Original subtitles

I'm Jane Macdonald, and I'm cruising round the world.

Do you want to come?

I've spent half my life on cruise ships...

You all right?

..and now I want to help you get the most out of them.

Nearly two million Brits took to the seas last year,

making this type of holiday more popular than ever.

SHE SCREAMS

There's something for everyone on a cruise.

Excitement...

SHE SHRIEKS

..wonderment...

Fair makes you feel humble.

..and romance.

Are you married, Captain? No.

Come on, then.

This time, I'm on top of the world - literally!

I'm cruising round a rugged but breathtaking island

with freezing temperatures...

..spectacular wildlife...

Wow, look at that!

..the cutest creatures...

Little puffin.

..and the greatest light show on the moon.

Oh, look! Look at that. Look.

And if you think all this looks familiar, well, think again.

I've uncovered some extra bits to show you

that made my trip to Iceland all the more fun.

Su-gan-di-sey... jar-ga-ta.

Sugandiseyjargata.

THEY LAUGH

Velkomin til Islands!

We're in Iceland!

It's sunshining. Again!

It's beautiful.

So many people come on holiday here these days. They just can't get

enough of what this magical island has to offer.

They call it the land of fire and ice.

It's got some belting sites,

like the majestic Gullfoss waterfall,

the beautiful Blue Lagoon,

and loads of hot geysers.

You can never get enough of them!

We're sailing from Reykjavik. It's the capital,

but it doesn't look much bigger than Wakefield.

It's a busy place, though.

There's 330,000 people in the whole of Iceland and over a third

of them live here.

Now, I've not much time before the cruise starts,

so this will be a whistle-stop tour.

Come for a wander around Reykjavik.

Is that how I say it? Reykjavik. Reykjavik. Reykjavik. Anyway.

Did you know Reykjavik is the world's most northern capital?

Hey, my kind of place.

I know that Bjork comes from here, and it's built on a volcano.

Been doing your homework? Yeah, I have done a little bit, actually.

Ooh! Oh, I say!

What's that? SHE LAUGHS

Oh, my God.

You are not going to believe what I've just learned.

Apparently, these two are the parents of 13 Santa Clauses

that they have here.

Oof! It's quite frightening, actually, because this lady here

eats naughty children.

Yeah! Eats naughty children.

It's very psy...

I mean, getting into making your kids behave at Christmas.

Apparently, if you don't behave at Christmas,

this lady comes and eats you.

Now, that's a bit... A bit much, isn't it, really.

But these are the parents of the 13 Santa Clauses that come and put

little presents in your shoes for the 13 nights before Christmas.

Not only that, if you've been bad and you're a child,

you'll get a potato instead of a present.

So that's why everybody is really well-behaved in Iceland.

And I'm certainly being a good girl, as I was told to bring

all my warmest clothes.

But the weather has had other ideas.

This must be weird because I'm, like, dressed for Siberia.

People are walking around in T-shirts.

That's hard.

You can tell the tourists - moi -

due to the fact that we're all dressed up in

big coats and hats and everything else.

Leathers and boots, and the locals are out in T-shirts.

It's not right, is it?

Ee, I love a shop.

That's a nice hat, isn't it?

It's just like... it's just like a sheep has unzipped its coat

and put it on this model.

And it's absolutely beautiful.

It's had a wash, obviously.

So it's as if a sheep's been in the shower,

had a bit of a shampoo and set,

then unzipped its coat and just put it on here.

And it feels so fluffy.

And I'm just wondering what happens if you get it wet?

Does it go frizzy like your hair?

It's lovely, isn't it?

I wish you could feel it like I'm feeling it.

It's lovely.

One of the most recognised landmarks is this massive church,

called Hallgrimskirkja.

You can see it from almost every street.

I'm not usually big on churches,

because I end up getting married in them.

Oh, my good... Look, there's a lawn on the roof.

How do you cut it?

You can't go up there with a Flymo, can you, really?

Well, your lead wouldn't... Your lead wouldn't go that far,

would it, really? And also, how do you sunbathe up there?

Once you've put your oil on,

you'd slip right off t'roof, wouldn't you, really?

No, you can't have your lawn on your roof.

Mind you, I suppose it's nice and warm.

Insulation, I think, is the word.

Right! To the harbour. We've got a ship to catch.

SHIP'S HORN BLASTS

So, look, this is my ship.

This is our ship.

OK. I've been on prettier.

But as we say in Yorkshire, don't judge a pie by its crust.

This girl's got strength and staying power.

Starting out as a ferry, then a mail ship,

she's built for expeditions rather than entertainment.

This doesn't look like a normal cruise ship, but it's about

where you're going and what you do when you get to the destinations

and the adventures you're going on.

We're going to do all sorts on this one.

I'll tell you what, I'm glad I've got my vest on.

We're going right around Iceland in nine adventure-filled days.

From Reykjavik we'll sail clockwise to the cold capital

Isa... Is-af-o... There.

After that, we're going further north to see the whales in Husavik,

then round to another place in the west...

..these islands in the south,

and then right back to where we started.

Hello. Nice to meet you. How you doing?

Welcome on board. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. How are you?

Checking in is through there. Thank you very much. Hello. Hello.

Hi, hello! Hello. Nice to see you all.

Does this happen for everybody? Yes.

Yeah?

With only 100 cabins, this ship's on the small side,

but it's got everything you need -

a lounge, t's got two restaurants, and even an outdoor swimming pool.

Well, you won't catch me jumping in there without me thermals on!

It's got a real sort of cosy feel.

It's just lovely.

And that's the difference with having a smaller ship.

It's a personal thing.

They will know us all by the time we get off here.

See you later. See you later. Have a good sail. Bye!

Coming up, I practice my language skills on the locals.

Su-gan-di-sey... jar-ga-ta.

And I get caught off the hook at the fish market.

That's fascinating. Oh!

I'm on a cruise sailing round Iceland.

This isn't your usual luxury liner, but an expedition experience.

See you later. See you later. Have a good sail. Bye!

I'm off to see my cabin helped, by my wonderful steward, Ray.

All right. Just follow me.

That's it. OK, your cabin is here. Thank you. Please watch the step.

I will. Yes.

Oh, this is lovely!

Oh! Yes. This is your cabin.

I've got a sun bed and fruit and everything.

Look at this! Ooh!

Thank you, Ray.

God, that's a big balcony, isn't it?

Yes. It's only alone for you. Oh, thank you.

And I show you your bathroom.

Watch the step before you enter the bathroom. Yeah. This is nice.

Look at this. Nice big shower.

I mean, you can get two people in this shower.

Ray, get in the shower. Oh, I get in the shower as well?

Yeah. No. OK. Yeah.

So, three people in the shower. Missing one.

That's fab, isn't it? Enjoy your stay with us. I will.

And goodbye. See you every day. Every day and every night!

Let's do it. Thank you! Thank you. Bye-bye. See you later.

Aw! Sweet.

We like soft lighting.

We really like soft lighting.

And then you've got your magnifying mirror there.

All right, none of that, because it's got my wrinkles.

None of that. We're having none of that.

This is one of those ships where you never feel

like you're just part of the crowd.

They even seem to know what your favourite drink is.

You want a cup... a glass of champagne on the way?

Can I offer you...? It'd be rude not to! Is that...? Yeah, champagne.

You see? That's amazing! That's amazing! Yeah! Let's go!

The captain has invited me to join him on the bridge,

and after all the cruises I've been on,

that's still very, very special.

I open the doors a little bit heavy here. Mm-hm.

There's the captain. Hello.

Very nice to meet you. I'm Jane. Come in.

My name is Hans. Hans. Welcome to the bridge.

This is such a big deal!

I'm sailing the ship out of Iceland with the captain.

