Discovering the past of Heimaey

In the distance it was hard to miss the Eldfell volcanic cone, the source of much of this lava flow, which looms over the town. Our ultimate aim was to reach the top and after a short and sometimes steep climb we made it to the crater rim. In places it was still possible to feel the heat from the earth below this active volcano and it was easy to spot signs of the eruption. The views from the top were stunning, taking in the surrounding landscape and coastline and even extending across to the mainland. The outlook over the town helped to put in perspective the full extent of the lava flow that had buried part of the town and extended the size of the island by over two square kilometres. From this vantage point the line of the original fissure was also easy to spot. As we pieced together the events of the January night when the eruption began, we were starting to understand what it must have been like to wake up to a volcano erupting so close to the town.

On the way back to town we made a stop at the Eldheimar Museum, built around one of the houses excavated from the volcanic ash. The museum tells the story of the 1973 eruption and relays firsthand accounts of what it was like when the eruption started, how the town deal with the evacuation and worked to protect the settlement and what happened after the eruption was over as the town recovered. There’s also an exhibition about the youngest Westman Island, Surtsey, which formed in 1963 as the result of an underwater eruption.

In the afternoon we took a bus tour of the island and discovered many interesting stories such as how the islands got their name, what happened in the Turkish invasion and the incredible survival of fisherman Guðlaugur Friðþórsson. We stopped for a view of Elephant rock, as well as at the windiest place in Europe and as it’s summer we got to see Puffins too. We were even privy to a demonstration of the rather dangerous traditional sport of Sprangan, which involves swinging on ropes from the cliffs to collect sea bird eggs. Not for the faint hearted!

By the end of the day we felt an affinity with the island of Heimaey and its people and had a better appreciation of life on the island. As we boarded the ferry and said goodbye to the Westman Islands we couldn’t help but think about the town of Grindavik on the mainland and the similarity of their experiences, during the current eruptive event on the Reykjanes Peninsula, to those of the people of Heimaey in 1973 and how they are using the lessons learned from Heimaey to deal with this event.