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Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of the lambing season at Brimnes, a farm in the north of Iceland, in April 2008. Sheep farmer Arnar Gústafsson and his girlfriend Edda Björk take shifts watching over the nearly 300 ewes and helping them give birth 24/7 for about two months or until the last lamb is born. In Iceland, the arrival of lambs is synonymous with the arrival of summer. The lambing season is currently at its height.
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Located just 40 minutes by car and six minutes from Keflavík International Airport, Sandgerdi (“Sandy Hedge”) is a growing town of 1,700 with a storied history and loads to see. Read this special promotion about the hidden secrets of one of Iceland's most charming seaside villages.
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A bus which was specially-designed for the German military and was intended for desert warfare will be used to ferry people across the Múlakvísl river in south Iceland. A glacial flood from Mýrdalsjökull destroyed the Múlakvísl bridge on Friday night and tore a hole in the Ring Road.
The Mýrdalssandur plains through which Múlakvísl flows. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
It is hoped that the bus, which carries 40 people, can be put to work today. Meanwhile, three trucks intended to take people and goods across Múlakvísl have arrived at the river. The drivers are currently looking for the best place to cross, ruv.is reports.
The trucks will be able to carry 30 persons and two personal cars on each crossing. The service will be free of charge and open to everyone. There won’t be any special prioritization unless police and search and rescue authorities deem otherwise.
As for the specialized bus, only four such vehicles exist in the world and one of them is located in Iceland, as Björn Sigurdsson in Eyjafjördur, who is leasing the vehicle, told Morgunbladid.
The owner, Ágúst Gudjónsson, lives in Hólmavík in northwest Iceland where the bus was located last winter and came to good use during heavy snowfall and on impassible roads.
“We can easily drive across the river. Nothing stops this bus. It weighs 12 and a half tons when empty, so the current has to be really strong before it budges,” Sigurdsson stated. The bus is of the make Iveco and was constructed in 1981.
“It has an air-cooled eight cylinder engine and the tires are the size of those used on road graders. The body is made of thick aluminum, is bullet-proof and the windows are bullet-resistant,” Sigurdsson described.
The Icelandic Road Administrator had the initiative of acquiring the bus, stressing that safety is guaranteed. Sigurdsson assured that everything would be all right.
“This is the only way we see to bridge the river, so to speak, until the temporary bridge is ready. Buses can be placed on both banks to accept people. We have to keep the tourist industry going,” Sigurdsson concluded.
Click here to read an announcement in English and German about the situation.
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The first archeological research in Iceland this year will begin at Hafnir in Reykjanes, southwest Iceland, on Monday. Archeologists will continue their study of a hut which may originate from 770-880 AD and predate the historical settlement of Iceland in 847.
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A small glacial burst occurred in the volcano Katla, which lies underneath the Mýrdalsjökull icecap in south Iceland, on April 28 and lasted a few days. The activity was registered by seismic monitors and increased conduction was measured in the river Múlakvísl until May 7.
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Kexland (“Biscuit Land”) is a new events organizer and tour operator based at the hip KEX Hostel in Reykjavík, where its plans were presented on Wednesday. These include a guided tour and exercise at the capital’s swimming pools with comedian Dóri DNA.
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American disco queen Donna Summer, who died of cancer at age 63 on Thursday, worked closely with Icelandic musician Þórir Baldursson in Germany from 1973 to 1976. He remembers her with warmth, describing her as a wonderful person.
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The current issue of the quarterly magazine Iceland Review includes interviews with fashion photographer Saga Sig and conceptual artist Rúrí. Also, we take you to Grímsstaðir á Fjöllum, that desolate land coveted by a Chinese tycoon, and also explore Icelandic archeological remains. We discuss the Icelandic Church, the flourishing gaming industry, debate the future of Iceland’s energy resources and interview the president of the Icelandic National League of North America. Subscribe now and receive a free photo book by IR’s editor Páll Stefánsson of the Eyjafjallajökull eruptions. Click here to subscribe to the magazine and here to buy a gift subscription.
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REVIEWS
The Reykjavík Shorts&Docs was held in Reykjavík from May 6 to 9 in Bíó Paradís, and what an enriching experience it was to attend the festival.
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Shedding light on Iceland’s thousand-year history, as manifested in remains ranging from Viking graves to enchanted sites, Mannvist is a fundamental piece of writing. Ásta Andrésdóttir met with its author, archaeologist Birna Lárusdóttir.
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“The House Project” currently on display in Hafnarborg, the Hafnarfjörður Centre of Culture and Fine Art, is a new artwork by Hreinn Friðfinnsson consisting of a photography series of the three houses. His work is described as “a poetic and philosophical exploration of every day human experience.”
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