Roddy's thoughts and pictures at the close of the day
Iceland has such a big dramatic landscape that you struggle to fit it into a regular sized photograph. I tried a number of panoramic shots when we were there in the summer of 2013 and I've recently come across them again whilst reorganising my photo files - so I've done some touching up on them. My camera... Continue Reading →
When we were in Iceland in 2013 we couldn't find any mention of the cargo vessel Sonja Maersk running aground in Reykjavik Bay. I had a picture of it which my father had taken but there was no indication on the harbour display. You can see the pictures in Alfred Fox, Iceland 1940-42, first connections. It's a... Continue Reading →
Once I got back home to South Africa there were still a few puzzles about Dad's time in Iceland that were left to be solved. They have nagged at me for quite a while and it's only now I've resolved them that I have been able to put these posts together. The first one: where... Continue Reading →
The big problem with trying to follow Dad’s footsteps in Iceland is that I really had no idea where he had been. I had plenty of pictures of him outside Nissen huts in the snow, with his leg in plaster, on a motorbike etc but usually no clue as to where the snaps were taken. ... Continue Reading →
Dad's regiment in World War Two was the 1st/6th Duke of Wellington's (the Dukes) which was based in Skipton. He had a tough time during the war since they were part of the rearguard defending the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk and then saw action in Normandy in 1944. In between times the Dukes sailed... Continue Reading →
It's the shortest day today (for us in the southern hemisphere) and distinctly warm here in Grahamstown (+25 forecast for this afternoon). Time for a bouquet of flowers to celebrate the turn of the seasons.These flower pictures were all taken during our nine weeks in the Nordic region and England.
As we went from Sweden, England and Scotland to Iceland we pursued the coldest Spring in 50 years northwards. So we were still seeing the lovely Spring flowers well into the middle of June! Here's a selection from Iceland. My memories of Iceland will always include seeing the thousands upon thousands of dandelions, marsh marigolds... Continue Reading →
The only sunny day that we had in our two week stay in Iceland lasted well into the night. These pictures were all taken in the late evening from Sölvanes farm. We sat out until almost midnight and watched the sun skimming across the horizon to the north. The light was quite special: pearly and misty... Continue Reading →
It took us nearly a week of travelling before we got to a genuine rural hot pot: Fosslaug in Skagafjörður. Our hosts at Sölvanes (Elin and Magnus) kindly gave us a map and description otherwise we would not have found it. They told us that the hot pot was built using traditional materials of rock... Continue Reading →
On Friday we drove up to north-west Iceland through beautiful sunshine to stay at a lovely hill farm called Sölvanes. It is located high up in a valley with an expansive outlook to the north down Svartadalur and direct to the Arctic. Here's a couple of panoramas: the first one taken driving up to the... Continue Reading →
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