Iceland II - South Coast/ Nancy's birthday (Aug 13)

 I should note, these travel posts are mostly a journal for future me, not expecting anyone to read all the detail.

Nancy's 40th birthday today! We had a good breakfast in our little hotel. They even had a intermittently-functioning waffle iron. They also had cucumbers and tomatoes, which is good as fresh vegetables are somewhat hard to find on the menu here at the restaurants we are finding. Smoked meats, fish and cheeses also featured prominently, as did a variety of homemade pastries. 

Just down the road from the hotel is the Kerid Crater. We had planned this for our arrival day but moved it so we could relax in the hot pool on our arrival day instead. The crater is the result of volcanic activity. We walked all the way around the top and bottom.

Our next stop was the Geothermal Exhibition, which for me has both professional and personal interest. Iceland is a leader in geothermal energy because of its location on the techtonic plates, which puts steam and pressure close to the surface. It is drilled to using boreholes similar to an oil or gas well. Geothermal fluid (water mixed with minerals) is brought to the surface and used to boil water to create steam, which spins a turbine, which is attached to a generator. Lower-temperature liquid is also used to heat cold water that is directly used by people for home heating and domestic use. The Geothermal Exhibition is attached to a 303 MW geothermal power plant and they even have windows right into the turbine hall. Hot water is piped directly to the city in above-ground, insulated pipes - no risk of freezing!

On the way to the power plant, we also stopped at a small hot area called Hveradlir. This Mars-like landscape is shaped by the geothermal activity in the area - heated mud can be used for various spa-type purposes. There was a little boardwalk there with some signage - apparently there have been greenhouses in this location using the steam for heat, and early settlers planted potatoes here too. 

Two popular waterfalls followed as we continued our journey east. The first is Seljalandfoss and the second is Gljufrabui (the "hidden" falls). The latter was the first time things felt too overtouristed. The waterfall is located in a cave with narrow access and only one way in or out, so a line formed, and we probably waited 20-30 minutes to get our chance to jostle with the Instagram crew to get our look in. The southern US tourists around us made their feelings on the wait known loudly and often. Seljalandfoss was cool as you can walk up and around the falls. For many others you have to stay farther away. Both were pretty spectacular.

On the way to Skogafoss, we spotted a house built into a cave on the side of the road and pulled in for a look.

Then Skogafoss, a waterfall not quite as busy as the previous stop, as it required a hike to get the best views. We went up farther than most and it looked like the trail continued onto another bridge for 5-20 km, but we weren't sure where it went and wanted to keep moving.

Just down the road is a much less-visited waterfall, Kvernufoss. There were only a couple of groups there and it was nice to get away from the crowds a little. Like Seljalandfoss, you can walk behind this one.

A visit to the Solheimajokull glacier lagoon was next. It is quite "dirty"-looking and it picks up sediment before melting completely. The glacier has receded almost 1 km in the last 20 years; climate change is very evident in Iceland. 

We then headed to a pizza place in the village of Vik, whose claim to fame is a black crust reminiscent of the nearby black sand beaches. I am pretty sure I picked up an expensive speeding ticket on the way into town as the limit drops from 90 to 50km/h on a downhill. No drifting to the correct speed here - lesson learned. 

I got a regular sourdough crust as none of the black crust options appealed to me but Nancy said her spicy tuna black crust tasted the same as mine. We took it to go in order to drive up to the Dyholaey promontory. However, it was getting dark (9:30) and the drive was very foggy up a steep mountain road with blind corners. We made it, but decided not to stay longer and just drove back to town. We couldn't see anything anyway owing to the poor light and fog. We ate our first pieces of pizza in the car to gather strength to move our bags into our small but functional bunk beds in our private hostel room. The hostel was basically all that was available because of the eclipse (without shelling out $1K for the night) but was fine, although we were located next to the shared bathroom on our floor. My only complaint was the steep, curving stairs to our second-floor room that made it hellish to navigate with a large suitcase. 

Very busy but good day. 

Iceland I - Golden Circle - Aug 11-12/26

Today we headed off to Iceland. I spent a lot of time planning out the (rather ambitious/busy) vacation program, a combination of advice from others, two guidebooks, and some blogs. I then polished and organized my plan with Claude AI (that I use at work) since it's better than other free AI models. I got Claude to do a lot of the grunt work.

