Day 8- Reykholar and the Journey to Akureyri

Today I went to Thorverk, a seaweed processing plant that utilizes geothermal in its industrial process. 99% of what they produce is exported and used in the health, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, among many others, industries. Atli, the manager, was eager to show me around and was even critical about the production methods. He said that yes, it is a clean operation, however, the utilization of the resource could be better. In other words, reused rather than disposed of. He gave me a lot of interesting information about the plant, but our discussion ended up being more about what could be done to improve the plant and the environment and town, Reykholar, around it. It was really great. He called me an environmental architect- I kind of like the sound of that :)

After I had to find a ride to the bus stop since it did not leave directly from Reykholar. I asked the owner if he would be able to, and he kindly agreed and I provided some cash for compensation. In the meantime, he found out why I was there and he showed me around Reykholar and how this tiny town of 140 people utilizes geothermal everywhere and for everything. The hostel is the only building that has its own borehole. It was built in the 40s right on top of a natural hot spring, and so the water used comes directly from there. He showed and explained to me how the system works. Turns out that the water in the Westfjords of Iceland is the oldest, and so there are not as many minerals as, for example, Reykjavik. As a result, their fresh water AND hot water come from the same source, rather than them having to heat the fresh water with the geothermal water. He then took me to the town pool (EVERY town has one, no matter how small) and since he knows everyone, he was able to get the owner to show me the insides of how it all works. It was pretty fantastic. On our way to the bus, we made a little pit stop because he wanted to show me how this guy collects old tractors and cars and restores them. If we had more time, I would have been able to drive one of them!! There must be a next time, then..

Then came my long long journey to Akureyri. I left by bus around 3 PM and I didn't arrive to my hostel until close to midnight. However long, it was a beautiful drive and I was able to see nature at work, in a way, carving out the landscape and watching it evolve right before my eyes.

Akureyri is beautiful, from the 15 minute walk at least. It is considered to be the capitol of the North. It feels like a fisherman's city. It is framed by ice capped mountains on the inside of a fjord.

Tomorrow I go on my trip with the school..pretty excited!

Image 1: Walking to Thorverk in Reykholar- I found this geothermal stream, which I think is effluent from another source (doesn't appear to be natural)

Image 2: Thorverk Seaweed Plant- from a close distance

Image 3: Thorverk Seaweed Plant- the inner workings, the large yellow thing is the massive heat which uses 4-5 geothermal heaters from below

Image 4: Thorverk Seaweed Plant- Outside effluent, after use it is dumped out into the sea. However, it has created a micro habitat because it warms the waters. All the birds seem to really like it..

Image 5: Approaching Akureyri- close to midnight, orange sky with an orange haze that separates the grass hills with the ice covered mountains