Ísafjörður, Iceland
Interesting, how we visited three remote locations so far, and they are all completely different.
In Labrador, we visited a tiny Canadian village with hardy souls, far removed from modern conveniences, with no cellphone service and very limited Internet service. But they are basically modern people that choose to live in the wilderness.
Nanortalik, in Greenland, has a traditional Inuit culture, and as such is partly self-sufficient, but at a subsistence level. Modern supplies are flown in by helicopter.
Ísafjörður, in Northwest Iceland, was originally founded on fishing and is also very remote. But it has discovered tourism. We saw a plane fly in and out, there were two cruise ships in port, there is excellent mobile and 3G service, and they take credit cards everywhere.
Ísafjörður Harbor, Iceland
Welcome to Ísafjörður Sign
Fishing Nets at the Westfjords Heritage Museum
Iceland resembles New Zealand in that it is sparsely populated (even more so than New Zealand), but it appears to have a thoroughly modern infrastructure.
Two Cruise Ships in the Ísafjörður Fjord
Between Greenland and Iceland we had a gale, and even after the wind subsided, it stayed gray and kept on raining. We have not had a real sunny day since Corner Brook, Newfoundland. When we sailed into Ísafjörður, it was still raining and miserable, but we were lucky again when we went on shore. The rain stopped and later we even got some sunshine.
Sailing Out of Ísafjörður
Right now, I am typing this blog entry while the ship is on its way to our next port. From my window I have a magnificent view of Iceland’s northwest coast: fjords, surrounded by high table mountains, as if plucked out of the American west, but rising straight out of the North Atlantic. It is 10:40 in the evening, and the sun is shining. We are crossing the Arctic Circle.
Photos © 2014 P.J. Gardner. All rights reserved.