iceland again
We know, we know..... Its time for the long over due blog. Lots has happened since we had our medical in the UK. By the time we had received a medical it we had run out of time to finish the driver training. But once we arrived in Iceland the company owner rang someone here and it seems that if an Icelander explains the situation then they get a different answer regards the NZ drivers licence issue. So it seems that we may have gone through all the stress of the medical experience in England for nothing!!!!!
Ben found out just before we got here that he was going to be the manager of the Skaftafell operation. Kind of a joint lead guide and operations manager roll. But still a full time guiding position because the company is so small. So the best of both worlds really. It’s a big step for the company to have a non Icelandic person in the role but with a number of senior staff moving on and things getting busier each year they wanted some one with experience at the helm. And it is his 12th year as guide or instructor. This year we have a full time booking desk with staff member and flash uniforms and a marketing effort that is producing record bookings. We will be having seven guides working next week. That’s an all time high.
We managed to skin up to the top of Hvannadalshnukur the highest MT during the first week here and got a fabulous 1000m decent down the glacier. Bad weather prevented us from skiing the glacier we wanted, as it would have been foolish to attempt the unknown terrain and crevasse fields in white out when we had never even walked the route in good weather. But the consolation was the decent down the normal assent route and it was good! The 700m vert’ hike to and from the snowline in ski boots was much less enjoyable though. After that we dived into the work and by the time we had another break (18 days later) the snow was gone and the skiing over. We did a road trip up to the northwest end of Iceland to an area of fiords and volcanoes. Such a stunning and diverse country here. But without doubt we will need to come back here for the end of winter some year to sample the endless backcountry options!!!!
Karen caught a cold off a client in her first week here and is very slowly getting over it. Living in a tent just short of the artic circle is not the best environment for recovering from anything. Iceland did however deliver her a pleasant surprise, when she wanted to go to the local doctors she just called up and they told her to come in any time and she could see the doctor that day. Aaah the things the NHS of the UK could learn about service from the Icelanders. So apart from working hard and drinking very little there is little more to tell people. We do have an Icelandic cell phone number and a work land line in the booking office so if anyone would like to know these just drop us an email. We will not post these on this site for obvious reasons. We are also on the booking desk most evenings here and can skype chat on the computer.
We’ll leave you with a memory from last week that sums up Iceland. We were driving back into Reykjavik and as we came into the town proper we were greeted by the sun setting into the water just next to a glacier capped volcano in the distance. The roads were busy and there were people walking everywhere too. In the harbour was a couple of jet skis charging about and the place seemed to be pumping. It was 11.53pm!
Bless!
Ben found out just before we got here that he was going to be the manager of the Skaftafell operation. Kind of a joint lead guide and operations manager roll. But still a full time guiding position because the company is so small. So the best of both worlds really. It’s a big step for the company to have a non Icelandic person in the role but with a number of senior staff moving on and things getting busier each year they wanted some one with experience at the helm. And it is his 12th year as guide or instructor. This year we have a full time booking desk with staff member and flash uniforms and a marketing effort that is producing record bookings. We will be having seven guides working next week. That’s an all time high.
We managed to skin up to the top of Hvannadalshnukur the highest MT during the first week here and got a fabulous 1000m decent down the glacier. Bad weather prevented us from skiing the glacier we wanted, as it would have been foolish to attempt the unknown terrain and crevasse fields in white out when we had never even walked the route in good weather. But the consolation was the decent down the normal assent route and it was good! The 700m vert’ hike to and from the snowline in ski boots was much less enjoyable though. After that we dived into the work and by the time we had another break (18 days later) the snow was gone and the skiing over. We did a road trip up to the northwest end of Iceland to an area of fiords and volcanoes. Such a stunning and diverse country here. But without doubt we will need to come back here for the end of winter some year to sample the endless backcountry options!!!!
Karen caught a cold off a client in her first week here and is very slowly getting over it. Living in a tent just short of the artic circle is not the best environment for recovering from anything. Iceland did however deliver her a pleasant surprise, when she wanted to go to the local doctors she just called up and they told her to come in any time and she could see the doctor that day. Aaah the things the NHS of the UK could learn about service from the Icelanders. So apart from working hard and drinking very little there is little more to tell people. We do have an Icelandic cell phone number and a work land line in the booking office so if anyone would like to know these just drop us an email. We will not post these on this site for obvious reasons. We are also on the booking desk most evenings here and can skype chat on the computer.
We’ll leave you with a memory from last week that sums up Iceland. We were driving back into Reykjavik and as we came into the town proper we were greeted by the sun setting into the water just next to a glacier capped volcano in the distance. The roads were busy and there were people walking everywhere too. In the harbour was a couple of jet skis charging about and the place seemed to be pumping. It was 11.53pm!
Bless!
posted by thekarenandbenshow at 9:13 AM
