Scenic Thingvellir, Iceland

Here is another view of the picturesque (but also historical) Thingvellir National Park in Iceland; I have already covered it in an earlier post. However I haven't had the chance to visit. Perhaps some other time...

(Puffin) Iceland Flag

Iceland (and Scotland) were definitely the highlights of the 2nd contract. First stop Reykjavik - a puffin tour! Boating around nearby islands, we didn't come too near the coast but you could spot them in the air flying around with fish in their beaks. Again I didn't have a zoom lens...I do own a decent pocket camera but...I left it on board?! I am so silly sometimes. Nevermind, here are the superfriendly cats of Iceland (told ya!). (One for each port: Reykjavik, Ísafjörður and Akureyri)

Iceland Puffins

Here are my darling puffins again! This time a bit more about them - The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin, are found in the northeastern Pacific. The Atlantic puffin breeds in Iceland, Norway, Greenland, Newfoundland and many North Atlantic islands, and as far south as Maine in the west and the British Isles in the east.

Spending the autumn and winter in the open ocean of the cold northern seas, the Atlantic puffin returns to coastal areas at the start of the breeding season in late spring. It nests in clifftop colonies, digging a burrow in which a single white egg is laid. The chick mostly feeds on whole fish and grows rapidly. After about six weeks it is fully fledged and makes its way at night to the sea. It swims away from the shore and does not return to land for several years.

Amazing creatures aren't they? Many thanks to Marko :)

Icelandic Nature Delights

 

More views of the beautiful Iceland, images that we can easily associate with this enigmatic island of the far north: aurora borealis during the great solar storm in March of 2012, 40-meter-high Seljalandsfoss waterfall on the south, and eruption of the Fimmvorduhals volcano in 2010. Lovely stamps, including Europa :))

UNESCO - Þingvellir National Park, Iceland

 

Thingvellir National Park is where the Althing, an open-air assembly representing the whole of Iceland, was established in 930 and continued to meet until 1798. Over two weeks a year this assembly of free men set laws and settled disputes. Also, many geological features here display the consenquencef of Iceland being situated at the meeting point of two tectonic plates - volcanoes, fissures, faults and the sunken valley.

Thank you vinur minn ,)

Maps Of Iceland

 

 

 

 

 

Properly spoilt aren't I..?! Thanks to my friend Ash I have every possible map of Iceland in my collection heh. And so great to see all the different stamps..! I really REALLY wanna go there one day...

UNESCO - Surtsey, Iceland

 

Surtsey, a volcanic island approximately 32 km from the south coast of Iceland, is a new island formed by volcanic eruptions that took place from 1963 to 1967. It is all the more outstanding for having been protected since its birth, providing the world with a pristine natural laboratory. Free from human interference, Surtsey has been producing unique long-term information on the colonisation process of new land by plant and animal life.
The stamp shows the Snæfellsnes, a peninsula in western Iceland named Iceland in Miniature.

Goðafoss, Iceland

Goðafoss (Waterfall of the Gods) is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Iceland, located in the northern district of Mývatn. The Icelandic name comes from the story of the Lawspeaker Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði who in the year 1000 converted to Christianity and threw his statues of the Norse gods into the waterfall.

Simply beautiful, many thanks to Salka :))

The Icelandic Horses

The Icelandic horse is small but long-lived and hardy, still used for traditional farm work as well as for showing and racing. Complete with a lovely stamp, thank you Svea :)