Peter And Evie - Travel blog: August 1, 2023 - Siglufjordur, North Iceland-Herring Museum, Grimsey Island on the Artic Circle

August 1, 2023

We arrived in the town of Siglufjordur on one of the Northern Peninsulas on Iceland. This is a very picturesque fishing village, with a population of 1,200. It is surrounded by steep mountains on 3 sides with the Fjord up the middle. Avalanches are a major problem in the winter, so they have installed fencing on the steep slopes to slow them down.

We walked over to the Herring Museum. Herring products represented a quarter of the country's export value, with Siglufjordur being the major processing town, from early 1900's to 1960. That was when they depleted the stock of herring in the oceans. The Herring Girls were ready for work when the boats laden with freshly caught herring sailed into the fjord. She would work night and day until the whole catch had been processed. The Herring Girls were paid only for the barrels she packed, so a successful season provided opportunities for her financial independence. The herring girls arrived from all over Iceland, and would share crowded quarters set up by their employers for the season. The Herring Museum put on a performance showing how the herring was processed by the "Herring Girls". The work of herring salting was traditionally accompanied by song and dance, and we saw a performance of that folk tradition. This was a fun event.

We signed up for a Bridge Tour, on the ship. The captain gave us a tour, showed us all of the equipment, and talked about life onboard a tour ship. The ship is owned by a German company, but a lot of the staff was from Croatia. Very interesting.

Since the weather and the sea conditions were really nice, we were able to visit the Island of Grimsey, north of Iceland, on the Artic Circle. We took the Zodiac over to the island. The little island has hiking trails all around it. We walked one loop along the coastline. The population is 50 people, 100 during the summer. Can't imagine why anyone would want to live there fulltime. The were thousands of birds, including puffins, flying, swimming, nesting, and just sitting on the rocky coast. We walked to the Artic Circle Monument. It was a bit underwhelming, and there was no huge sign saying "You are now on the Artic Circle". However, I can now say it have been to the Artic Circle. But it was very pretty with lots of dandelions across vast fields, and beautiful rocky coastline. Nice walk.

On the Zodiac ride back to the ship, we took a little side tour of the coastline, watching the incredible number of birds, and rock formations.

Day 6 photos: