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Posts Tagged ‘Iceland’

What I’ve been reading lately

Posted in reading, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on October 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »

At the moment I’m recovering from an acute attack of sciatica. The pain is less now but my right thigh is still numb. I’m at the stage where I’m over it. I’m bored. I’m going out of my head. I’m sick of bed rest and pacing around the house.

Today I bit the bullet and set up my standing desk. It’s always just there, but seriously it’s a bit of a leap of faith to actually use it. I’m meant to be working on the PhD novel and I have just now written some notes, but first I thought I’d blog about some books I’ve been reading or listening to on Audible. Why waste these good thoughts?

First up, The Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho, listened to on Audible. Great narrator btw.

As a fan of Regency romances, Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen The Sorcerer to the Crown hit all the right beats for me. As a fan of fantasy, it did as well. I’d call this a post-colonial Regency fantasy. The main characters are Zacharia, an African ex-slave who is the Sorcerer to the Crown and Prunella, the half-Indian female lead. I don’t want to give anything away. I just loved every minute of this story and every aspect of it. I found parts of it highly allegorical with the treatment of women in the Regency and subsequent Victorian period, I love how it tackled racism and magic for that matter. I’m not usually a fan of stories which feature the plethora of creatures from fairy land but in this case it really worked for me. At times the language was so Austeneque I sighed. I loved the ending, a true subtle Regency ending to my mind.

What also intrigued me was reading some of the reviews on Goodreads. It just goes to show that reading is subjective and that what one person loves another person doesn’t. Overall I think the book has good ratings but some people really said negative things. Pooh to that. The Sorcerer to the Crown gets a five stars from me.

On the theme of Regency fantasy I picked up Mary Robinette Kowal’s Valour and Vanity. I didn’t realise until well into the book that it was part three but I paid that no nevermind. It was intriguing, complicated, intelligent and fun. It had pirates, magic, Venice and Lord Byron and glass making. What more could you want? I will be reading more of this series. I bought one of Kowal’s books in Iceland but I think that was not a Regency paranormal.

I ready Blood Kissed by Keri Arthur. I’ll tell you now she’s a mate so I can’t claim to be unbiased. Blood Kissed is a Lizzie Grace novel, self-published with a great cover. A departure from her action packed Riley Jensen novels, Lizzie Grace has a nice pace, a gentle introduction to the world of witches and werewolves with a renegade vampire in Australia. The world building was great and it had a nice balance with the introduction to the characters with quite a bit of sexual tension between Lizzie and the star werewolf. Set on a werewolf reservation there is an interesting world here with a witch hierarchy hinted at that left me wanting more.

Speaking of Iceland, I also picked up Towards White by Zena Shapter, at the Conflux SF convention in Canberra when I got back from overseas. I picked up a number of books at launches and am trying to make a serious dent in them. Having a bad back at the moment, reading helps take my mind off the pain. Towards White did that for me. It was pretty much riveting from the opening until the end. I would have finished it in one sitting except my pain killers knocked me out around midnight. Towards White is a book that is Australian but is set in Iceland. It’s a thriller and it certainly delivers in this area. There are some speculative elements to the story, but essentially I think it’s about what happened and what is happening, set against the wonderful landscape of Iceland. As I pretty much love Iceland and the writing was lyrical and fast paced, I found this to be a great read from Zena. I wish I had written this book.

I have a big to read pile, like most of my friends and probably you too. I’ve dipped my nose into Heart of Brass by Felicity Banks that I also picked up at Conflux. It has been on my radar for a while so I’m glad I grabbed a copy. As the title probably tells you it’s steampunk and I like steampunk. I’m thinking of publishing my steampunk duology next year. Maybe. First chapter looks promising and it’s by my bed so I’ll be reading it.

On my iBooks, I’ve started An Accident of Stars by Fox Meadows. I bought this a while back and I’ve been meaning to start it. Like many of you I buy books and they accumulate. I wish I had more time. Back back gives me more reading time, particularly when Netflix doesn’t work in my bedroom. Published by Angry Robot Books, it has a very strong beginning. I’m really looking forward to this.

That’s my reading round up.

 

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GUFF report #12 Waterfalls, Glaciers and Geysirs the magic land of Iceland

Posted in A writer's life, Fan Funds, Fandom, geekgirl, GUFF, Iceland, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 31, 2017| 2 Comments »

This post combines two days on daytours out of Reykjavik. The Fire and Ice Tour booked through Iceland Tours and the Grand Golden Circle Tour booked through Busland.

We had booked a Fire and Ice Tour which included a three hour trek on a glacier. I was a bit worried about this because you know I’m old, I have bad knees and I’ve got a problem with my foot. It was a pricey tour around $450 Au so probably $350 US but the description was very cool and because it was hands on we went for it.

In Bergen I had inadvertently invested a fortune in hiking boots. I thought I was spending under $200 but ended up spending just over $300. They are great boots btw. I will have to take up tramping or hiking to get my money’s worth. Doh! I had currency conversion blindness. Anyway, you can hire them from the tour company along with wet weather gear. I didn’t know this before hand. Oops!

Anyway, once in Reykjavik we got to know our way around. Our tour was picking up from BSI but the local bus doesn’t go there. I tried to change the pick up place but the office was shut. Then I discovered that on Sundays the buses don’t start until 9.55am and our tour pick up was 8 ish. So it was a taxi anyway. We waited at BSI and lots of tour buses pick up from there, Icelandic horse rides etc.

It was an effing miserable day. Raining and cold. We had only just thawed out and we were going out in that! Sigh. Our bus arrived. We were the only ones on the tour. My god we had a personalised tour!! I thought they would cancel if only two but no, Ingimundur said he was taking us.

A few things of note. Icelandic is a very musical and delightful language. I wish I had the tongue and ear  for it. We had to ask Ingimundur quite a few times to repeat his name. He gave us a very informative tour and our conversations ranged from Iceland’s economics, history and geology. On the way back he played Icelandic music for us. Beans likes a few Icelandic performers.

The Icelandic landscape is many things at once. It’s a young land geologically speaking. Mountains thrust up out of lava plains, moss covers lava fields range next to the coast near Reykjavik, clouds obscure volcanoes and glaciers blanket a large part of the country. The landscape is sometimes bleak. I thought of descriptors but words fail really to communicate what the Icelandic landscape is and also the camera really fails to deliver what the eye sees. I only had the iPhone so I apologise for that. Rugged, spectacular, raw, primal, dramatic, awe inspiring, amazing, beautiful, stark, breathe taking, breath stealing…

This post is mostly going to be photos with interspersed comments. This top one is of other people abseiling into a great effing hole in the glacier. Crazy! The second one is a Hollywood pose. I do have my feet stuck in the ice though so technically I am hanging there.

We did drink some of the water on the glacier. It was pure and cold. The guy talking to me is Ingimuntur, our guide. The view down to the river was taken on the glacier. Truly amazing sight. This glacier is Sólheimajökull glacier tongue, so just the tip of a really big glacier. It’s has ash and grit in it. From the distance the other glaciers looked white.

The bottom line is that we were both so glad to have done this tour. Walking the glacier was a pivotal moment for us, a defining moment of our trip. We had ice shoes fitted (crampons?), a harness and a ice pick thingie whatsit!

I want to say one thing. I did not complain the whole trip across the ice. I did not whinge. I did not want to spoil it for my daughter. My inner dialogue though was something else. A snippet for you. “Oh God we are not climbing up there are we?” And “OMG! We are still going up?”  And “Thank god we are going down hill! Yay!” “God I’m tired I don’t think I can lift my feet”. I did nearly tip myself into a moulin. hahaha!

These are some distance shots of the glacier.

We also saw a couple of waterfalls on the way. This one we got to walk behind (Selfoss). You did this at your own risk. There was some slippery rocks to climb over and the spray was so cold and wet too. There were other waterfalls nearby.

These other pics were of the landscape. Not good taken from the bus. There was just so much.

The hot stream was entirely bone warming despite the walk to get there. I giggled as I walked down this incredible hill, because I knew I had to walk up it. By then I was bone tired.

Moss covered lava. This lava was laid down in the year 1000. Apparently it is called Christian lava because after they converted to Christianity there was this massive eruption and they thought the old gods were angry. Iceland also has many kinds of sheep. This black sheep looked huge looming out of the mist but when we got closer it looked smaller. Ingimundur took these shots for me. My phone had run out of charge by this time. He took these of us in the stream. It was really close to nature as it had chunks of moss floating past. I thought we were crazy walking all that way in the cold and rain but when we got there there were lots of lunatics already there. And despite my laughing on the walk down, the trip back up the hill was not as bad as I expected. I suspect it was the warm bones from the hot stream.

Ingimundur dropped us back to our accommodation. We were cold, wet and tired and so incredibly happy.

The next day we had booked the Grand Golden Circle Tour. A much cheaper tour but one where we could sit on our tired butts all day. Or so we though. Our tour guide was called Aesigir and we booked with a different company.

This tour included waterfalls, geysirs and the national park, which has the continental drift space of 7000 metres in it. This was much more touristy than our glacier tour but that can’t be helped. You have to see these places. Really you do. This was an amazing waterfall, Faxi and next to it was a salmon ladder because the waterfall is too strong for the fish so they get help.

Then there was the Geysir and what looks like the bog of eternal stench. It did not smell bad at all. We got video of the geysir, Stokur, I think it’s called, going off. My daughter was taken by surprise as she wasn’t expecting it. Then it went off with three blows, then it sort of just gurgled a bit why we waited to film in and then I got film of a double whammy.

 

Then there was Gullfoss, the most famous waterfall, the Kerid crater and the National park that contains the continental drift. Part of Iceland is part of Europe and the other is on the Atlantic plate and you can see this. There is also a huge lake there.

 

And lastly, I wanted to say that Iceland is a must visit place. If you are in the north you should come see it. The culture is amazing too, being so isolated and I think the efforts to maintain the language and culture totally worthwhile. I hope in sharing this amazing country that it doesn’t change it. Here you can be close to nature, take some risks in seeing them, and be up close. The Fire and Ice Tour took us to some unspoiled places and the guide was very careful that even our footsteps did not disturb anything, particularly plants as they take a long time to grow.

Lastly a few shots of Reykjavik, taken on our last day. There is some amazing graffiti/wall art so we took a few shots.

I would love to come back and do the hiking/tramping tour to the centre. That whole area shuts down for winter. They close the roads in a couple of weeks and they don’t open until June. Next time I want to explore more widely to the Westfjords as well. Thank you Iceland!

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GUFF Post #11 Reykjavik, Iceland

Posted in Fandom, GUFF, Iceland, SF fans, Travel, tagged , , , , , , on August 30, 2017| 3 Comments »

It was a long day when we arrived in Iceland. We were both so excited. We didn’t make it to our accommodation until after 6.00pm and I had arranged to be at the Loft Bar by 7.30 pm. I was a bit pressured to be there.

The Kevlavik Airport which serves Reykjavik, is about 50 kilometres out of town. A taxi is probably around $250 (more than our actual flights believe it nor not) so we had booked a bus transfer, which is probably more around the $30 mark. That was fine. We caught the bus, saw a massive power station and deduced it to be geothermal. Research later indicated that this was so. We were deposited at the BSI bus station. Our AirBnB instructions said to catch bus 11 or a taxi. After going to a couple of bus stops and my daughter enquiring inside the terminal we found that bus 11 was a good ten to fifteen minutes walk away from the BSI station. A long walk in a strange city with no internet access had not been figured into my plan. It was only five kilometres to our accommodation and around 4000 ISK so around $60 AU. I think. The mental arithmetic for currency conversions are killing me. Actually the Commonwealth Bank is converting at a much higher rate than the internet says the rates are and charging fees on top so the credit card price gouge is killing me. I think I’m going to change banks. My daughter says Citibank does not charge fees so maybe I will try that. Banks are bastards! (I will cut this rant right here).
So we made it to our Airbnb out in the burbs. It’s a great place. A whole bottom floor, with one bedroom, big lounge dining area, kitchen, drying room etc. Weird thing was we didn’t meet our host. We still haven’t met her. We did a self-check in. We never did meet her.

We decided to find a bus and thankfully the Airbnb had wifi so we were able to work stuff out and catch a bus into town and search for the Loft Bar. It took a bit of orienting ourselves but we managed it. I had hoped to be meeting a local SF fan or SF fans there but they were a no show. Sad really, but interesting. Apart from the taxi driver we had not met an Icelandic person. All around us were tourists. It was weirding me out a bit. It also turned cold. For us least ways. We hung around the bar for an hour and then went in search of some dinner. I had drunk a big glass of red wine on an empty stomach, (The Loft Bar (on top of a backpacker place) did not sell food at all) and well I was slightly tipsy afterwards. My daughter had to rug me up, drag me somewhere to get food.
You might recall that I said Norway was expensive. Well Iceland is more expensive, particularly food. I looked at some menus and some lamb in a restaurant was 4990 Isk. That’s around $75 Au. Some meals were more than that and some were cheaper. I settled for two slices of pizza in an el cheapo place that was across from the backpackers. That might have cost me around 1000 ISK or $13.50. Don’t quote me on the conversions. I use google. The next thing was catching the bus home and working out where to get off. Lucky, even though my phone is not connected to the Internet, the gps worked and we just watched the little blue dot getting closer to our AirBnb. We also went to a little convenience store and bought some bread, milk and butter and a can of baked beans. I’m living the high life I tell you.

These photos are from our first evening in Reykjavik, a view up the street to the huge concrete church. And a street sign in Icelandic.

We made it back without any problems and went straight to bed. Iceland is two hours behind Oslo time so body clocks are skewed/screwed.
After all our excitement to be coming to Iceland, we were a bit let down. I can’t really put my finger on why. It was a grey day. Maybe we were tired.
We decided to have an easy morning, which was kind of good. I got my previous blog post up. We rested. Found we couldn’t find the black tea and maybe left it in Bergen. Major crisis. And it was raining. When we checked the forecast we realised it was forecast for rain our entire stay. The temperature was 12 degrees Celsius all day. At first there was no wind. I remember Einar (Icelandic fan guy I met at Worldcon) said it was windy here and other people saying forget the umbrellas. Well it wasn’t windy but by the time we got going sometime after lunch it was windy and we missed the bus. We actually saw it go passed us and bugger! The next one was in half an hour. One of our silly selfies.

