07-09T12:48:00.000Z2003-07-10T17:43:11.723ZLATER WEDNESDAY Have just seen the results of a road accident, one of several since I’ve been in Iceland. This one was a shunt which led to some broken glass and bent metal, but presumably little else. The police were on the scene when I got there. Indeed a policeman signalled the car in front of me to stop, but the driver apparently didn’t see him and as good as drove through him. The Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1057663530474084262003-07-08T11:25:00.000Z2003-07-08T11:39:08.966ZMORE ON TUESDAY A very good day indeed, though perhaps not the most promising of starts. Rain this morning was heavy, at times torrential. I was heading out for Thjorsadalur and Stong, and it was becoming clear that it was a longer journey than I had expected. And when I pulled in at Selfoss to check opening times for Stong the tourist office somehow managed to imply that they couldn’t Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1057588572039034282003-07-07T14:36:00.000Z2003-07-07T14:40:47.136ZBeen making a few changes to this Blog site, but still the archives don't seem to work....Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1057588352389881642003-07-07T14:32:00.000Z2003-07-07T14:32:32.403ZMONDAY Started the week with a dip in the Blue Lagoon. Now in the library and wondering where I'm ever going to find examples of some of the more weird and wonderful word order patterns in half a dozen Germanic languages. One of the most promising but also most frustrating areas is the old runic inscriptions - promising because they are so early, frustrating because they are short, and there is Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1057513862725190222003-07-06T17:51:00.000Z2003-07-08T11:39:36.953ZFRIDAY Over 2,000 words written today! If I could just manage that everyday … SATURDAY An early start, out to Laxnes on Mossfell. This is the farm where the writer Halldor Laxness was born, and from which he took a surname (somehow he added another s). It is now a horse farm - what we would call stables, but as Icelandic horses are never stabled, rather spending their whole lives outdoors, I Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1057319361025316842003-07-04T11:49:00.000Z2003-07-04T11:49:21.083ZFrom the newspaper The Reykjavik Grapevine, June 27th 2003. Dear Grapevine Where are all the foreign cars in Iceland? A week ago I brought my car to Iceland for the summer on the ferry from Shetland. Since arrival in Iceland I’ve not seen a single foreign registration. My theory is that there’s a big hole somewhere that swallows foreign cars, and that I had better keep a sharp look-out! My car Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1057245790902733912003-07-03T15:23:00.000Z2003-07-06T17:52:44.323ZStill having a few problems with photos and archives on Blogger - the company keep posting notices thanking bloggers for their patience! But in the meantime a few photos HERE Krysuvik1.jpg Krysuvik2.jpg Krysuvik3.jpg Oxarafoss.jpg Thingvellir.jpg MumDad Iceland.jpg I´m keeping my fingers crossed that they will get the archive working soon! Reception this evening at the University's Sigurdur Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1056976489631851232003-06-30T12:34:00.000Z2003-06-30T12:44:15.070ZWEEKEND Met my parents at Keflavik airport Friday evening. Iceland Express arrived on-time after what I gather was a respectable flight from London. Good to know that the bargain airlines can deliver a good service. Had a very touristy weekend - Kerith, Geysir, Gullfoss, Thinvellir. These major tourist draws are understandably the Icelandic Golden Circle - each one is in its own way unbeatable.Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1056635966737469772003-06-26T13:59:00.000Z2003-06-26T13:59:26.740ZGraemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1056635190248280312003-06-26T13:46:00.000Z2003-06-26T13:58:21.073ZWell after two days of telling myself I was imagining it I had to admit that the car was making a funny noise. A loud grating when I turned a corner. In fact not a funny noise at all. So I took the car into the Mercedes garage, and explained that the car was making an odd noise. The mechanic decided he would give it a test drive, then when he saw it was right-hand-drive decided I would drive andGraemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1056539302015542182003-06-25T11:08:00.000Z2003-06-25T11:08:22.120ZTuesday Called in at the Icelandic National Art Gallery. But otherwise very much a working day. Wednesday Starting with an hour´s walk on Helgafell, just outside Reykjavik, but otherwise work.Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1056374181406155012003-06-23T13:16:00.000Z2003-06-24T10:55:44.143ZMonday morning An early morning visit to the Blue Lagoon has been a good start to the day. Now back to reality in the University library. Saturday evening Full up with Pepperoni and Claret (a combination that works!) and watching the Icelandic evening news. Iceland in theory has a number of channels, but the reality in a suburb of Reykjavik is one and a ghost of two others – and the one Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1056104152232029342003-06-20T10:15:00.000Z2003-06-25T11:09:05.330ZThis is where I'm living in Reykjavik, in the rather nice suburb of Kopavogur. ZFa1.jpg After working in the library Friday morning escaped to the countryside just south of Reykjavik. This served as a sharp reminder of the true state of Icelandic roads. The qualiter modern surface ends abruptly, and the road becomes a single track on mud and gravel with some extreme hills and bends. Tucked awayGraemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1056030003096928432003-06-19T13:40:00.000Z2003-06-20T10:29:23.653ZStarted today with a swim in an open air swimming pool, The Blue Lagoon. Weather dry and bright, and about 10 degrees. A great start to the day. Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1055930242809201582003-06-18T09:57:00.000Z2003-06-20T10:32:18.693Z17th June is Independence Day in Iceland. In 1919 as part of the Versailles settlement Iceland was granted self-governing status within the Kingdom of Denmark with the right to independence after 25 years. The outbreak of the Second World War saw the occupation of Denmark by Germany, and in order to protect Iceland its occupation first by Britain and later by America. While Iceland presumably sawGraemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1055765339494631482003-06-16T12:08:00.000Z2003-06-20T10:28:39.460ZMy first proper work day The University of Iceland Library - is a super library, at least for the areas I’m interested in. Plan to spend the mornings here, and perhaps also get my lunch in the library’s cafeteria. Some general thoughts on Icelandic matters. WEATHER. Pretty good for the last couple of days – about 13 degrees, and around 8 degrees at night. It has also been bright and mostly Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1055595060142967812003-06-14T12:51:00.000Z2003-06-16T12:22:48.406ZSaturday. Rain has stopped. Car washed at the garage. Found shops for everyday purchases like food. Washed clothes. That sort of thing. Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-1055515311775719392003-06-13T14:41:00.000Z2003-06-20T10:24:29.903ZHOFN ON THURSDAY EVE Hofn is open in the evenings. The contrast with Lerwick is striking. On a wet Monday evening in Lerwick I really didn’t know what to do with myself. In Hofn there was plenty to do. For starters the restaurant I found (one of the two in the town) served deep fried fish with strawberries, which is a combination that works, and was the sort of place where lingering was possible.Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-955951802003-06-12T16:32:00.000Z2003-06-20T10:22:55.420ZWell Im in Iceland! Apostrophe free post as the Icelandic keyboard doesnt seem to be able to manage them! At least I cant see how! I nearly wasnt! Security at Lerwick was thorough. Not only did they search the boot, but also under the bonnet. The problem they had under the bonnet was that they couldnt see a thing - Mercedes do rather pack the engine into the space so there are no gaps for them Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-955009822003-06-10T11:17:00.000Z2003-06-10T16:01:44.000Z The most exciting story so far is the one that I slept through! An uneventful drive to Aberdeen - and at last my new brake-pads seem to have (almost) stopped squeaking. On boarding the ferry I was handed a severe weather warning. Basically this meant that a storm was expected, and in the event of delay, diversion to another port, damage to car or other property, of just about any other Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-954174782003-06-07T23:15:00.000Z2003-06-08T19:41:57.000Z LINKS Road Conditions in Iceland Weather in Reykjavik University of Iceland British Academy Iceland Express Icelandic AA Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-954026872003-06-07T08:59:00.000Z2003-06-07T16:55:05.000Z MORPETH TO ABERDEEN, 396km, 246 miles, 5 hours. ABERDEEN TO SHETLAND, 211miles, 12 hours. NorthLink Ferries SHETLAND TO SEYDISFJORDUR, 580 miles, 31 hours. Smyril Line SUDERLEID ROUTE SEYDISFJORDUR TO REYKJAVIK, 488 miles. Seydisfjordur to Hofn via Route 1 (unsurfaced) 274km, 171 miles, 5 hours Seydisfjordur to Hofn via East Fjords (better road) 322km, 201 miles, 6 hours Hofn to Reykjavik Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-953770372003-06-06T16:57:00.000Z2003-06-07T16:30:21.000Z Gullfoss This snap of the Golden Falls taken July 2002. Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5204687.post-952977552003-06-04T19:56:00.000Z2003-06-07T22:45:44.000Z Thingvellir Photograph taken July 2002 SCHEDULE Monday 9th June from Morpeth, d Aberdeen 19.00 NIGHT ON BOAT Tuesday 10th a Lerwick 07.00 Day on Shetland NIGHT ON BOAT Wednesday 11th June d Lerwick 02.00 NIGHT ON BOAT Thursday 12th June a Seydisfjordur 08.00 NIGHT S ICELAND Friday 13th June a Reykjavik 23rd July- 3rd Aug David in Reykjavik 4th Aug onwards Damian in Reykjavik Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758157919007811254noreply@blogger.com