In 1976, Nigel Foster had no idea he would attempt to circumnavigate Iceland by kayak the following year. A chance meeting with a well-known expedition kayaker in the Scottish Isles changed all that. While others scoffed, he made plans, using the technology of the day: calling people on rotary dial telephones, visiting public libraries, consulting travel agents, folding letters into envelopes to be stamped and carried to the mail box. Slowly, as Foster learned about Iceland, he began to realize the difficulties ahead.
Nobody had circled Iceland by kayak before. So, was it a foolhardy escapade? Possibly, but Foster describes how his earlier adventures made him optimistic. When the small team he first envisions dwindles to two, he has misgivings, but the project seems to take on an energy beyond his control. In June of 1977, he finds himself with Geoff Hunter on the heaving deck of a ferry bound for Iceland with snow dashed mountains rising before them.
Despite contrasting personalities, Foster and Hunter have compatible goals. Together, they enrich their adventure, forgoing speed of travel to better experience Iceland. Icelanders welcome them with touching generosity. Their encounters are often outright hilarious. Ashore, the two hike up steaming volcanic peaks, not missing the opportunity to bask in mountain hot springs, or in contrast explore glaciers and ice-filled lakes. They camp on black sand beaches, eat seagulls and puffins, and deal with malfunctioning gear. Afloat, it is the moody ocean that pervades all, with its heaving shore-breaks and numbing chill. Here are towering cliffs, cacophonous seabird colonies, whales, driftwood logs from Siberia, and storm-whipped islands. As they forge ahead, their story becomes interwoven with threads, historical and geological, that enrich the narrative, making it a valuable resource for any traveler to Iceland.
This is a story of Iceland as experienced in the 1970s. It reveals the atmosphere and character of the land and people at that time. There is a freshness untouched by high tech, which makes the recounting of this major accomplishment, the first circumnavigation of Iceland by kayak, a delight to read.
