Yesterday (on Sunday) a group of nine of us enjoyed a boat tour of Skagafjord. We left Saudarkrokur and headed out to the island of Drangey, then Malmey Island, and back. The weather cooperated well, although we did get some overcast. Our boat cruised at 16 knots so we always had a stiff breeze when on deck.

For some time I have hoped to see puffins - ever since visiting Orkey, actually - and I can now say that I have. (I did see some in Akureyri the other day, but they were stuffed versions from a taxidermist shop.) Puffins are cute, but ungainly on the water, to be sure. Where gulls gracefully fly off the water in a moment, puffins beat their wings furiously for 30 seconds or so just to get up to speed, then they kind of stomp across the water and eventually get airborne (barely) and soon land. A lot of effort for such a little bird to go such a short distance!

We also saw a pod of four dolphins, and later we saw a small whale and calf, probably minkes, just swimming around. We also saw sea lions and a number of sea birds, which flapped right alongside us and so close that I firmly believe one clipped the back of my head with its wing while I wasn't watching it.

In addition to our sightseeing, we also got to enjoy fishing. We stopped at the backside of Drangey and most everyone got a chance to fish. A number of people caught cod, some pollack, and some red fish that they said were poisonous. I caught no fish, although I think I had one on that got away. The boat had a gas grill on the sterndeck and the crew filleted the fish and cooked them for us. Deliciously fresh!

The islands themselves offer many interesting geological sights (one is the inside of an old volcano), and every nook and cranny and cave and stone has its story. The island of Drangey itself served as Grettir the Strong's place of refuge for a few years while he was an outlaw. Drangey is a big block of rock rising straight out of the ocean. Its top is covered with grass, and farmers here still put their sheep out there for grazing for the whole season.

The cruise lasted five hours, after which I returned to the farmhouse (we're all out of the lab house at Hledarhus now), and finished reading Grettir's Saga and almost reached the end of my book on Icelandic geology. I wandered down the road nearby, as well, and shot some nice photos of cottongrass, a plant here that has cottony blooms once woven into oil candle wicks.

I'll get the photos from the trip posted as soon as possible but it may be a couple of days. I'm still sore from horse riding the other day as well.