I'm not taking that, cos I might crash!

Are you warm enough, Captain?

Yes, with a lovely lady like you side by side, I feel very warm.

All right, then, so am I!

Might need a coat, though. Yes... Oh, thank you!

I think you're probably right. Thank you very much, Tomas.

Yes, thank you.

SHIP'S HORN BLASTS Ooh!

SHE LAUGHS Morning!

Wake up, now they know we're going! That's true!

Bye-bye. Bye, Reykjavik.

Oh, I love it. DISTANT VOICE: Captain!

Captain! Bye-bye.

HE CHUCKLES Awww!

I feel like Elizabeth Taylor!

Very nice. Got me fur coat on, I'm on the bridge of a ship...

..with me two handsome officers.

Are you married, Captain? No. No? Not this week?

Not this week. No. THEY ALL LAUGH

It's really fabulous!

And bring your fur coat, cos it's freezing.

We've stopped off on our way up to Isafjordur - phew! -

at a place called... Wait for it...

Stykkisholmur.

Spoken like a native.

I'm here to meet a couple of ladies, Theo and Maesa... Hello!

..who have set up what they call a slow picnic experience.

And what a lovely welcome.

How are you? Good! How are you? Good!

Are you ready for me?

I'm on my way. Bye!

They look really nice, don't they?

Would you like some chocolate?

Oh, wow!

We thought it might be a little cooler,

so we decided to have some chocolate.

Yeah? But then, it's... And some cream.

Oh! THEY LAUGH

Let's load on the calories, girls! Yeah.

That's enough! Cheers! Skal. Cheers! Skal! Skal.

Oh, this is lovely! Thank you very much.

So why do you do this, then?

What started all this off?

We were actually...first we were thinking about what you could do

with four kids. Yeah!

..that wouldn't take up all of her time.

Just... can I stop you there?

Sugandiseyjargata.

Su-gan-di-sey... jar-ga-ta.

I'm nothing if not determined!

Su-gan-di-sey... Yey...

jar-ga-ta.

Su-gan-di-sey... jar-ga-ta.

Yeah, almost! Sugandiseyjargata.

Say it again? Sugandiseyjargata.

Sugandiseyjargata.

Su...so you don't do the G?

"Su-wan"... It's a soft G. Soft G.

It's a... Yeah.

Su-gan-di...

Sugandiseyjargata.

THEY LAUGH

Sss... SHE MUMBLES

Yeah. Forget it. Anyway, we'll walk on. Yeah. Yeah.

Theo and Maesa were inspired by their picturesque surroundings

to create the Slow Picnic,

a relaxing dining experience where you stop and connect with nature.

We go...we were so exhausted. Yes.

You need some mussels? Yes, please. Yes, please.

The best mussels in the area. Just straight from the bay?

You see, straight from the bay. You fished them this morning, right?

Yeah, I fished this morning.

These are very clean mussels?

Yeah, it's clean.

Yeah. And look at the size of them.

Not from the bottom. It's from the rope.

There are ropes that go straight down into the ocean

and they grow...in the bags, no? No, no, no, no, no. No?

SHE LAUGHS

I tell you prefer!

They look stupid, but... ALL LAUGH

So these are full of goodness and they're very good for you?

Very healthy, yes. Very healthy.

I'm glad. They're full of meat now. Full of meat. Yes.

Yeah, this season... They finished having babies.

Uh-huh. That season is finished now,

they only eat and eat for the winter. I say

So they're good. So, big, fat... The big, juicy... Fat and juicy.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fat and juicy mussels!

So we've had hot chocolate and we're going to have a fat, juicy mussel.

Yeah. Yeah! Everything in balance.

Yeah. We like a bit of balance. Yeah! Right, thank you!

SHE SPEAKS ICELANDIC Nice to meet you.

Do you want me to take something, girls?

You take this. OK. I'll take this. Yeah.

And we'll leave the rest here. OK. Yeah. Is it safe?

