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......