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