Iceland 11: Whale Watching

From Mytvan, we drove to the northernmost part of our trip. 

Absolutely beautiful scenery along the way.

 Inlets and islands.

 Even on a sunny day,, many mountains and glaciers are obscured by clouds

By the time we got to Husavik, the weather had deteriorated.  We were not planning to go on a whale sighting expedition (a bit pricey) but decided there was nothing else to do in this weather. Apparently whales don't care if it's raining or cold or whatever  😏. We picked the quiet, old fashioned boat. I did not like the speedboats. They race around right up to the path of the whale and it seems very intrusive to me even though your chances of getting close to the whale go up. This was our boat.

 But there were about four other boats going out as well.

We were both already wearing tshirt-shirt-sweatshirt-jacket (4 layers).  Then you climb into what is like a full body snow-suit. It is partly to keep you warm but mostly a flotation device if you fall in!!!

 To say we were toasty warm and cozy is an understatement!

 On top of that, we had to don fishermen style rain gear to keep dry. We all felt very clumsy and awkward.

So the pilot is looking for the whales by looking for "fluke prints" on the water where a whale has recently been.  Or they watch the other boats around to look for a sudden burst of movement which means someone else has spotted a whale.

Our first view of a whale

Even seeing the fluke from a distance was breath-taking and exciting!

But right at the end of our three hour ride, suddenly we were up close and personal with a whale.

There is something so beautiful about the fluke of the whale as it flips goodbye

I was so glad we took this excursion, just to see these magnificent creatures are still hanging around, doing their thing even as their environment gets more and more difficult for them.

The guide said we were extremely lucky to see this perfect show so close up.

And I did feel very lucky.

Taiguruma 2018 Galveston

When I heard that Noguchi-san would be back in Galveston with his wife and daughter to lead a taiguruma workshop, I decided I must go. Even though it meant driving 1.5 hours each way to Galveston for 4 days(but we we finished in 3 days), I am SO glad that I did!! I learned a lot of techniques of lantern building and had so much fun speaking Japanese non-stop and translating for them, when necessary. If you want to learn more about what we built, please refer to my 2016 blog where I first learned about taiguruma: http://shizuokagirl.blogspot.com/2016/ 

First, we had to build the "skeleton". This involved carving bamboo strips and fitting them into the pre-made wooden structure. You would warm the bamboo with your thumbs while bending.

Then you tie on the horizontal pieces to form the tail and the body (time consuming) 

 Here is what it looked like after it was tied.

Noguchi-san's young daughter was a great photographer. She took this picture.

Then, you custom cut each piece of paper (special Japanese paper) and glue it on.

You do not have a pattern. Since each form is a bit different, you have to measure and cut.

 Next, you paint on your design with melted wax. The areas of melted wax shine brightly in the end.

 Here are some of the fish with just wax and yellow paint.

Here we are painting.

Notice the waxed areas stay clear

Here is my painted fish without fins.

Notice I painted Mt. Fuji at sunset on the bottom of mine.

After we painted the colors on and everything dried,

Noguchi-san put the fins on for us.

It would have been a whole 'nother session for us to do it!!

A bit tricky.

When we were getting tired, perhaps frustrated, perhaps wondering if we were ever going to finish this project, Nogushi-san's daughter gave us an uplifting takiko performance!

 Wheels were added, a pull string was added and finally a light was added.

We all gathered round to enjoy a school of fish! 

 Our translator on the left, students inbetween, Noguchi and wife on the right

and Akari-chan in the middle.

Notice there are watermelons on the left. In the old days, the poor people couldn't afford the fish so they pulled watermelon

 Thank you very much to the Noguchi family for coming to the USA and sharing this old custom!!

Some of the students posed their fish on Galveston beach last year

Akari-chan took this picture of me with her Instamatic (like Polaroid) camera.

I brought the little ones from Dave's parents house. They are over 50 years old and I was told they are the goldfish carts from a different area of Niigata. He was very surprised to see them!

 Noguchi-san will be back again next year so if you are interested in this, let me know!

Iceland 10: Myvtan: Magical, Mystical, aMazing

It may astonish you (or dismay you) to learn that we are only on Day 5 of our 10 day driving tour!!! When I tried to blog a day at a time, well, there was just too much in each day. That, to me, is the most amazing thing about Iceland. There is so much to see and do within reasonable driving range. Each day.

So, driving into Mývatn, we first came across the Krafla Crater with its Viti sapphire blue lake in the middle. From a distance it looks like a steaming volcano, but the steam you see runs through pipes and ducts for geothermal heating so it does come from the volcano...but deep under. We walked the upper perimeter And there was this beautiful gem!!

Leftover from its eruption in 1724 that lasted for FIVE Years!!

Much of Iceland's energy is derived from geothermal.

You could see spouts steam here and there around the country.

This one is quite a large geothermal plant.

On to the Namafjall Georthermal Area and its "mud pots"

Just your normal steam coming out of the ground.

Bubbling mud and steam here and there

 Driving into Mytvan around the lake, Dave suddenly said: "There are your horses!!"

(I'd been wanting an iconic photo of Iceland horses). We immediately turned around and with the iconic Vinbelgur volcanic cone in the background, got my two horses.

 And then they starting galloping around

 And this is what I really wanted: a photo of Icelandic horses galloping around wild and free.  Not the sharpest pics but certainly you get the feel of the movement. I was one happy camper!!

Nearby, these are called psuedo craters. 

Some kind of result of the eruptions.

The sheep safely graze here.

 The lake is full of little outcrops, rocks, inlets...very picturesque.

I love the sheep. They look like a painting.

 The curly horns make them so wonderful to look at. 

 Can't wait to paint this one! 

 My heart was totally taken by the conical Vinbelger; 

perhaps because it reminded me so much of Mt. Fuji.

And like Mt. Fuji, it had many personalities.

Here with sheep grazing.

Misty evening shot

Early morning mist

 At sunset; view from the restaurant

 Yes, I said restaurant. I told Dave I absolutely had to have one normal meal!

The Kaffinorger restaurant in Dimmuborger (that's a mouthful right there) had a trout meal with dessert special for $35 so we split a meal and boy! it was nice to have a real dinner. The restaurant sits up on a hill overlooking the lake. Spectacular view. That's Dave finishing up every last morsel of his fish. They were so kind to give us 2 desserts.

Afterwards, we went for a walk through the lava fields. Really neat formations.

 And the sun set after yet another day of adventure and beauty.