With a population of 17, 200 it’s hard to believe that Akureyri is Iceland’s second largest city. Situated within 100km of the Arctic Circle, it’s a jumping off point for some of the most exciting adventure sports and natural wonders for the entire island. We arrived in the late afternoon, and took a spin through the town, but I have to say we were more than a little underwhelmed. I think we had built up the town in our minds. Now I know we were hear back in 2004.
According to our guidebook Akureyri has only about 1,000 hours of sunshine annually. We really lucked out. The entire day we had bright sunshine and blue skies, so important when you are on a tour where everything you want to do and see is outside. We crossed the Arctic Circle to get here, but the climate is remarkably temperate due to prevailing winds from the south. It has already snowed in the mountains that ring the town. When Iceland was at its worst economically, many residents of Iceland immigrated to North America. They gravitated toward Manitoba and North Dakota, which they thought would have a similar climate to what they were used to. Those who settled near Lake Winnipeg, hoped to continue making their living fishing. They were in for a shock. Both the winter and summer temperatures were far more extreme than what they were used to and they didn’t know how to fish on lakes that were frozen over. Some came back. Found a library got free wifi, and posted this.
Your friends Bob & Leslee
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