Beans wanted to go back in the apartment but I figured if I did that I might not leave at all. I had a mission. I was going to the Nexus book and toy store as a pilgrimage and I’d told the owner I was coming. Also, I wanted to find a yarn store as my next pilgrimage. So we checked out a shop across the road. It was sort of shaped like a tent. They didn’t have much. It was a ecigarette shop and they also stocked candy and softdrinks. We felt a big weird going in there (to take shelter as well as find out what was inside) we bought some local candy, then ventured into the wind and rain. We sat in the bus shelter taking selfies and making each other laugh for half an hour. The bus did come. We weren’t too wet, and only a little cold. I had thick tights and jeans on and three layers under my coat.

We sort of knew where the Nexus book store was but we overshot in the bus and had to walk up through the centre of town, a tourist haven I think. We kept detouring into souvenir shops. I bought some socks in the Thor store. Not much of Thor in there but the socks were cute. Beans decided she needed gloves or mittens because we were going on a tour, which involves walking for three hours across a glacier. I thought it was a good idea and bought some too. Godsend!
See the picture of me in my tea cosy beanie and fingerless gloves. There was also yarn for sale and some lovely stuff, a lot hand made like what I bought.
We walked and walked. We scouted out a noodle joint which had food for under $20 (I think) and a supermarket so we could buy some food for sandwiches. Although we paid $450 for this day tour there is no food included. They take you to places where you pay lots of money for food if you are so inclined. Beans is vegan and there is not likely to be food for her to eat. I’m allergic to fish so not a lot for me either. Traditional Icelandic food involves fish and shark. So we have to be prepared.

 

I name checked Trudi Canavan and Dan Abnett in this book store. The last pic is of Sven. Hi Swen! And check out Game of Thrones in Icelandic. George RR Martin is very popular here along with Robin Hobb.

I am not sure but is Nexus the most northern SF bookstore? If you come to Reykjavik you should totally visit here.

If you think about the economics of this place, the high food prices make sense. There are around 300,000 people here and over two million tourists. Most of the food has to be imported and some is locally produced. Think western food and Tahiti-so expensive because it is flown or shipped in. Eating out pricey for locals too btw.

Nexus bookstore. I was so proud of myself for finding this place. I know I had a gps but so…I can’t read maps! We also learned a bit more about the place and our way around.

What a haven for geeks! I love this store. It has toys, merchandise, LARP clothes, dvds, games-so many games- books-jewellery. Most of the stuff is imported from the USA and the UK. There were local books too, fantasy in Icelandic. So cool.

We met Sven. Local SF fan who works in the store. He was so nice to us. Talked to us for ages, talked about the store, Reykjavik, Iceland, worldcons, Australia. This guy came to Aussiecon 4 in 2010! And he wants to come again. I told him about the NZ worldcon bid for 2020 and that Dublin won the 2019 world con bid. He wants to come back to Australia so badly! I was so happy to meet him and talk fan stuff and about GUFF. He also told us a bit about the Harry Potter Experience in the UK. He said it is booked out every time he’s been to the UK and he goes twice a yar. We haven’t even tried booking for it. So after a long browse around the store, some purchases we headed off to get our cheap noodles for lunch. It was about 4 pm by this time.

Here are some pics from Nexus.

I name checked Trudi Canavan and Dan Abnett in this book store. The last pic is of Sven. Hi Swen! And check out Game of Thrones in Icelandic. George RR Martin is very popular here along with Robin Hobb.

My haul was a Mary Robinette Kowal book. I’ve not seen one of these in Australia and a bling Captain America pendant. Beans bought an C3PO pendant.

I am not sure but is Nexus the most northern SF bookstore? If you come to Reykjavik you should totally visit here.

We were both cheered by our Nexus experience. And we were inured to the weather by then and so happy that we had left the house.
We took some shots of the bay. We saw some sunshine and went to capture it. The mountain range looks amazing. We hope to see it up close on one of the tours we booked.


There are some amazing rocks/boulders by the shore. Breakers I think. I took some photos. There was lava and red granite and some black stuff that Russell K might be able to identify.

We found this bakery in the main drag and bought this ash sour dough bread and pastries. OMG! The bread was so good. We have Iceland inside us.

We made it to the bus and then realised that there are no buses early enough to get us to the tour pick up point the next day. We have to take a taxi. So I tried to get my phone working to call one but to no avail. Some quick research and I downloaded an app. I’ve booked a cab and if it doesn’t come we are totally screwed.

Note! The taxi app was very good. Taxi came.

More on the tours next post. Warning next post contains glaciers, geysirs and waterfalls, lots of waterfalls.

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