Into the Arctic again, just...

The NatGeo Explorer set out from Djupivogur to start a circumnavigation of Iceland in a anticlockwise direction. On the way, we came across a pod of humpback whales so the Explorer hung around so we could enjoy them for quite a while. The northernmost point in Iceland is the tiny island of Grimsey, 5km², 40km off the coast and a truly fascinating place if only because its own northern tip is the only part of the country within the Arctic. Iceland's mainland is all south of the Arctic Circle. Grimsey is a strange windswept place featuring basalt cliffs, green fields and quiet coves. Its population of 61 is vastly exceeded by thousands if not millions of seabirds.

One of many humpback whales who gave a performance on the way to Grimsey. [0759]

The fishing port of Sandivk in Grimsey was not big enough for the Explorer, so we came in on Zodiacs. [0786]

The Miðgarðakirkja church in Sandvik, Grimsey was first built in 1867 out of rubble. This incarnation is made of timber. [0777]

Grimsey is treeless. Indeed Iceland is mostly treeless. When Vikings first arrived more than 1000 years ago, it is believed that 40% of the area was wooded, but the newcomers harvested these forests for housing and other constructions. Deforestation has done the country no good what with soil erosion, desertification and the loss of already limited biodiversity, and there are now determined efforts underway to retree the nation. We saw some patches of new forests, but mostly the trees are pretty small. An Iceland joke: if you get lost in a forest in Iceland, just stand up!

Treeless grasslands atop the basalt cliffs of Grimsey. [0906]

It was quite a walk on Grimsey, up past the local airport, to incredible bird cliffs on the north side of the island where those oh-so-interesting puffins nest in their thousands, then to see the Arctic Circle markers, and more bird cliffs on the way back on the other side of the airport and past a lake replete with a huge swarm of kittiwakes.

On the way to the bird cliffs, the group uses walking poles as a defence against attacking arctic terns. [0791]

It's good to see an arctic tern not in attack mode. This one has a morsel in its mouth. [0940]

Nesting puffins cluster together in grassy patches near the top of cliffs. [0812]

Puffin with a fishy meal in his mouth riding an updraft on Grimsey. [0829]

Puffins swirling around the clifftops on Grimsey. [0854]

Puffins have small wings and don't fly too well, but they are skilled at taking advantage of thermal updrafts. [0861]

It's been said that puffins like to stand around proudly showing off their catches. [0897]

Puffins getting ready to take off on another fishing mission. [0899]

The Arctic Circle is the southermost latitude at which the sun doesn't set (at the Summer solstice, 21 June 2023, 'midnight sun') or doesn't rise (at the Winter solstice), and thanks to the earth's axis wobbling somewhat, the Circle is not fixed. Wikipedia says it is currently at 66^o33'49.6" north of the equator and drifting north at 14.5m/year. Grimsey sports three permanent markers to show the position of the Arctic Circle in 1717, 1817 and 1917. In 2017, a moveable monument, and 8t stone sphere, was placed and it is moved occasionally to the current correct location. In the not too distant future, the marker will have to be dropped into the Norwegian Sea!

This giant stone marker is moved every so often as the Arctic Circle moves nortwards. [0917]

This is looking north across the treeless expance, so the Arctic Circle marker has only so much life on Grimsey. [0921]

Being on the Arctic Circle, it's easy to imagine that travelling further north increases the distance from Australia, but, for the geeks, this is not true. Anywhere north of, say London, is heading back to Australia on a great circle route via the North Pole and Japan. There are no such commercial flights as far as we know, and flightconnections.com tells us that the most direct flights from Iceland to Sydney are via Vancouver in Canada, just one stop. The actual antipode of Sydney is near Portugal, and the antipode of Iceland's capital Reykjavik is in the Southern Ocean, about 2500km south of Hobart.

Kittiwakes en-masse around this lake on Grimsey. [0955]

An eider duck family on Grimsey. [0965]

We thought this was a troll, but now believe that it si meant to be a puffin. [0969]

Grimsey is a tiny island at the top of Iceland, and only its northern-most point is within the Arctic Circle.

Homeward Bound...