Yeah. Sure. Fine. We would leave our kid here.

Really? THEY LAUGH

I can't help thinking that a cheese butty and a bag of crisps

would have been a lot easier.

But this is a slow picnic after all.

Hey!

Yeah. Thank you very much.

Lovely. Oh, here comes a ship.

This is pretty cool, isn't it, really?

What a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

You feel right like a local with a genuine taste of Icelandic life.

I feel the peace and the tranquillity

and the beauty and the healing of this amazing island.

I'm eating fresh-caught mussels...

..that have just been cooked on a fire

by two amazingly brilliant girls.

And I feel like I've just stepped out of life for a moment.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Oh, it was so nice having you over. Oh, I've had such a lovely time.

Oh, come here, you. Thank you. The cook, the chef.

THEY LAUGH Thank you. It's just been amazing.

Amazing. And thank you for sharing this part of

your tiny piece of the world with us.

That's what we like to do. Yeah! Yeah. Thank you for coming.

And you have, you've slowed my heart down,

and that's exactly what... Good. That's what we are trying to do.

That's good. Yeah, it's wonderful.

ALL: Bye!

And back on ship, the atmosphere is just as relaxing.

Hello. Hello!

Hi.

Oh, I love this. It's old-fashioned cruising.

It says leave all your dinner jackets at home

and your ball gowns and your high heels.

That's something I've never done,

is left me high heels at home!

I haven't got one pair of stilettos with me.

SHE GASPS

So basically, you put on a pair of jeans,

some comfortable shoes and a coat, and face the day.

Totally alien to me!

But even I can change.

Overnight, we've sailed further north

into the small fishing town of Isafjordur.

Oh, this is good enough...

Fish is so important to Iceland.

In fact, it's the main export.

This tiny town has the best of all.

The stuff they catch here gets sent to the swankiest restaurants

in London, New York, Paris... and our ship!

Hello! Hey! Good morning, Jane. Hello! Tomas here. How are you?

Very well. How are you? Good, thank you...

Now, I don't know much about fish.

What I eat is usually slathered in breadcrumbs or batter

with chips. Ooh, and mushy peas.

But luckily, Tomas, the ship's hotel manager, is an expert.

So this here is my third season here with the ship,

and I think for this season we bought six tonnes of fresh fish.

Six tonnes of fresh fish. Yeah, 6,000 kilo. That's a lot of fish.

So this is the best fish over here? Not over here, in the world.

In the world? Yeah.

They're catching the fish today and tomorrow, it's already in New York.

Yes, one bacalao, one codfish, dried...

Uh-huh. ..hanging there.

Korri? Hey! Hi! Hello! Korri, how are you?

I'm Korri, a local fisherman. Korri. Yeah.

This I got in last night. JANE GASPS

Look at the size of that!

This is what you call a proper cod in Iceland.

Well, you don't get that in your local chippy, do you?

Normal size... I didn't realise that was...

Oh, my goodness me! That's a big fish!

Get it in some batter.

A monkfish.

This we have on the menu tonight. Monkfish. Oh, really?

Yeah. That is... that is an ugly fish, isn't it?

As opposed to a good-looking fish!

I've learned quite a lot, actually.

The fish is a lot bigger, and they can only use 38%.

That's why it's so expensive, because you only actually eat

30% of the fish, and they've all got really big heads,

especially the monkfish.

That's a big head. And the catfish.

I mean, I never knew that they grew teeth once a year

because they eat so much shellfish.

They live off shellfish that, of course,

the teeth have to bite through the shells all the time,

so, you know, every year they grow new teeth.

Oh! SHE LAUGHS

You...you've done that on purpose!

You've put me there.

Catching fish is one thing.

Making a meal out of it is another.

So why have I ended up working?

Back on the boat, I'm going to learn how to prepare a Nordic delicacy.

Hey, Jon, how are you? Hi, Jon. Nice to see you.

