trip to Skogar and southern Iceland

2 weeks ago Anna and I went for a day trip to southern Iceland. I was taking a look at my glacier at Solheimajøkull. on our way we stopped by some of the waterfalls at Skogar. even during winter time they look impressive.
the weather was quite bad most of the way, luckily not that bad at the waterfalls and the glacier.

i put some more on my pictures.

12.12.12 på Hviids vinstue 2008

http://www.dr.dk/DR1/Aftenshowet/Klip%20fra%20Aftenshowet/20070129142128.htm?play=%2FForms%2FPublished%2FPlaylistGen.aspx%3Fqid%3D864666

last weekend i went to copenhagen, denmark to attend to the annual 12.12.12 at Hviids vinstue. it's a long tradition among former sirius men to meet up here and have some fine julegløg and beer, telling true and not so true stories about the time "i was in the patrol" and just being social. a lot of people other than sirius, with a conection to Greenland also meet up. the bar is completely stuffed and people hang out here for many hours...

i came to Denmark on Thursday evening and went back to Iceland Sunday after having a splendid week end with a lot of good friends.

film about iceland

http://gagarin.is/index.php/id/180

Fjallamennska 1 to Skardsheidi 21-23 nov

i getting to slow with my blog now, guess i'm not in greenland anymore where i have a lot of spare time ;0)

this week-end anna and i went with the rescue team to skardsheidi. it's a mountain ara just one hours drive north of reykjavik.
friday evening we walked for a couple of hours with our back-packs. they were around 20 kg so a bit heavy. after finding a suitable flat place to put up our tents we spent quite a time trying to break rocks free so we could put them on our tents, and they had to be big enough. but they were not! so most of the night during a raging storm i had to go out and put more rocks on and fix strings from the tent that broke all the time. not much sleep...
saturday morning we had to post pone the lectures due to a lot of wind, finally we could get our things together, pulled the rods out of the tent and put a lot of wait on them so that they wouldn't fly away.

then we walked in ropes up to a mountain where we spent the rest of the day trying out breaking techniques with ice axe and crampons, building and testing snow anchors and walking up, what i would call a really steep hill and down on the other side ( i'm afraid of hights).
at the end of the day we trained with avalanche beacons. most of the day it was only windy and a great view of the surrounding mountains and the valley. but the last couple of hours it started raining so everything from underwear to boots were soaking in water. not good.
after putting the tent up again and gettig some even bigger rocks we fired up the stove and had a nice freeze dried meal. in my tent anna and 2 other girls were staying.
during the night it was snowing and raining but luckily we didn't have to go out and fix anything.
the next morning the sleeping bags were quite wet and all our clothes were now frozen due to frost during the night. ICELANDIC WEATHER!!!

sunday it was planned Skeissuhorn a huge and to me difficult and steep mountain. on my way up there i really didn't feel comfortable due to the steepness and the altitude...
at the point of no return i decided to trun around and head back to camp. anna joined me!
we arrived at the camp at hours 1415 but the others had some problems so the first ones where back at 2030 and the last ones around 2230. we where back in town around 0030 but then we had to clean the cars and the equippment.
after finding a dirty hamburger with fries and coke i got to bed around 0330...

i put out some more pictures for you to watch.

well well

Anna didn't go to Vifilfell as i told you on my blog. it was decided to go to mount Esja instead. she was back home around 0130 and had to wake up at 0630 to go working, counting cars for 3 hours.
i went to school today to read and write some. then i went to "BECO" with my camera. it needed cleaning after more than 3 years in the greenlandic dust and snow environment...

then we went to a couple of stores to get anna a back-pack. we got a really nice one, 60 litres at a good price, specially designed for women. so now she can carry then tent instad of me ;0)

i'm getting better and it's nice to be able to walk around again :0)
have a nice evening.

sick again...

the last 3 days i have been sick with the influenca. someone in school must have given it to me...

