Dalvik, Dalvikurbyggd, Iceland - 07/10/17

Dalvikurbyggd COA

Going further north in Iceland we discovered a river, which we later learned is called "Sverfadardalsa river", and began to follow along the waters in hopes to get to our next location.

Our suspicions were right, and by the mouth of the river was Dalvik, a regional port for import and fishing with 1.454 inhabitants as of 2011. Dalvik means "Valley Bay" in Icelandic, and the valley which it refers to is Svarfadardallur.

Like Akureyri, Dalvik also has ferry services to Grimsey island, which we learned about while in our last stop, Akureyri. Grimsey was amalgamated with Akureyri in 2009, and is the northernmost inhabited Icelandic territory.

Interesting Fact:

The festival Fiskidagurinn mikli (The Great Fish Day) is celebrated here in August, and is attended by up to 30.000 people. The festival is consisted of a free fish buffet which is sponsored by the local fishing industry.

- The programmers among us were intrigued by the name of the town, it was not in vain. Dalvik used to be a virtual machine in the Android operating system. The open source software was replaced by Android Run Time (ART) from Android 4.4 (KitKat) to all further versions.

For our first activity here in Dalvik we decided to take the opportunity to finally go whale watching, after two lost opportunities in Djupivogur an Husavik,

The expeditions are realized by Arctic Sea Tours, a rated five stars service offering Rhib boat and whale boat whale watching. In addition to seeing whales, porpoises and dolphins (with 99% success rate) for up to three hours, we also enjoyed some hot chocolate, fresh cooked and barbecued fish, which were caught by the crew and grilled upon our arrival on land. They also guaranteed us that if we didn't cross paths with whales we could ride again free of charge.

After the rewarding whale watching expedition, we nostalgically remembered our experience in Dalvik Folk Museum in Akureyri, and how we almost mixed up the places, and remembered that the 'Viking Giant' was born and buried here.

(Interesting Fact:

In addition to being a circus performer (and sadly being seem as an abomination) Johann the Great starred in the movie Prehistoric Women(1950) where we played the role of a giant cave man.
He was buried in Dalvik after dying in consequence of a falling accident.)


We found out where he was buried in the town, so we made a special pilgrimage to the cemetery after the museum.
We split into groups and started searching, after about 3 minutes we actually found his grave! - The party gains 3 points to Perception.



Now, it might be seen as inconsiderate, but we decided to visit a local pool and gym next, to enjoy life while we can.



From what we have seen, Icelanders are very clean and organized people, as well as friendly. Our experience in Dalvik Swimming Pool reassured that expectation.
One of the habits Icelanders have which helps to keep the pools clean is showering (often times naked) before getting it. In the end we saw more nature than we could expect in a swimming club.

The features of the facility are just as impressive: geothermically heated pools with different temperatures, a cooler main pool with swimming lanes, a water slide and a gym.

As we near important stops in the country, we make a few essential stops.