Nancy is running the Reykjavik marathon on Aug 22 and I am strictly along for the ride. We had worried about delays due to the Westjet flight attendant strike, but the parties sorted it out in less than a day and well ahead of our departure. Had to change planes in Calgary but it was a short layover (~an hour). The flight from Calgary was about 7 hours. The total solar eclipse is on Aug 12 so the airport was rather busy and it took over an hour to get through customs (they had at least 50 automated check-in kiosks... none of which were operational) and the plane left about half an hour late as well. Still, no significant travel issues. 

We picked up our rental car at the airport (Kia Picanto). I don't really drive modern cars so it took some getting used to. For example, it does not have a parking gear; to park the car, you put it in neutral and use the parking brake. It seems to be in pretty good shape and only has 50K km on the odometer. It has also proved to be remarkably efficient - average fuel economy is in the 5L/100 km range in varied terrain. I hate that nobody sells subcompacts in Canada anymore. 

I drugged myself using zopiclone on the plane to minimize jetlag (plane to Iceland left at ~8:30 PM and arrived at 8:30 AM), which actually mostly worked. The somnolent Nancy handled this the old-fashioned way. We took off immediately for the "Golden Circle", a small ring of oft-visited sites near Reykjavik. 

The first stop was Thingvellir National Park. This is the site of Iceland's first parliament, which is really a rock where people gathered to vote on laws. Nearby there are also the sites of the corresponding punishments, such as the traditional place to hang or drown people. It also had a few more modern items such as an old church and the summer residence of the Prime Minister. It also had a waterfall and some interesting geological formations - the main one being a deep gorge where tectonic plates are shifting North America and Europe 2cm further apart a year. The site also contained a small waterfall (Oxarfoss).

The Gorge

Iceland's first Parliament Hill

Next we stopped for lunch at a tomato farm, Fridheimar, which was the only food thing I wanted to do the entire trip. The greenhouse, like most in Iceland, is heated using geothermal energy since otherwise they really can't grow much. Even in the old days they planted potatoes in the warm areas with lots of geothermal activity. Endless tomato soup and bread (a good variety!) was on offer. I also had a tomato beer. 

Tomato soup - free refills!

Bread buffet

Icelandic horse

Then it was a short drive to Geysir, which is the namesake of all geysers. There was a nice trail up to various hotpots, where water literally comes boiling out of the ground. The highlight is the active geyser, called Strokkur. It erupts every 7-8 minutes and I'm pleased to announce it was on schedule. Propelled by the acrid scent of sulphur (which reminded me of my summer at Ram River), we did the full hike to the top of the hill to see all of the hot spots despite constant drizzle (which appears to be the default weather in Iceland).

Strokkur

The next stop was Gullfoss, one of the most picturesque and largest waterfalls in the country. We were here when the solar eclipse passed over Iceland, with the path of totality going right over Reykyjavik. However, it was very cloudy, so all we saw was the sky get more dark for a few minutes. Our special eclipse sunglasses went unused in the backpack during this anticlimax. 

Godafoss

At this stage it was getting on towards 7 PM after a long 1-2 days of travel and sightseeing. We stopped off at the Secret Lagoon, which is a touristy hot spring pool using water from, quite literally, feet away from the pool (after mixing with cold water). We stayed for about an hour relaxing in the water and closed out the place. 

Our accomodations were suddenly cancelled while we are the plane. The company said there was a natural disaster that wiped our erstwhile glamping tent from the face of the earth. Iceland hotels typically book up well in advance but we were able to find something for the day of in a great location while having lunch in the greenhouse. It turned out for the better as it was charming, quiet, and had "free" breakfast. 

Hotel Bru Countryside

Overall we are accustomizing ourselves to Iceland - timezone, driving, etc. We are finding the tourist infrastructure outstanding. 

Auckland and Cruise

The trip over was great. I left Edmonton around 4, then had a 3 hour layover in Vancouver. I flew Air New Zealand direct to Auckland. The lay flat bed was great. There was also a mattress that they put on the bed when it was time to sleep. Highly recommend.

