Ólafsvík Day 2: Sea-Fishing, Pool-Dipping, Lawn-Mowing, and Bad Parenting (with a view)
[The events chronicled here happened on the fine Friday of 17 July 2015. It is however being internetted on 14 August 2015, well, barely, because it’s almost midnight. Oh, it’s pretty dark outside. Weird.]
Guðrún and Snorri’s son, Baldur, wanted to go sea-fishing very much, and being an internet kid, he googled and discovered a boat service in nearby Grundarfjörður that would allow him to do just that. So reservations were made for the big kids and their dads, while the moms would shepherd the little kids to the local swimming pool. (47 images total!)
Emma by the floating harbor where Láki sails from.
Soon the boat set sail.
Watching the boat leave.
As it turned out, the boat didn’t go far at all. The first fishing stop was right outside the harbor! (I believe there were three stops in all, before the tour was over.)
We hung out for a bit at the harbor in Grundarfjörður before driving to the swimming pool there.
Grundarfjörður is located next to one of the most recognizable and photographed mountains in Iceland: Kirkjufell (Church Mountain).
The swimming pool sign shows the way.
After swimming for a bit in the small pool and small hot tubs (they were larger in my memory), we let the kids run around for a bit while eating crackers.
Emma eats a cracker.
Two kids and a mountain.
We called the guys (and gal) and were told they were just off the coast, at their third and final stop. It didn’t take long to find them.
We had a good view over to some mountains on the other side as well.
The photos from on board the ship are all from Finnur. Here are the kids!
The view from the boat out on sea.
Bjarki with some fishing gear.
Snorri, Baldur’s back, and Anna.
Baldur and Kirkjufell.
There was still a surprising amount of snow in the mountains.
A hook with some bait.
Everybody caught something, and a great time was had by all.
Bjarki’s big fish.
The total haul!
Bjarki got to steer on the way back.
Happy kid!
Soon the boat sailed back to harbor, and we met the happy fishers.
Anna announcing that Bjarki caught the biggest fish of the trip!
Bjarki’s big fish!
Watching the captain flay a few fish for us to take home.
Flaying the fish (and removing a few worms).
Emma and Guðrún joining the fun.
Anna had a grand time showing off the big fish, only to discover that her jacket smelled of fish for the remainder of the trip!
We ate lunch at the restaurant Hraun in Ólafsvík. To be precise, everybody but me ate lunch while I napped in the car with Emma, and then I got to eat lunch All. By. Myself. Which the introvert in me thought was wonderful. Oh, the peace and quiet! 🙂
We arrived home in the early afternoon. Soon thereafter Snorri set out on an epic bike trip, while I started up the lawnmower and spent the next couple of hours breathing gas fumes and cutting down some grass (of which there is zero photographic evidence). Afterwards, the kids were ever so helpful in gathering the grass though, which was great!
The mandatory visit to the playground.
After dinner, some small incident had Bjarki flying into a fit of rage (as he’s wont to do, and has been driving us bonkers). In a showing of spectacularly bad parenting, which I chalk up to general exhaustion, and tiny-house claustrophobia, I essentially rewarded him by ordering him out into the car, seeing as I was going to take him for a drive so we could both cool down while buckled into seats. At which point I remembered we’d discussed flying Finnur’s drone that evening, so Finnur got ordered out into the car as well, and off we set. Craziness, thy name is Hrefna.
We drove towards Grundarfjörður again, ostensibly to drone around Kirkjufell, but eventually decided against going there since a) it was late, and b) it was windy. This scenic outlook was the first place we stopped, but it was too windy for the drone. So we drove back towards Ólafsvík.
On the way back, Finnur pointed at a coarse gravel road he suspected ran towards a waterfall we’d seen on the way there. Finnur was right, and the waterfall was sheltered from the wind, so the drone came out to play. Meanwhile, Bjarki and I hiked up into the hill next to the river/waterfall. This is at 21:45 (9:45 pm), looking east over Mávahlíðarrif.
Selfie high up, as Bjarki’s foul mood finally lifted.
The farm of Mávahlíð (Seagull-hill).
A view of the cliffs above.
Finnur walking up towards us to maintain contact with the drone as it went higher.
A mini-view of the waterfalls. It was hard to climb to them without fearing for one’s life. Yes, I’m afraid of heights! I look forward to seeing Finnur’s video! 🙂
We ended on a nice father and son bonding moment, and we all arrived back in Ólafsvík in good spirits.
At midnight, just before going to bed, I noticed the sky looked lovely, so out I went to take a few photos. Here the sky is about the correct color, but the ground is a bit too dark (because cameras still haven’t figured that bit out).
By then, Baldur was fast asleep in his tent. Yeah, we left a rather large spot for the next visitors to mow!
The mowing job, part 2.
The mowing job, part 3. The midnight light is crazy.
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