STYKKISHHOLMUR AND FLATEY ISLAND, ICELAND

The Silversea Wind had one sailing day between Jan Mayen and Breidafjordur a bay that includes both Stykkisholmur and Flatey Island. Stykkisholmur is located at the northern end of the Snaefellsnes peninsula. (try pronouncing Icelandic place names…lol!) Stykkisholmur has a natural harbor that helped the town become an important trading center established in the 1550’s and it is still a major fishing port.

Do you know what it is like to wake up with a crick in your neck? Michael woke up with a crick in his back and was so sad to miss the boat ride to taste fresh sushi. He spent most of the day rubbing ointment on his back and hobbling around the ship with his hiking poles and seeing what the Doctor thought. Larkin went without him on the fishing boat and she also got lovely photos of puffins on their way around the bay. I decided to head in early on a zodiac and walk around town on my own and up to the lighthouse for a great view. A lovely morning …

My walk up to the lighthouse and around the harbor…

Same laundry – two views as well as homes with empty laundry lines. Amazing how the locals have enough warm or dry days to actually use these lines. I enjoyed the dog watching me intently as I walked around Stykkisholmur.

Most of the creative photos below were also around town and were Larkin’s when she came back to port from the boat outing. We both enjoy photographing doors.

Amazing how many vehicles can be used to haul needed supplies around town. Almost all homes I saw had little outdoor patio areas with chairs and often bbqs. The home colors are muted but colorful and they definitely reside in a very difficult weather area.

Larkin took photos of puffins on the cliff by the daisies, the white and grey kittiwakes and of course a photo on the boat of the sea urchins which she could try during their cruise. I understand the kittiwakes are like the twenty eights in Australia…both birds calls sound like their names. Kittiwake, kittiwake or twenty eight twenty eight. Cute names!

On our way to Flatey Island in the afternoon we were graced with a pod of Orca whales. About five or six of them in a family group. It was delightful to watch them surface and move about. Larkin got some decent photos.

A friend on the ship, Janine gave us these lovely flying puffin photos. You’ll note how big their bodies seem to be. It must definitely be easier to start flying off a cliff instead of the water.

When we arrived at Flatey Island, we were divided into a few different groups led by proud locals who took us on a hike to see their little town. During the summer there are over a hundred people who inhabit the island and take care of their ancestral homes. During the winter there are only a handful of people. We saw kids playing, folks fixing their homes and girls reading on the cliffs. See if you can spot the arctic terns in a few of these photos! The last two photos of this group is the little island across from Flatey. People bring their boats and count the breeding birds for research.

The phallic symbol of rock is of unknown origin and brought in from somewhere else and placed on the island.The colors of the homes here seemed to be a little more vivid than Stykkisholmur. They used wood poles for both a swing and a laundry line. We always find the laundry opportunities!

The island has Hotel Flatey in case you want to boat there and stay over night. …and of course the ubiquitous Coca Cola. Wheelbarrows can be used for a variety of things and of course a weber bbq!

There were puffins on the cliffs at Flatey Island as well as at Stykkisholmur. These little birds are so photogenic and similar to penguins that both truly make people smile! I am sure they are happy that they can fly albeit difficulty. Once again Larkin did a great job capturing these birds. We learned from one of our naturalist, Sara, that baby puffins are called pufflings…and they have a puffin rally every year around Iceland to go around and count the puffins. She was able to do it one year and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Arctic terns are known to have the longest migrations in the animal kingdom and they live 15-30 years Their longest known round-trip is about 44,100 miles for the birds that nest in Iceland and Greenland and they go to the Antarctic coast for their summer. This long journey ensures that these birds see more daylight than any other creature on the planet. They normally take a convoluted journey between the poles to take advantage of prevailing winds. As you can tell they are grey and white with a red/orange beak and feet with a black nape and a forked tail. While I walked back on my own from the church they tried to dive bomb me. We were told in advance that they might try to dive bomb our heads but I forgot as I walked back to the zodiac landing area. When I realized I had a target on my head I smiled, looked up and took photos. Larkin got some good photos of the terns as we walked around this part of their island.

Our next day was getting off the ship in Reykjavik and traveling around the southern coast with Valdimar.