I got into Auckland around 5am. With everything being digital the customs and immigration was very quick. Caught a cab to the hotel. What I should have done was booked an extra night so I could check in early, but the hotel clerk felt sorry for me and found a suite that was available right away. I felt pretty grateful.

The city of Auckland is quite hilly and my hotel was at the top of one, so when I went out I got a bit of a workout. Weather was lovely high teens low twenties.

The Maritime museum had a good exhibition of the canoes used by the Maori's to come to NZ from afar. I also had a tour of the harbour on a sailing ship. They had about 6 different volunteers who hoisted the sails and took them down again.

My trip to Hobbiton was great. The tour guide in the van had lots of information about the movies and NZ in general. It was also a good way to see more of the countryside. One of the tour guides at Hobbiton had a Canadian flag on his name plate. I asked him where he was from and it was Beaverlodge. We bonded over the fact that we both went to school in Grande Prairie! Tours at Hobbiton were very well done, they leave every 10 minutes and have everything very coordinated.

After Hobbiton another van ride to the Waitomo Caves which have glow worms. It kind of felt like looking at the little Christmas lights. The guide there was Maori and lived for awhile in Calgary.

Met up with the Robins and it was quite lovely to see them. We went to the All Blacks Experience, all about the men and women's rugby. I feel like I understand the game a bit more. 

I was supposed to get on the ship on Sunday April 12, but there was a cyclone coming to the North Island and the harbour was closed so they delayed for a day. My hotel was only a 15 minute walk from the dock.

So far cruise has been good. I have joined the Robins team for trivia in the morning, and have now gained back the day I lost on the way over.

 Sam suggested that I post about my visit to Nova Scotia so here I am. Geoff and I went to the city last week for a little break in a nice hotel (Meterra on Whyte). In a splurge I booked a suite, which was very nice, the whole hotel was great. Breakfast was included as well as valet parking. We went out to visit Tim on Thursday then on to  Matt  Anderson  concert, as Geoff had given me tickets for Christmas. Concert was good. I flew out to NS on Friday night. The flight was OK, although my seatmate was an antsy man-spreader. Sim, Owen and Will picked me up and I have been having a good visit since, not doing much but play. I brought the Cabbage Patch dolls i found while cleaning at home, and they are a big hit, especially with Owen. Will and Allie have a busy life, and here I am sitting around not doing much, but I tell myself that I have had my busy years.

There's a lot of snow here. There was a bit of a storm Tuesday night, when that happens and it's snowy in the morning school start is delayed. Allie kept Sim home the whole day so we had a good time together.

 

 

2025 year in review - Sam

January

I started my new job after the 2024 voluntary layoff program (about 40% of the Canadian corporate workforce either look the layoff or were involuntarily laid off). Effectively I was in charge of analysis and reporting for the company's Canadian assets. I've done a similar job before but it was better than my last year, languishing in IT working on process improvement projects.

In response to a written request, I got the business card of Robert Cardinal Prevost in the mail. Four months later he was elected as Pope Leo XIV.

Rich's 40th birthday party. He has a DDR clone in his basement that we played. I played quite a bit myself on the PS2 that I picked up from Grace last year, and I also have it set up in the basement. I bought a couple spare mats from people on a work trip this year too.

February

First and only cross-country skiing of the year at Strathcona Wilderness Centre.

NHL 4 Nations Faceoff - a Canada win in OT and the greatest hockey I can remember in years. Unfortunately the TV (which was a free one from Nancy's sister) died, so we bought a new 77" TV. I felt very Dad-like negotiating with the salesman and got a good deal with free delivery.

Betty Anne's funeral and everyone came for supper at our place afterwards.

March

Went to Oilers game (vs Ducks) with AJ for her Christmas present. It was her first game in Rogers Place. 

May/June

Bike trip with same group as last year over May Long, this time from Banff to Nordegg (last year was Jasper to Nordegg). Great time again - Banff is definitely the easier route without the climb up to Columbia Icefields and Sunwapta Pass.

Great trip to Spain with AJ housesitting for us (Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Granada, Malaga, Gibraltar, Antequera/Caminito Del Rey, Seville, Merida, Cordoba, Italica).

