Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.09.2015, Page 26

ÞÓRSHÖFN
VOPNAFJÖRÐUR
GRÍMSEY
ÍSAFJÖRÐUR
AKUREYRI
EGILSSTAÐIR
REYKJAVÍK
Of the eastern fjords, Seyðisfjörður is
probably the best known. It is from here
that the ferry embarks to Denmark,
which is also the only way to travel to
or from Iceland by car. The town has
many old Norwegian timber houses,
the submerged wreck of a British oil
tanker bombed by the Germans (yes,
it’s so close to the continent that they
even had air raids during the war), and
a thriving artist colony that renders it
something of a “101 East”.
From Egilsstaðir, one can take the
ferry up lake Lagarfljót, to the man-
made forest of Hallormsstaður.
We, however, continue driving.
Celebrating Occupation Day
Home to around a thousand people,
Reyðarfjörður has been in the news a lot
over the past decade. This is mainly due
to its highly disputed aluminium smelt-
ing plant—Iceland’s biggest—which com-
menced operations in 2007, after heavy
protests from local environmentalists.
Since opening shop, Alcoa have done
their best to keep the locals happy, funnel-
ling money to the local football team and
whatnot. And, it should be noted that the
plant itself, tucked in behind the bend, is
not too much of an eyesore. The problem
does not lie here, but rather in the high-
lands, in the Kárahnjúkar area, where vast
tracts of land disappeared under the dam
that powers the plant. Even a decade ago,
few Icelanders saw any value in the wil-
derness, especially not of the monetary
kind. Now, with upwards of one million
tourists coming in annually to observe the
majestic desolation that is Iceland, they
might be belatedly changing their mind.
The plant has not necessarily kept the
local youth from relocating to the big city
down south—or perhaps to Norway, which
seems a lot closer here than in Reykjavík.
Scores of Poles have moved in to work at
the plant instead, even if they must first
learn Icelandic to do so.
The current Pole population, however,
barely registers in number compared to
the British Invasion. No, this was not the
fun kind of British Invasion that mostly in-
volves debating the merits of The Beatles
vs. The Stones—we’re talking about the
full-on military invasion of 1940. The Brits
arrived in RVK on May 10, but didn’t make
their way to Reyðarfjörður until July 1,
despite this being one of the more likely
landing points for a German counter-inva-
sion. The event is commemorated on “Oc-
cupation Day,” which is celebrated annu-
ally on the Sunday that falls closest to the
date, and includes period-style parades,
games, concerts and an “occupation
cake,” served, of course, with Coca-Cola
(the Yanks replaced the Brits a year later).
Those who feel that July 1 should be
reserved for Canada Day needn’t worry—
the Canadians were well represented in
Words Valur Gunnarsson
Photos Valur Gunnarsson & Skari
Entering the eastern fjords of Iceland, one gets a sense of be-
ing closer to Europe. They have ferries here, and forests. They
even have non-Icelandic communities. Before World War I,
Fáskrúðsfjörður was “Frenchtown”, a temporary home to
many a French sailor—and in World War II, Reyðarfjörður be-
came Britville, housing over three thousand Commonwealth
soldiers in a town of merely 300. Both French sailors and Brit
soldiers considerably enriched the local gene pool, unlike the
Basque sailors in the Westfjords, who were cut short.
How to get there: Take route 1 north to Egilsstaðir, from where you can continue
on route 93 to Seyðisfjörður, or 92 and 96 to Fáskrúðsfjörður. To get to Akureyri from
there, backtrack on route 1
The East
26 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 15 — 2015TRAVEL
Dentists,
Sailors,
Soldiers,
Smelters;
Far East
& Up North:
Searching For
The True Iceland,
Part Three