well, now i'm getting better and that is soo good, since i'm really getting tired of being sick. it messes up all my plans in school and everything else.

this evening/night the rescue team was going to mount Vifilsfell just outside reykjavik. it was better for me to stay home and get well than going for a stroll on a mountain in sleeth and rain...the red line is the road and the green is the walking path.

on friday my friend kari from svalbard and her boyfriend is coming to visit my on their way back from new york. the will stay here for the week-end and we will do some icelandic things... riding a horse, visiting the blue lagoon, watching some geysirs, eating mouton head etc...

some really good links to short films of iceland

http://www.pegasus.is/popup.jsp?FileName=http://www.pegasus.is/media/movies/reelwinter06.mov

http://www.pegasus.is/popup.jsp?FileName=http://www.pegasus.is/media/movies/Location_demo_new.mov

http://www.lux.is/lux/english/images/movies/Luxnet.mov

the movies are made by an icelandic company "Pegasus Pan Arctica"

Life saving equipment...

Last night anna and I went to the rescue team (bjørgunarsveit) meeting. this time we had to (re)learn about the use of floating suits, how to put them on and use the. after jumping from a ferrie we had a swim in the harbour and did some exercises. the suit wasn't completely water proof as i got a bit wet on my arms.

after 30 min in the arctic water your fingers start to feel numb, so i guess lying in the big ocean for many hours in bad weather is no joke...

a good course and good fun!

the proud vikings

Here Leif Eriksson stands on a hill overlooking Reykjavik and it's citizens as he has done for such a long time...
the vikings came to this deserted and unhostible island fore more than thousand years ago. the built it up to be a modern and thriveing society of 320 000 inhabitants.

there have been many crisis here before, vulcano eruptions, the black deat (not the liquor ), harsh climate, earthquakes, famine and starvation, but the vikings have always managed to get up and continue going...
THEY WILL RISE AGAIN...

first we took the beautifull women of Britain and now they think we stole their money!
WELL we stole the beautifull women because that's what left here...

new iceland

check out this link...
http://www.newiceland.net/

Here everything is well. i have recovered from my sickness and feel a lot healthier and lighter...
there is a lot to do in school, many articles have to be read and a lot of things to understand...but i will manage with a little help with time...

the wonderful winter weather stopped and we are now in a rainy period, but it doesn't matter when you are sitting in the hot springs reflecting and enjoying life!

i put out some new pictures on my picture page

stay healthy

leitarnamskeid at uflsjotvatnid

this weekend we went to ulfsjotvatnid, just south of thingvallavatnid. the weather was cold and clear and we went through all the basics for search and rescue on ground.

i got some kind of deasease/bacterias in my so on my way back home on sunday i started to feel really ill. after coming back home i threw up a couple of times and then i have had diareha since. i really haven´t felt in shape for anything. since sunday i have lost 4 kg of weight and eaten a lot of imodium to try to set the stomach arest...

some kind of illness had to come after all the years in greenland without any bacterias...

hopefully this will not last forever...

winter and bjørgunarsveitina

this morning it was snowing a lot in reykjavik
the john lennon peace light in reykjavik
helicopter rescue in reykjavik harbour
leitarnamskeid at ulfjotsvatni this weekend

early winter in Reykjavik

last night it started snowing here in my new town, first a little bit then more and more and windy. this mornig the sun was shining and everything was covered in 5-10 cm of snow. a white blanket had draped everything. what a beauty:0)
then we will just have to wait and see how long it will last, just enjoy the moment and its beauty...

for lunch i went with my uncle to a rotary meating in "Vikin" in reykjavik, a new museum about the icelandic fishing history. we had a really good fish soup and a tour around the museum.
the want me to have a presentation about Sirius, so i will do so in the near future...

enjoy autumn or winter or whatever it is at your place...

