We are on the largest of the Vestmannaeyjar islands, the only inhabited one of the bunch. The others look like big rocks with sheer sides sticking out of the water. We're really tired this morning - all the activity is catching up with us - so we decide to head to the tourist information office, check the hours on the aquarium, have a quiet morning and maybe do something more ambitious after lunch. Instead we end up climbing the lava flow and wandering along the rocky beach. The harbour has sheer cliffs on one side, and the rocky, ashy beach on the other. Above the cliffs are steep green slopes where sheep are grazing. We're not sure how they don't fall off.
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| Look, Mom, seaweed, |
In 1973 A volcanic ridge opened up on the eastern part of the island. It turned into a single-cone volcano and continued erupting for 4 months. The island was evacuated. Lava covered a third of the town, and most of the rest of it was buried in ash 4m deep. Windows were proken, homes burnt down, and the harbour was almost closed off by the lava flow. Pumping sea water on it was the only thing the slowed the flow and saved the harbour.
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| Says something along the lines of "Here under 14 metres of lava stood a house built in 1946. It was buried under lava on March 26, 1973," |
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| This was the second-floor living room window. |
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| This was a water tank, and nearby it used to be a pool |
Also visited the aquarium and naural history museum (3 rooms above the fire hall), and saw the Volcano Show, which showed us footage from Eyjafjallajokul's eruptin in 2010, the Vestmannaeyjar eruption in 1973, and the formation of Surtsey in 1963, which started under water and went on for 4 years until an island was formed.
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