Teaching a Capstone course in the Master of Accounting at the U of A again. This was my second year and it's a pretty light workload.

Oven element exploded and then the control board died. We figured out how to replace them both and it's humming along again.

Put up snowguards for the solar panels due to issues with the snow dropping onto the neighbour's house during thaws.

Went to my first playoff game, in the corporate box. Unfortunately the Oilers lost (vs. Dallas in round 2)

Met up with one of my old roommates from Lister (Shane) and rode on the streetcar. He is living in Red Deer and getting married.

July

To K-Days - we got a 10-day pass, mostly for the music - we went to see USS and Walk Off the Earth, who were both great, especially the latter. I was in Calgary for work so missed Marianas Trench. 

August

Annual Wagyu and Whiskey at Devon's place

To Ontario for work - went to our plant in Brampton, and also had a road trip down to Windsor to see our plant there. 

Goreway Power Station stacks

LM6000 aeroderivative gas turbine at East Windsor Cogeneration

Dogsitting

Did some accounting tutoring for some people writing the big CPA exam in September. The one who stuck with it ended up passing (she had failed the first time).

September

Dad (and Mom) came to help replace some rotten fence posts, which were infested with carpenter amps and almost completely rotted. Of course nothing is ever easy, so the project included a lot of head-scratching, digging, and a jackhammer rental to break up some old concrete. Looks good now.

George Vansteenis (Vince's dad) died and I went back to Rocky for the funeral.

Destroyed bike tire in Spruce Grove and had an expensive taxi ride back to the city.

Thanks to Christmas gift cards from Grace & Dallyn and AJ, started putting in some plants in our front yard. I bought a bunch of bulbs so I hope everything will look good next year. The plants are mainly different kinds of junipers and the bulbs include some lillies, peonies, crocus, hyacinth, and a sedum bush.

Trimmed the pear tree with a new trimmer we have. Hopefully it turns out well in the spring.

Met up with some university friends as my friend Jae was in town from Toronto.

October

I was hoping to be able to go from Nordegg to Rocky like last year, but the weather was freezing and it was snowing. I did get together Jordan, Vince, Jordan, Devon and I for a fire at Devon's cabin, where he had recently put in propane heat.

Back in Rocky at the end of October for a cabin rental in the north subdivision. We were there for four nights and stopped in Rocky to see everybody on the way back home. Went for a couple of short walks/hikes too. A drive up to attempt Mt. Baldy was thwarted by a very icy road, which took some quick action to not roll backwards down it into the forest.

Crescent Falls

Fish Lake

Walk along the old railbed between Nordegg and Beaverdam. You can see where they blew away the cliffs to lay the track.

Stopped by the cabin to see the progress.

The canoe lives

We (mostly Nancy) stained our fence to take care of the new posts that we had from the work in the summer.

November

Went to Remembrance Day ceremony in Beverley, then later that day and on the weekend put up Christmas lights. I continue to expand the display and got a couple new things for next year but am nearing the limit since it takes more than a day to set up now.

End of biking season. I didn't take much time off in the summer other than Spain and focused mostly on biking (my strength training went quite downhill, I found, once I returned to the gym) but I did manage 2,850 km, an annual best since getting this bike in 2020.

Took a "learn to play pickleball" course with Nancy and we are in a league in January.
 

December

To Phoenix for work trip. Weather was 25C and I rode in a self-driving car!

Arlington Valley power plant

Waymo autonomous car

To Rocky for Christmas, with Tim in rough shape but four of the five kids there. Grace had exciting news. Saw new master bathroom reno progress. Lots of Wingspan and some other games too. 

Some excitment with power trips at the house while I was in Rocky as Nancy was doing some kitchen receptacle changes. It seems to be in order now. Tons of snow. 

Nancy quit her job and started as a consultant, including incorporating. Her first project is at Capital Power. 

I got a minor promotion at work and added another team to my portfolio. We had another reorg so I'll start the year with a new boss.

Saw the complete Kill Bill (both parts) in the theatre, which was better than I remember and holds up very well. It was a 4.5 hour commitment, with an intermission for a popcorn break.