Ferdamennska 1, bjørgunarsveitina

from friday to sunday anna and i were on ferdamennska 1 with bjørgunarsveitina.

this is a course where you navigate with map and compass, rapelle, using VHF and tetra communication and sleep in tent.

we started friday evening at 1830 and left Arsæll station at 1915 and drove eastwards. they wouldn't let us know where...

at some time around 20.. we stopped at an isolated farm east of Nesjavellir power plant. after weighing our back packs, mine around 21 kg and some around 10, we took some things out of mine and put it in some of the others.

we headed out into the darknes all 22 participants and walked fore around 2 hours. during the walk wich was slightly uphill it was raining and blowing, something i'm not used to... arggg

we came to a place where we could camp for the night. after putting up the tent we had a snack and went to bed.

during the night i was freezing a bit as the temperature dropped and snow was falling in the mountains above us!

the next morning we where woken up by one of the instructors. he told us we one hour to be ready to leave the place with everything. most of the group wasn't ready to leave at the right time, but for half of them it was mayby the first time in a tent...

for the next couple of hours we were walking around in the terrain as one group, which made decisions difficult, but we made it to a sheep pen, where we had lunch in the sun shine. the weather had changed constantly between rain and sun!

after lunch we where divided into groups of 4 and left our back packs and went for a 3 hours orientation march. the weather was fairly good at that time.

i managed to fill one of my boots with water during the hike!

back at the sheep pen the groups slowly arrived in the setting sun, though 2 groups were missing for some hours, they just had a longer walk than us...

again we where divided into groups, this time 2 groups, one for a longer walk and one for a shorter. i managed to go for the long walk. this was all the way up on sulufell mountain 450 m, and darkness was coming. 7 of us started walking at 1815 this time with our back packs and quickly covered the distance to the foot of the mountain where we had a rest after crossing 2 rivers. we ate some bread and filled up with water before heading for the summit.

we managed to get to the top just before it got completely dark and rainy. the view wasn't much but it was great to have been there.

quickly we decended to a less hostile environment and got a new heading from the base. this wasn't to good as we ended up in a ravine filled with water wich, during night time was impossible to cross. due to some communication problems we had to make a longer walk to find the other group, which had by now camped on the other side of the river.

after walking on compass bearing for quite a time we found them and could get into a dryer and warmer place soaking wet from a lot of rain.

i went to bed at around 0100 but at app. 0430 we where woken up by shouting and lights from cars saying we had 20 min to get ready and move out. from some of the tents i could hear "nooo", "why"... it was just like being in the army again!

another orientation march in rain and darkness, lead us out into the hills in groups of 5. during the first 1 hr 20 min we had no water and were feeling it as we got head acke and felt energy just leaving the body. luckily we found a river and some water and "fueled up" again! at 0800 we arrived at a farm and the orientation part of the week end ended. agian we had a hot brew and some food while waiting for the cars to take us to a rappelling site.

the rest of the day we spent climbing up a 10 m tower and rappelling down it.

during the car trip back to town most of us fell asleep when the driver turned on the heater...

back in town we washed the cars, the equipment and stored all the gear before we could go home after a good week end in the icelandic nature.

anna and i went to the heitapottur and the went down-town to vegamot for some pizza and burges with my cousin olli and his girlfriend elisabeth.

the feet a bit sore and blistered after the trip but looking forward to the next one...

trip to the blue lagoon

YES! i know this was a week ago but i don't have internet at my place!

when basse and kirsti arrived in iceland we went straigth to the blue lagoon, since kirsti haddn't been to iceland before.

the price was very high, almost the same as going 10 times to the thermal pools in reykjavik, but it's something you just have to try when coming to iceland for the first time!

view from my appartment

this is the view from my appartment.

the weather changes alot these days.

the changes are quite rappidly and can go from sunshine to rain in no time. but when it's bad you can always go to the thermal pools and relax and afterwards in the coffee house...

the golden circle...

