Stopover Akureyri

I’m writing this in Akureyri, northern Iceland, where I have to spend tonight, the departure point for the scientific charter plane to Greenland tomorrow morning. It took me 12 hours to get here, via the capital, Reykjavik. Iceland is looking very green at the moment.

This is certainly one of the world’s more picturesque little airports.

The Akureyri runway
This is not a big place, but it’s the most populated of Iceland’s towns outside the capital. It’s at the centre of North Iceland and a base for visiting a lot of this country’s natural attractions, geysers, hot pools etc, also a hub for getting to the eastern side of Greenland.

We’ve come west as well as north, and there’s two hours time difference to Germany. Of course the sun is still shining and I hope the curtains in my room are thick enough to convince me it is actually night and time for sleep. It’s a good 15 degrees cooler than home, so a good preparation for heading up to Arctic Greenland tomorrow. I met two Finnish insect scientists on the way here, also on their first trip to Zackenberg Station. They’re hoping their equipment will be waiting for them at the airport, having been sent well ahead.

Our plane will be a Twin Otter, the tried and trusty vehicle for this kind of expedition, it seems. We’ll be stopping once or twice on the way, depending on weather conditions and other scientists and supplies needing to be picked up.