When we last visited Isafjordur in 2016, aboard P&O’s Azura, it was a tendered port. During our visit it started raining and with the prevailing wind the rain was virtually horizontal. Everyone rushed to get back on the ship forming large queues for the returning tenders, we all got very wet. Sylvia and I resolved not to leave the ship on this visit as we believed it was still a tendered port. It was therefore somewhat of a surprise to learn that since our previous visit a new dock had been built to allow these large cruise ships to berth on the quayside. It was even more pleasing this morning to note that even though there was a strong cold wind blowing, there was no rain. We therefore decided to have a walk into the small town.
Walking through the docks we were intrigued to see that mobility scooters were being hired out (to able bodied guests) to make the journey into town a little easier. Tempted as we were we declined the offer and continued on our walk.
Isafjordur was built as a fishing town and today that remains its predominant industry as can be witnessed by the various boats in the harbour.
A large statue by the local church again demonstrates the reliance on the sea for the town.
Many of our fellow passengers, including Victoria and Oliver, carried on walking further up the mountain path but we decided to stay on the flatter route through the small houses in the town.
Many of the houses in the town are small and brightly coloured with many being made from corrugated metal. A number of them have small gardens full of colourful flowers including many varieties of poppy.
Other gardens were less attractively adorned…
As today was a Saturday many of the shops were closed until later in the afternoon but we did manage to find a large Netto supermarket open. We had a walk around looking for any unusual Icelandic products for Lorna to try out.
Tonight we continue our circumnavigation of Iceland calling into the capital Reykjavik tomorrow.