ridiculous hike

Dana from Latvia and I just did the most incredible hike. I still cant quite believe I was in such a special place. it all seems very sureal as the colours and natural beauty is almost over-powering. i'm afraid none of the photos get even remotely close to the spectacular views that were all around us for 3 days but in a funny way i am happy because you have to experience them for yourselves. i think some nature is just meant to stay where it is rather than be transformed into a 2 dimensional image on coffee table.

we stated out from reykjavik at 9am on saturday and managed to get a lift with a couple from lithuania who were really nice and dropped us at selfoss, next we hitched a ride from some adventure rafting guides who funnily enough seemed quite dull, then a kind musician picked us up and took us to the road we needed. finally we hopped on a bus with some american graduate students. was fun to hitch hike as we met so many characters and somehow we made pretty good time and didnt have to wait long at all. at Lanmanalagur we began our hike at 2pm in awesome surroundings: orange mountains and steam rising from the ground. we made the first hut and set up my shabby, broken tent in moon like scenery with snow capped peaks all around us. it was a pretty cold night but we survived with extremities still intact and started in bright sunshine and blue skies. we hiked 27km on sunday passing through science fiction type landscape and down into moss covered mountains which looked like very strokable velvet peaks and expansive lakes. all the grass was dotted with cotton looking flowers and the array of colous was unbelievable: maroon, turquiose, electric green....... it was as if we had died and been transported to some majestic land of tranquility. sorry i think i'm getting a bit carried away but it was truly special. on monday we decended further to the thorsmok area where we were greeted by trees and some rather ominous river crossings, one of which i lost a flip-flop. i'm hoping i will find it next week when im cleaning the coast near reykjavik! in thorsmok we met up with another project and stayed a night in secluded valley below some glaciers. simply too much. writing this now i feel like i have to leave this country to fully digest it and appreciate the feelings that it provokes. think that is enough cheese for 1 day....

exhibition

The photomarathon was a brilliant project as everybody learnt a great deal about photography and took some excellent photos. the project ended on wednesday after opening an exhibition of our photos in the city hall. the end result was really surprising as there was high standard of quality and range of ideas and subjects. it was so much fun to have a friendly group of volunteers who cooked lots of food from their countries and were always joking around. think i will miss them a lot!

Reykjavik: Pohtomarathon

After a relaxing holiday, taking it very easy and reading about many religions for my teaching course, i am back in Reykjavik for the photomarathon project. we have 20 volunteers from around the world: singapore, USA, south korea and europe. everyday we will have a lecture about theory and technique from my spanish friend kike. we started today and already i feel like i have learnt loads. this project is quite relaxed as we dont have to take photos with the volunteers so we have a lot of time off and can visit some galleries etc. today i went to the world press photo award which had some incredible images from around the globe. the only hard thing to do is the cooking for 24 people. today i managed a cuscus extravaganza but it will tough to be creative. thankfully there are many teams so i wont have to cook everyday!

Last weekend was awesome as i saw trentmoller on friday night and then chilled in the park on saturday where there were some hiphop MCs and DJs freestylin and improvising beats on the spot. then met some interesting characters who told me about the New World Order taking over our lives and controlling our minds which was intense and amusing at the same time. love the conspiracy theories....watch out for the reptilians working on the 4th dimension to warp our capacity to question. excellllllllllent! on sunday 2 friends from lithuania and greece and me went on a road trip to the south where went to some beautiful waterfalls and a secret hot spring in the mountains where the mist was hovering and light rain was falling into the pool. then we had an epic drive back as the crazy greek christos managed to take a wrong turn and run out of fuel. muppet. however a friendly viking sorted us out within seconds of the old banger conking out. legend.

back to civilization

After 6 weeks out in the far reaches of iceland I am back in Reykjavik. the rest of the project in kopasker went really well. we had an international evening where we cooked some dishes from our countries and did something cultural such as flamenco, lithuanian dancing, films etc. I excelled myself with my best crumble creation using some rhubarb i picked in the village and also did a quiz about England. thankfully the weather was amazing for the last few days so we enjoyed our walks along the beach picking up the rubbish. on the last night we went for a swim in the sea as the cloud rolled from the mountains to the sea, couldnt quite believe our luck with the timing.

