We had a plan that allowed a more leisurely pace as we were getting picked up at the port at 11 am. So we squeezed in a game of trivia where we were the winners!! It was still a tough game - but far fewer competitors when the ship is in port!! JG is the proud owner of a new deck of NCL playing cards as a result!
We headed off the ship at 10 am and the wind was howling! It was about 6 degrees Celsius at that time (with a high of 11 forecast). I added my puffy down coat to my fleece, raincoat, toque and gloves and I was quite comfortable!
We wandered around the port. JG enjoyed looking at the rocks and sand, J returned to the ship to grab his bathing suit in case we ran short on time. We had a two stage plan today. We were being picked up by Arctic Adventures to go snorkel in dry suits in the Silfra Fissure today. This is the place where two continental plates meet. The North American plate on one side and the Eurasian plate on the other. And there is a skinny little section where people can snorkel, see amazingly clear water and touch both plates at the same time. It is one of the top 5 activities to do in the world according to Tripadvisor. So we booked it! Months ago. This was the wish of the geologist JG in the family!
It was a pretty amazing opportunity, though today, it required patience. Another tour group had 60 snorkellers ahead of us - always in groups of 6 with a guide, so we just had to wait our turn. Kind of like summitting Mount Everest! Meno from Italy was our snorkelling guide and he made sure we were comfortable in our gear (dry suits to fend off the Arctic waters that are somewhere between 2 and 4 degrees Celsius). Amazingly the sun came out , and while we were waiting our turn we were comfortably warm in our dry suits.
After the 40 minute experience (your face, feet and hands felt cold) we were treated to some hot chocolate. Our driver from Norway, Gunn, was kind enough to drive us to Sky Lagoon - phase two off our excursion today (just for our family - not for any of the other 8 people on the bus!). Because of the long wait at the Silfra Fissure we were about an hour late for our ticket time at the geothermal hotspring. What a wonderful way to warm up after the chilly arctic water experience!
The hotsprings were fabulous and a hi light for P in particular.
We caught a cab back to the ship and had a late supper - about 7 pm tonight.
Then we had to do the sad but necessary task of packing out bags. We are disembarking around 8:30 am tomorrow and killing time at the airport till our 5 pm flight!! All good things must come to an end!
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