Iceland review - 2013, Page 43

ICELAND REVIEW 41
LAST OF THE ISLANDErS
There are also a handful of people who stick
around when autumn rolls in. Hafsteinn
Guðmundsson (78) and Ólína Jónsdóttir (80)
have been living on the island year-round
for the past 48 years. Life on the island is
tough, Hafsteinn says, partly because of the
remoteness but also because of fishing quota
restrictions which he says make earning an
income difficult.
Unsurprisingly, then, the island’s year-
round population has dwindled to just four.
“It’s more expensive to live here than in
Stykkishólmur, for example, as everything
is transported not just to Reykjavík but
to Stykkishólmur and then by boat here.
Building material, for example, is very expen-
sive. There also isn’t a school here anymore.”
The couple have been able to supplement
their income by renting accommodation in
their guesthouse.
Hafsteinn and Ólína have spent their
entire lives in Breiðafjörður but grew up
on different islands. Hafsteinn was born in
Skáleyjar and Ólína on Hvallátur. Hafsteinn
often visited Flatey, where his fishing boat
was docked, but it wasn’t until people started
abandoning Skáleyjar that he moved perma-
nently to the island.
Still today, Hafsteinn fishes and also hunts
seal, puffin, cormorant and shag on the
nearby islands, allowing him and his wife
to be largely self-sufficient. “We have a big
freezer so we can store the meat. We boil
the seal and salt or smoke it and eat it with
boiled potatoes and fish. Some people say
it’s the best food around.” Once a month
they travel to the mainland to stock up on
food items like fruit and cereals, as well as
other goods, and their children and grand-
children bring supplies when they visit. “We
only go to Reykjavík once a year or so for
meetings and then we stay a couple of days,”
Hafsteinn adds. The couple also have contacts
in Stykkishólmur who can send food items
on the ferry.
TRAVEL
Clockwise from top: flatey church; Breiðafjörður blue mussels; the old town center. Bottom: Kolfinna taking in the tranquil surroundings.