on monday kirsti, basse and i went on the tourist trip "the golden circle". thereby seeing Thingvellir, the oldest parliament in the world and the rifting between the eurasian plate and the north-american plate, then over the mountains to geysir and the hot water, ending up at gullfoss and enourmous waterfall and then back home to reykjavik, via selfoss and hveragerdi.

we were quite lucky with the weather as it was only raining when we were driving or when we where leaving the sites!

autumn has come to iceland, with red and brown colours everywhere. what a beuatifull landscape!

i have put out some more pictures on my web page.

come visit Iceland!!!

earth quake

yeasterday while i was in the shower an earth quake of 3,7 hit Reykjavik. i didn+t feel any thing, but my brother, anna and kirsti felt it while they were in bed. most interesting.

i spent the whole day in school, while my brother went shooping and taking a look at the local cafes.

last night we were invited to my uncle silli and aunt helga for dinner. we had some lovely food and a nice stay.

the weather has been absolutely crazy last evening and night, with a lot of wind and rain. today it's much better.

Björgunarsveitina

yeasterday anna and I went to a meating in björgunarsveitnina and joined it. they have a lot of courses in first aid, medical training, hiking, driving, all kinds of stuff that is good to know, especially when you in the land of fire and ice ( and rain ) ;0)
you meet new people and new friends and get out of town doing exiting things.

when i was on Svalbard i was in the Red Cross and this will be quite similar to that.
this will be good :0)

field trip to solheimajökull

yeasterday i went with my teacher, ivar and anders to solheimajökull. we where there to take a look at the place wehre we are doing some field work next year. it was raining most of the way, but the visibility was good enough for us to see what we wanted to see. it was very good for me to see the area and the surroundings where i will be conducting my field work next summer.

this summer i will stay most of the time indoors in Öskja, at the university, reading loads of articles and getting useed to my new life form...

a few pictures are now out on my web.

my little brother and his wife will arrive here on friday for a weeks visit to iceland

Hyttetur in Iceland...

it's not only in greenland that there are cottages, the standar is just a lot higher here, with running water and flushing toilet.

anna and me went to here cottage in eilifsdalur only 30 min drive from reykjavik. it ws good to be having a BBQ with icelandic lamb and enjoying the icelandic nature. it's quite similar to greenland, just a whole lot GREENER...

the weather changed about 20 times between rain and sun shine, but you just have to adjust and adapt to the changes...

there was a lot of horses and sheep around every where, i guess dog sledges are out of the question here??? hehe

i put out some more pictures on my page

more rain to come...

today it has been raining heavily and blowing too much. the weather has been really nasty, but i guess autumn is coming on here in iceland.
today i had a stroll around campus feeling a bit lost with all the people in crowded places...
i went for my daily swim, which is trying to be coocked in differnt pots with steaming hot water...

i got an icelandic phone number 6182418

see ya

first day in school

today i went to university for the first time. i had a look around on campus and tried to get rid of some administration, which was easier said than done. i guess it will be solved in a few days...
i met one of my teachers and had a chat with her and abou the semester. the others were not present so i will find them an other day...

first day in Reykjavik

after arriving in Reykjavik yeasterday i just relaxed with my aunt and uncle in their house at nesid.
this morning i went to the swimming pool. i din't spend my time with swimming but moved from one hot pot to the next one, which was very relaxing, mayby too much...

then i went down town to get rid of all the paper work, which is needed when you are imigrating to a new country. i went to the bank and opened up an account.

i had lunch with my friend Vaka and my girlfriend Anna Mjøll. Anna and i also went for a spin around perlan.

the weather has been quite good, not to hot so i feel a bit more home here...

Student life...

I guess I will look like Snorre Sturlasson in a couple of years of reading and writing ;0)

soon to arrive in Reykjavik

On August 25th i will arrive in Reykjavik and start my new life as a student at Haskoli Islands.
My studies will last for 2 years and I will persue a master in Geology