British Isles & Iceland – Day 8 can be found here.
Djupivogur, our first stop in beautiful Iceland.
Meanwhile, the signs of the end of our cruise are becoming too numerous to ignore – luggage tags have been dropped off, the Captain’s farewell is on the schedule, and we are already preparing ourselves for the hybrid chess game / blood sport that is disembarkation.
But that’s still a day or two away, so let’s try and push the nasty thoughts out of our head and focus on the business of the day – the super jeep tour.
I’ll admit that I was a bit reluctant to sign up for a jeep tour in Iceland. We tend to be more hiking / archaeology type of people, but the only real alternative today involved a 5 hour bus tour so we decided to go for something short and simple that we hoped the kids would enjoy.
The day did not get off to an auspicious start. After a week of near-perfect weather, we woke to a mix of fog and rain. But soon we were in our super jeep – a Frankenstein’s-monster like hybrid of a Ford 350 and Expedition that had been welded together – and wobbling along down Iceland’s narrow roads in search of some boonies to bash through.
Although we’d worried about the fog limiting our visibility, it actually ended up giving everything quite an ethereal, dream-like quality. So, very pretty.
And despite the rather bodged-together nature of the vehicles, they are well put together and quite comfortable. The interior was leather and all 4 rows of passengers had ample space and legroom. Some of the guests in the back row got a bit fogged up, but it was nothing that was unmanageable.
We didn’t have any trouble seeing through the rain on the windows, but some guests would occasionally roll down their windows to get a better view or take a picture, and the climate control still managed to keep everyone warm enough.
The vehicle design is quite ingenious, and it’s immediately apparent that the frame is not the only alteration that’s been made. There’s also a complex system used to manage tire pressure, which can quickly raise the tires up to 22 PSI for highways and then drop it down to 8 PSI for off-roading. Our guide noted that, in snow, he might drop that down to as low as 0.5 PSI.
We turned off into a lush, wild valley and were advised to keep our eyes out for reindeer as we went. We saw just one initially, then spotted quite a large herd moving through the area. (Though sadly they remained unphotographed.) We moved through the area, stopping as we went – two waterfalls, the end of the valley, a beautiful pale-blue river canyon, and then finally a farmhouse where we had cakes and coffee before setting back to Djupivogur.
Ducks in the mist
Our guide also took a brief detour over to a nearby ‘hot tup’ that is undergoing some repairs – one of Iceland’s famous hot pots that are throughout the landscape. We’re hoping to check out some more once we make landfall in Reykjavik.
The weather remained rather bleak, but rather than head back to the Cloud we returned to one of our favourite activities – trying out a local playground. In this case, that playground is an oversized trampoline / slide / bounce pad that the kids (and lets be honest, the adults) absolutely loved. But we knew everyone would soon be wiped out after a very full day, so after about 10 minutes we pried them off and started the 5 – 10 minute walk back to the ship.
This is every bit as fun as it looks
Zodiacs were running on a quick timeline, but we were still properly cold and damp by the time we re-boarded the Cloud. Brief stop to hang up the wet clothing, and then we were off to the Grill for lunch. It was quiet with so many guests ashore, but cozy – they had all the heaters going and the staff were handing out blankets for those who wanted them. Burger number 5 – or is it 6? – was equally delicious as its counterparts, and I dropped off for my usual afternoon nap.
One small point that I noticed – if you ask for a burger with ‘just bacon and cheese’, it’s a coin flip as to whether they include the BBQ sauce. So recommend asking for ‘just bacon and cheese, no BBQ sauce’ if you want to be thorough about it.
The pool steams away on a cool rainy day
After my nap, I met up with the kids in the Observation Lounge so that my wife could have a brief break.
Knitting in the Observation Lounge, with a fine, foggy view of Iceland in the distance
We then went down to La Dolce Vita for a bit – it’s not technically open or serving at that time, but as a result it tends to be deserted and is a nice place where kids can hang out without being quite as quiet as they would need to be otherwise.
In any case, it’s time to run – trivia starts in about 20 minutes.
We had our second-last dinner in La Dolce Vita, this time opting to split a pair of cheese pizzas amongst the four of us. This has been a great option for the kids, as it’s meant that we’ve been able to eat a bit earlier in the evening.
After dinner, we went to – sniff – take in the Captain’s Farewell, and to say a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to the staff who worked so hard to make this such an incredible trip.
As she took in the celebration of the ship’s crew, our daughter leaned over and, sounding somewhat concerned, asked: “Who is steering the ship?” She was reassured to hear that not all the crew was present for the Farewell.
They presented a series of awards to the crew that had gone above and beyond during the previous month, and reminded the guests that they could contribute to the Crew Welfare Fund – which we will do early tomorrow morning.
We then made our way to the Restaurant, but only dropping in for a quick dessert before we went off to bed. My son ordered the apple pie a la mode off the children’s menu, and I’ve included a picture for those curious as to what that looks like:
I shall call him Mini-Pie
We then headed off to bed, growing slightly concerned as we noticed the chop getting stronger and stronger as we got closer to the front of the boat. We are mostly adjusted to rough seas at this stage, but it is definitely much more noticeable in our cabin.
The last of the full-day Chronicles:
Continue reading British Isles & Iceland – Day 10 here.