Saturday 15th August - Reykjavik

We arrived at our berth in Reykjavik at around 6am. All the passengers were asked to put out their bags so that they could be divided between the groups who were going on the coach tour and then to the airport and those, like us, who were doing 'our own thing'. We had agreed with Marcelo, the hotel director, that we could leave our bags in our cabin until 1pm, when we would collect them and go by taxi to the airport.

We had an early breakfast, which was an opportunity to say goodbye to many of the passengers who had become our friends during the voyage. We exchanged email addresses and hopefully we will be able to keep in contact with many of them. We were sorry to miss Darian and Maria, the couple from Brisbane, whose company we had enjoyed during the cruise, but we think they left early to go on a tour of the area.

We disembarked at around 8.30am and, as we did, we met Stefan and Hans-Peter, who were joining the ship for the next cruise. It was great to see them again, albeit so briefly.

Expedition team members helping with the bags

We walked the short distance to visit the Harpa Concert Hall and Arts Centre. It was as good as I remembered it from the last time we were here. Incredible architecture! We booked up to see a 360 degrees 20 minute film on Iceland at 11am.

The Harpa Centre

If you look at this staircase inside Harpa, you can just see how the top step is out of line with the ceiling behind it. It's the same throughout the building - nothing appears to be quite straight. Very disorientating!

We then walked through the town passing the apartments we stayed at in 2013 with Joy, Craig and Jess.

It was then on up to the Hallsgrimkirkja, where we met quite a few Silversea passengers making use of the time for sightseeing before their flights back home.

Even though we have seen the church on several occasions, it still looks just as impressive as on our first visit, with its amazing spire and the statue of Leif Erikson, who discovered Vinland, proudly standing in front of the church.

Inside, the back half of the pews had been turned to face the other way, as there was a series of concerts taking place. Tonight there was going to be a performance of Handel's "Solomon" and the stage was set out for the musicians. Wendy was very impressed by a turquoise grand piano!

There was also an art exhibition, with some pretty weird depictions of the crucifixion. However this small note, written by the artist, caught my eye.

On the way back down from the church we saw stalls being erected for the annual bacon festival. We came across the seafood grill restaurant where we had dinner last time with Joy, Craig, Jess, Brion and Laura. We met Jo outside and she said she had been checking it out for her and Tim this evening, so we recommended it to her. They are staying at the Holt Hotel and we said goodbye once again, promising to keep in touch.

We walked back to the port going past the statue of the first settler in Iceland, Ingolfur Arnason, and then went back to the Harpa to see the film. It was OK, but I think my video of Iceland is better! Shortly after, I saw a taxi rank and booked a taxi to pick us up from the ship at 12.45pm.

We had time to have a quick lunch at Solon, the bar/resturant where we had eaten on our last visit to the city. We returned to the ship, collected our bags and said more goodbyes, this time to several of the expedition team - Luke, Danny and Selvaggia, plus Abigail from the dining room.

Our last look at Silver Explorer.

The taxi ride to the airport took about 45 minutes. Check-in was quite easy, though I did have to pay for the extra bag, something I was hoping to avoid!

Unexpectedly, Wendy discovered that Pauline and Jan were sitting next to her on the plane. It was good to be able to spend time with them before we arrived at Heathrow and went our separate ways. Audley was there to collect us in his new Range Rover, which is much more comfortable than the old model he used to take us to Heathrow at the beginning of the holiday.

So, another fun-filled expedition cruise is over. Will we book another? Most likely, but not until 2017.