then mum came out for a few days so we did a whirlwind trip taking in some waterfalls, glaciers, fjords and general epic scenery. we drove from the second largest city in the north called Akureyri all the way back to reykjavik via the east fjords. it was fun to catch up and drive our tiny rental car off road avoiding the sheep and trying to see the views through the fog. we finished up in the blue lagoon which is a hot spring with milky blue water. we arrived at 8pm so there were very few people when the sky was turning orange at 9:30. superb!

Kópasker

we finished in Þórshöfn on Tuesday after planting more than 2500 trees and shovelling loads of manure! now we are are in Kopasker which is about 100km east of Þórshöfn. it is a small village with only a 1 shop and a post office but the locals are extremely friendly and there is a great group of short term volunteers who are very relaxed and easy to manage.

In Kopasker we are mainly cleaning the coast which i thought would be tedious to say the least, but it is actually incredibly relaxing, as the beaches are so beautiful with waterfalls and mountains in the distance, and i have no worries whatsoever. at the start of the day i have the waves to listen to and in then i can listen to loads of new music from the volunteers as i hop along the rocks picking up rubbish from all over the world. have found plastic containers from south africa, france and even wolverhampton! today Bibi from Holland found a message in a bottle from Norway. classic.

iceland has the best music too. buy the albumn Takk by sigor ros or watch the film Heima if you want to get a feel for this country.

over 2500 trees planted!

Dettifoss

after a fun week planting trees in the sunshine with loads of manure we decided we needed to freshen up at the most powerful waterfall in europe. we drove through the wilderness on a tiny dirt road passing a green lake, a red mountain and countless views of jagged mountains covered in moss and snow with not another car or person in sight. finally we arrived at the beast of dettifoss which is awesome and not a fence in sight. brilliant.

this week are back on the planting and it really does give me a sense of well being so it doesnt really feel like work. you cant go wrong.

Þórshöfn

had a funny experience last thursday when 2 photographers from la figaro showed up in the village asking if anyone would swim in the pool and hot spring so they could take some shots. my portuguese friend Denise and I went with them in their car and enjoyed the hot spring which was in the middle of a desolated fjord whilst they snapped away. am havin so many random experiences out here! we finished our project in the west fjords last week on sunday. my spanish friend made a some films on the local website. check out the seatrip video:

www.bildudalur.is

it was nice to finish the project and relax although i think i am goin to miss the impressive scenery and the hikes to the tops of the fjords. it is nice to finish leading the group as it can be mentally knackering making sure eveybody has everything they need etc.

on monday 6 of us headed to the north east. 13 hours later we arrived at Þórshöfn which is on the furthest NE peninsular. we were met by an incredibly friendly local man called Agki who told us about the area and showed us around the town. This week we have been planting trees and working in some of the small forests. it is rewarding work and the weather has been great so everybody is happy here. there are only 6 of us and no short trem volunteers which makes life easy as we all know each other well. In our group is: Christophe from Switzerland, Kike from Spain, Denise from Portugal, Giedre from Lithuania and Mathias from France. It is always interesting being with different characters from various countries and every day is unique. happy days!

Work in the Fjords

Building some hiking trails in this week. There are only 9 volunteers here at the moment so work as the leader is a bit easier. Kike from Spain is editing a film, Zuzka from Czech Rep is Painting, Ben from Kent is building a waterfall and the rest of us are in the valley.

Too much!

We took a trip on Friday 30th May to film some of the local sights as some of the volunteers have some experience in the film industry. The views were incredible all day long: beaches, secluded fjords and seals. It was fascinating to hear our local icelandic host Jon recount stories about the vikings as you can really imagine the events unfolding in these surroundings. The boat trip in the afternoon was particularly special as the light was streaming throught the clouds. My french buddy Mathias captured it perfectly!

