Travel Planning Day: The 12th Day in Iceland (8 July 2008)

Getting up with the cloudy sky, I wondered if the weather was going to be as nice as the forecast had predicted.... I decided that if the forecast for today was precise I would make a trip to Vestmannaeyjar (the Westman Islands).

Fortunately, it seemed that the forecast was precise. After updating this blog, I began to plan the trip and phoned to a guesthouse named Arny recommended by the Bradt Guidebook. As this guesthouse was fully booked until next week, I became sort of panic, being afraid of losing great weather for a trip. Then, I emailed two other guesthouses: Hreidrid and Sunnuholl. Both of them had available rooms but Sunnuholl answered so quickly that I booked 2 night sleeping bag accommodation at this place before receiving the answer from Hreidrid. Sunnuholl is actually a hostel (a member of Hosteling International). I felt better after the booking was made, meaning that my trip would in any case took place. I emailed other residents about my trip, asking if anyone wanted to join. However, no one seemed interested...

From my previous experience with the trouble of the bus ticket booking, I decided to go buy the tickets in advance at BSI Bus Station. I left the resident for the station when having finished the update of the blog around 3 p.m. 

On Ingolfsstraeti, a cat was sun-bathing...

The same street situates a convent.

The girl at the ticket office of the Netbus Iceland was nice; she wondered why I had to buy the tickets in advance. She said that buying tickets just right before the departure or even on the bus was okay. My previous experience embedded the sense of not trusting any bus company as long as no actual ticket was in my hand. The round trip bus ticket to and from the harbor in Porlakshöfn costed 2400 ISK.

Being in a good mood on a sunny day, I decided to have a soft ice cream as the best start for being as efficient as possible today. I dropped by at an ice cream/hot dog stand at the Tourist Information square. It was really a long queue. When it was my turn, I ordered a chocolate-dipped ice cream. The sale girl asked me which size I would like to have. With no hesitation and idea of sizes of ice cream in Iceland, I said with confidence "a big one". What I got wasn't a big one but a huge one. Costing 350 ISK, the ice cream part was even higher than the cone... Having the ice cream cone in my left hand, I was happily walking back to the residence under the sun. Because of the direct sun, the ice cream got melted rather fast although I ate it more quickly than my normal ice cream eating speed. I met Fergal on the way while my hand began to be covered with the melted ice cream. I finished this ice cream ceremony a few minutes before arriving at the residence with my sticky left hand soaked with cream. It was a funny yet unusual experience when I was no longer a little girl. Well, at least I have learnt that a regular size ice cream would have been a safer choice and that a want should be fulfilled in a right degree.

Being at the residence, I had rice with roasted red pork as lunch and packed my stuffs for the trip. Before starting the efficient working day, I realized that I forgot a photo shot of the tree done last night. So, I took the photograph below. My efficient hours began at 5.30 p.m.

 

As the height was already 60 centimeters, the maximum size for a standard large cardboard box, I decided to stop the trunk and start making the roots of the tree.

As shown in the picture below, I tried two different ways to make the tree's roots. I went for the upper one as I thought it looked better than the lower.

Within 5 hours, the roots seemed to grow very rapidly.

Meanwhile, Clair just came back from her Golden Circle trip. She said that her bus driver did differently compared to mine. The bus only stopped at Thingvellir (Hakid) for an hour and continued to Geysir without stopping at the service center. Clair seemed luckier than me to get a sensible bus driver... By the way, when Clair knew that I was going to the Westman Islands tomorrow, she was interested in joining the trip. Although I like traveling alone, to have a company is surely better.  

The sky had nice colors again. The photo below was shot from the dining room at 11.15 p.m.

I ended the short but efficient work period at midnight. The knotted roots looked better now, becoming closer to the appearance of a tree's roots.