August 10 return to Reykjavik

Isafjordur

We were on a course back to port Reykjavik, an overnight trip via Isafjordur and the Reykjanes Peninsula where the volcano Fagradalsfjal started erupting the day after we sailed out of Reykjavik. Tonight was our last night at sea and of course there was a farewell dinner and slide show. The slide shows are a wonderful way of recapping on the journey and full of brilliant images from crew and passengers - individuals' impressions on what they had seen (I was too late submitting mine - silly me!).

We didn't know whether Fagradalsfjal was still erupting but man oh man what an awesome sight it would be to see that from the sea! So Lindsay went and spoke to the Expedition leader to see if we could sail past the location and get a look.  As it turns out that had been their plan all along but they were keeping it a secret at that stage so Lindsay was sworn to secrecy (except for me!). 

Fagradalsfjal, the volcano, is only 30 km from Reykjavík and from what I could tell it could be seen from the city and certainly from the airport. This volcano, having been quiet for over 6000 years, erupted in 2021 and kept erupting for 6 months - 10 months later it erupted again on 3 August 2022. Word is that it ceased erupting on 24 August just 3 weeks after it started.  This amazing geological, earth/planetary phenomenon added a raw dash of excitement to our Icelandic travels.  We had experienced the earthquakes in Reykjavik less than 2 weeks earlier on our return from our self-drive tour around Iceland and before setting off on this circumnavigation. That was exciting enough, but those earthquakes were just a sneak preview of what was to come.  A 300m volcanic fissure opened up and gushed out many tons of lava per second into the air. What a phenomenon and we were there to experience some of it. Again we were reminded that Iceland is such a very young still-emerging land mass – compared to some of the oldest land in Western Australia which is estimated at over 4 billion years old, places that we had visited only 12 months earlier.  What a world we live in!

We stood on the deck at 3 o'clock in the morning, literally frozen to the spot, snapping shot after shot unable to tear ourselves away from this once in a lifetime spectacle - a fitting end to this part of our Arctic journey. Iceland in all its glory - fire and ice!

Fagradalsfjal erupting into the night sky 

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This is not my pic but what an image. People came in droves to witness this scene
https://guidetoiceland.is/nature-info/complete-guide-to-the-2022-volcanic-eruption-of-fagradalsfjall-volcano