Hike above Bildudalur

Bildudalur

Our training in Reykjavik ended on 23rd May and we enjoyed one last night out in the city before heading to the wilderness of the western fjords. It was sad to leave the city where so many random occurances have taken place. it seems that whenever you set foot on the streets something unexpected happens and those are always the experiences that I seem to enjoy the most. For example one afternoon we were wondering around looking for some exhibitions but all the galleries and museums seemed to be closed. we were starting to wonder why we came out but then a stunning icelandic woman asked us what we were doing and we joked that we were shooting a video as we had a couple of people recording sound and taking photos. she ended up taking us all out to a hotel bar and buying us 3 rounds of icelandic shots as we had to try the local spirits. it was a comedy turn around in our fortunes!

on the 24th May we met the 4 volunteers coming to the camp that I am leading. There were 3 girls from USA, Germany and Czech Rep and 1 guy from England. They were all very nice and with such a small group of short term volunteers joining us meant that my job would be fairly easy. The drive up to the west fjords was special as the scenery just got better and better passing loads of waterfalls, craters and finally arriving at the fjords which are majestic. When i first arrived on the plane and saw this barren landscape i never believed i would enjoy it as much as i have. i really cant begin to explain how impressive these views are.

In Bildudalur I have been leading a group of 17 people (4 short term volunteers plus 13 EVS volunteers who were at the training with me). The town is situated at the bottom of a fjord and there is 24 hours of light which is a bit strange but awesome as we can enjoy the scenery all day long. the other day we were playing football till midnight!

We have been doing a number of different projects: clearing out an old builing which is going to be made into a monster and archeology museum, painting a new art gallery, making a pond and a waterfall, helping with some excavation at an archeology site nearby and doing some art with the local kids. Our local contact is an absolute legend called Jon who is always smiling and seems to trust us with everything which is cool as i have been driving his car and his forklift! it is great to have a variety of jobs as we have been able to swap around a bit and learn some new skills. As leader of the group i have been in charge of food, organizing the work, making sure we get to work on time and generally being a link between the volunteers and Jon. All is going well and what i thought was going to be a stressful job has actually been fine as everything has run smoothly.

6am

after an epic night, involving some extreme frisbe down the busiest street in reykjavic and fights with icelandic girls over a crocadile. do i need to say more?

Training in Reykjavik: 5-24 May

intrepidation and no clue what to expect. similar to japan and america, I arrived with very little idea about what to expect bar some rugged landscape and working for a volunteer organization called Seeds (see beyond borders).

www.seedsiceland.org

have now been training for two and a half weeks learning about a whole range of topics: icelandic history and culture, volcanoes, climate change, icelandic, leadership skills, environmental projects etc. it has been pretty intensive but necessary for the real work which will begin this weekend.

thankfully the other 11 volunteers are all amazing. was a bit tentative about being stuck with people would be over zealous and lacking in character but has turned out well. everyone comes from completely different backgrounds from a wide range of countries: France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Lithuania, Holland, Scotland and Switzerland. Have made some great buddies already and feel so fortunate to be out here. SWEET!!! one of the guys from france cycled further than me up the East coast of australia and is an absolute legend. we might end up doing an around the world trip sometime in the future.

Reykjavik is a tiny capital city but the night life is sonomous with a conorbation. have had some comedy nights out on the town which start at about 1am and go on to 6am with everybody coming out of the bars and clubs and chatting on the street and invariably doing stupid things. have seen a few museums, been in the parliament and walked all around the centre. the architecture is at times extremely inticing and at others quite simply obtruse. but it is understandable when you relate it to the rapid development that has taken place in the last 20 years.

Have a had a couple of opportunities to make it out to the countryside and have felt the sheer magnitude of the landscape. this is no place for big eogs as it make humanity itself meek and feel insignificant (the way it should be) as mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, rivers are so full of vitality. its not suprising that pagan beliefs of elves and the supanatural still exist even today.

On saturday we will be off to the western fjords to start out first workcamp. not totally sure what we will be doing but there will be a few short term volunteers with us and i will be leading the group. hopefully i wont have a shocker......