Let's see. I hope this size will be OK.

Ah, it is just perfect. Very good.

What's that say?

Jane, Cook Apprentice!

I like that. You like this. You know, I made for you.

Thank you. I feel quite nervous.

I feel like I'm in MasterChef.

Thomas is going to show me how to make gravlax.

And for that, we'll be using some of the fresh salmon picked

up in the harbour.

I shall start. I show you how to make it.

We take this in your hand, take a little bit and you go like this.

More, more, more. Don't be scared.

You need a lot of salt to get ferment.

More, more, more.

So what actually is gravlax?

Gravlax is a fresh roe salmon.

But only it's not cooked, it's completely raw.

But it gets the process now from the salt and the sugar.

This is a completely different taste to smoked salmon then?

Completely. Much better. Now we put the same in sugar.

More, more, more. OK. I can see you have a lot of practice already.

All I'm doing is sprinkling, Thomas.

Sprinkling is not cooking, is it?

This is more decorating.

No, no, this is what it is.

This is the easy one. Now we're taking the dill.

I love dill.

Is that it? That's it finished. Oh, my God.

We put it on top od each other now like this

and then that is it finished.

Nothing to do. Perfect. I can make that no problem.

This goes in the fridge.

Just in the fridge?

I like the fact that I've been able to get dressed up in this outfit

and I'm even had a badge

made for me - assistant chef.

Apprentice.

All right. Apprentice. Apprentice.

Coming up, I set my pulse racing with a hot dip.

This is lovely.

And get fully togged up to catch a close up with some

of the local inhabitants.

I'm on a cruise round the entire coast of Iceland.

A majestic island full of natural wonders.

All the rolling hills and rugged coastlines in Iceland

have been caused by volcanoes,

all erupting over thousands of years.

They've not only shaped the land,

they're still producing energy that's used for everything,

from heating homes to lighting streets.

That same energy even provides the heat for one

of Iceland's ancient traditions -

a spot of outdoor bathing,

whatever the weather.

"Bathing outside in naturally heated water is part of Icelandic life.

"They're considered exceedingly therapeutic,

"but it might just kill you getting to one."

It's freezing up here.

You're going to make me do it, aren't you?

You're going to make me strip off.

Shall we just not bother?

Northern Iceland's answer to the popular Blue Lagoon

are the mineral-rich Myvatn Baths.

The water gets heated as it comes up through the Earth,

and it's like a warm, relaxing hug, apparently.

It flipping better be.

I'm rocking it, aren't I?

I'm going in, then.

There's still no get-out clause, eh?

Ahh!

Oh, this is lovely.

This is gorge.

Oh, this is bliss.

The water here can reach 40 degrees -

perfect for a soothing soak.

It's red hot. It's brilliant.

So brilliant in fact that I've even forgotten the smell.

You know when you open some egg sandwiches,

it were like that but about 100 times.

The worst thing is getting from the changing room

actually in here, that is the worst experience, probably,

I'm going to have on this holiday.

But once you're in here, ooh, it's so good!

And if you come to Iceland, you've just got to come here

because you're never going to find anything like this anywhere else

in the world.

Well, apart from New Zealand, but that's flippin' miles away.

It's blowing a gale, it's freezing cold,

but in here it's like a nice warm bath. I've got a glass of red wine.

Life don't get any better, does it, really?

So I'm off now to find myself a little spot.

I'll see you later.

Cheers.

Iceland is just as famous for its lagoons as it is for one

of its famous residents - Santa Claus.

Nice to meet you, I'm Jane.

I'm Margram. How are you? Good, thank you.

So excited.

It's never too late or too early to get into the festive mood

in my book. What a fabulous shop.

Oh, it smells like Christmas.

It is Christmas. It's Christmas.

Yes. Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas to you.

Oh, my God, it's beautiful.

So you get to do this all year round. Yeah.

Aw. Do you have little elves that help you?