And so, our time on Rapa Nui has come to an end. In fact, so has this entire trip, to Chile, the southern tip of Argentina, the Antractic Pensinsula, the Orkneys, South Georgia and the Falklands too. Experientially, this must have been our best ever holiday. Nowhere else have we been so astounded, and seen so much that is new.

This map, by Eric Gaba (see citation below), had red spots to show the sites we visited. It also shows the approximate location of our Explora Hotel.

Fruit in the bowl at Explora.

Rapa Nui wildflowers.

Getting back to Rapa Nui, our fabulous guide, Ata, dwelled on the past, as he was probably paid and expected to do, and didn't show us much of the current Rapa Nui. In retrospect, we should probably have spent another day on Rapa Nui - the Explora Hotel was certainly pleasant enough! - so we could walk around the town of Hanga Roa and visit the marina, to see what present day Rapa Nui is like, and also to relax a bit and better enjoy the hotel facilities!

Cooling off in the Explora infinity pool, after a hot day on the road with Ata.

Is there anywhere else in the world that is more remote than Rapa Nui, or whose history is so interesting but shrouded in mystery? For these reason alone, this little volcanic island is worth a visit. We are very pleased to understabd that the restoration projects undertaken by William Mulloy and Claudio Cristino and others from 1955 have reawakened the Rapa Nui population's self-esteem and pride in their vital contribution to Polynesian history, and, apparently, transformed the island and its place in the world.

This reinvention seems to have led to the annual Tapati Festival, organised "by locals for locals", as a celebration of Rapa Nui's past. We just missed this Festival - it was held from 29Jan - 14Feb 2016, finishing barely a day or two before our arrival. The Festival, which would be wonderful to see, consists of a variety of locally relevant traditional events such as Haka Pei, where contestants slide down a steep hill at treacherous speeds, 80km/hr, on banana trunks. There is horse racing (apparently the gaucho style of riding from South America is popular), a triathlon (run, swim, canoe), and dance competitions. For Tapati, the populace splits into two clans representing the divisions of the original Polynesian arrivals. Fortunately, the destructive competition between clans of the past is replaced by peaceful endeavours which must, for Rapa Nui, be akin to nation building.

Two posters seen at the Explora. The '94 poster may be a reference to a movie that year. The other poster is for the annual Tapati cultural festival, organised "by locals for locals".

Promotional material for the 2016 Tapati Festival. Bare feet - it looks like a tough event.

And our visit causes us to reflect on the anthropogenic environmental disaster that caused Rapa Nui society to fail in the mid 1700's. Irrational competition to produce ever-larger mo'ai so diminished resources on Rapa Nui destroyed tree species to the extent that the natives could not build canoes for fishing. The absence of trees degraded the topsoil and farming failed. The island could not sustain itself. Overpopulation was the result and led to isurrection and clan wars, mo'ai were toppled in huri mo'ai, and the population was reduced to a fraction. Is this behaviour any different to what is happening in our society today, where city developers seem to prevail over saner heads seeking less growth and sustainable solutions? Where never-ending growth is the target regardless of a finite planet? Where money rules over science? What have we learned? Are we any better?

View over Hanga Roa and Mataveri airport. The airport was improved by NASA so it could be available for possible Pacific rescue missions from its space program.

Getting the windows cleaned at our Santiago hotel on our last day in Chile.

Back to Santiago, then the Qantas QF28 flight home presumably followed a Great Circle from Santiago (SCL) to Sydney (SYD) to minimise the distance flown. This route sent us way down south towards Antarctica, and south of New Zealand, as confirmed by the Flight Map on the plane's entertainment system when viewed at various times. We never saw Antarctica from the window because, apart from trying to sleep, we were probably a bit too far north and it was very cloudy anyway.

Spectacular view of Chilean volcano from QF28 as we headed south on the great circle route to Sydney.

The great circle route from Santiago to Sydney goes well south!

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Rapa Nui map By Eric Gaba (Sting), translated by Bamse - Own work. Shorelines, ponds, roads, trails and airport drawn using Landsat 7 ETM+ imagery (public domain);Topography: NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM3v2) (public domain);Main references used for the toponymy:prof. William Mulloy's map (easier to read here);Pacific Island Travel map (http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/easter_island/about_destin/isla_de_pascua[1].jpg);[1], CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2940588