Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Westman Islands
he
Westman Islands
-
Vestmannaeyjar
- are an archipelago of fifteen or so scattered,
mostly minuscule volcanic islands around 10km of the coast south of Hvolsvöllur. The
only inhabited one in the group,
Heimaey
, is an easy trip from the mainland on the
frequent ferries, and there are two immediate draws:
Eldfell
volcano, still steaming from
its 1973 eruption, an event that doubled the width of the island and almost swallowed
Heimaey town; and the sadly diminishing numbers of seabirds and
pu
ns
(see box,
p.138). You can pack everything the island has to offer into a couple of days, though an
increasing number of visitors simply
day-trip
from the mainland, arriving late morning
on the first ferry and leaving in the evening.
Heimaey aside, the other Westmans are difficult to land on and so only infrequently
visited by bird or egg collectors, but you may be very lucky and score a rare trip around
Surtsey
, the group's southernmost outpost and newest island, which sprang from
beneath the waves during the 1960s.
2
Brief history
Geological babies at only 12,000 years old overall, the Westman Islands played a
part in the tale of Iceland's official first settlers, Ingólfur Arnarson and his foster-
brother Hjörleifur Hróðmarsson. The brothers had British slaves with them who,
coming from the lands at the west of the Viking world, were known as
Westmen
;
Hjörleifur's slaves rebelled, killing him and fleeing to these islands - hence
the name.
Heimaey lay more or less outside the mainstream of Icelandic history until
Algerian
pirates
raided on July 16, 1627, killing or enslaving half the population of five
hundred. It took some time to get over this disaster, but by the twentieth century
mechanization and the country's economic shift from farming to fishing saw Heimaey
becoming a prosperous little haven, well positioned for taking advantage of the North
Atlantic's richest cod and haddock grounds.
Fresh problems lay ahead, however. On January 23, 1973, a 2km-long
volcanic
fissure
suddenly opened up eastern Heimaey. Within 24 hours the island had been
evacuated and the new volcano,
Eldfell
, was gushing lava in violent spasms; houses
were buried beneath the flow or simply collapsed under the weight of accompanying
ash. Worse still, the lava threatened to block the harbour mouth until halted by the
novel method of pumping sea water onto the front of the flow. When the eruption
ceased in June, Heimaey was two square kilometres bigger, had a new mountain
and, amazingly, a better harbour - the entrance is narrower now, but more
effectively shielded from prevailing easterly winds. Only one person was killed
during the eruption.
SURTSEY
On November 14, 1963, a colossal explosion in the sea 15km southwest of Heimaey,
accompanied by towering plumes of steam and ash, heralded the birth of
Surtsey
. Within a
week, there was a volcano rising 70m out of the sea; April 1964 saw lava appear for the first
time; and when the eruption finished three years later, what was suddenly the Westmans'
second-largest island covered almost three square kilometres. Erosion has since shrunk it by
half, but Surtsey remains of great interest to scientists, who are using it as a model to study
how islands are colonized by plants and animals.
As it's a special reserve,
landing on Surtsey
is prohibited unless you're part of a scientific
team. Your only chance of a trip over is with Viking (see p.139), which makes four- to six-hour
circuits from Heimaey - you'll get a good look but they don't land - once or twice each
summer, if they get enough people interested and the weather's suitable.
FROM TOP
SIGNPOST, HEIMAEY
P.136
; VÍK
P.132
; EYJAFJALLAJÖKULL
P.128
>