Yes. Yeah. Two small ones. Two small elves.

That's nice.

What's this? It's our Christmas meat.

Christmas meat? Yeah.

Food is important too. Yeah. That's a big...

You know, you have to have good food at Christmas.

Is that right? Yeah. If you smell it...

Oh, God, it's smoked. Yeah.

It's the smell of Icelandic Christmas.

That's what Icelandic...

If Iceland people want to have Christmas smell...

It's this. What is it?

It's lamb. Lamb.

It has been salted and smoked.

OK. Do I eat this? Yeah.

Smoked lamb.

I'd never have thought of that. Nice, isn't it?

In Christmas time we boiled it.

This is unboiled. This is unboiled.

And most people boiler it late in the evening on 23. Yeah.

And then the strong smoke will go around the house, it's Christmas.

And then we eat it cold on 25.

Wow. And then we have this special bread.

Yeah. It's called laufa bread.

And it's our family recipe.

Yes. But here we make it all year round so people

can have a taste of bread.

OK. This we have with this meat.

Mmm. Crunchy?

It's like crisps, potato chips.

People use everything from the sea.

And it's fried in the fat from a sheep.

That tastes really good.

And this meat is smoked with dried sheep...

Say that again! Yeah.

This meat is smoked

with a dried sheep...

In the old days we use this to warm up the house.

Well, it comes in handy. Yes.

And this meat and fish and everything

was hanging in the roof and the smoke go up. Yeah.

And smoke the meat.

Can I have some more bread? Yeah.

Well, I think I'll stick to me roast turkey dinner, thanks.

As you'd expect, lots of "Dear Santa" letters find their way

up here and I've been allowed to have a sneak peek.

"Dear Icelandic Santa, we came here on our honeymoon and got a sweet

"ornament with our first Christmas together on it.

"Hopefully next year you maybe could bring us one for our tree

"that says 'Baby's first Christmas.' "

I like the idea that it's an adult

who is right into Santa.

"Hello, Santa. My name is Jennifer.

"Your place looks very nice.

"I just wanted to let you know I don't need anything this Christmas.

"But if you could send my friend Aneka a nice man in his early 50s...

"..I will be so happy.

"It's probably best if he is tall, dark and handsome."

What she's missed off there -

tall, dark and handsome with a kind heart.

That's what you need.

Well, fingers crossed

Aneka gets something naughty and nice this Christmas.

Seems a shame to leave.

But that's cruising for you.

Another day, another port.

This morning we're in Husavik...

..a small town with some big residents.

OVER LOUDSPEAKER: The whale-watching excursion will shortly be departing

from the dockside. Don't forget your cruise cards,

and enjoy your whale-watching.

Got everything? Yeah, I think so.

And we're off, whale-watching.

Husavik is the whale-watching capital of Iceland,

and the chance to see them in the wild is what makes

this cruise so unique.

Hello. Morning. Good morning.

This is early.

This is really early.

It's great, I'm on an excursion today with all the rest of the

passengers, and you're sharing the same experiences. It's great.

Getting up on a morning, that's an experience!

It's like being on a school trip.

To see the whales, we've got to go out towards the Arctic Circle.

It's going to be right parky,

so we have to wrap up.

I'm so hot. So hot!

And I also have gloves, goggles, and the life jackets.

Oh, are you joking? I've to put more on?

I can hardly walk.

I'm supposed to be a glamorous TV presenter.

That's what my job is, isn't it?

Hmm...

Well, I'm kitted up and I'm ready for action.

Bring on the whales.

All right.

Welcome aboard. Thank you very much. Just anywhere?

In the front it's more bouncy.

To the back it's more stable.

Bye.

Here we go!

JANE LAUGHS

It's just a different experience, this, completely.

I mean, I'm out here on a speedboat dressed like a Teletubby,

but it's an adventure, isn't it?

And it's great.

So we are looking for whales.

Now, it's a little game we play with them every day called whale-waiting.

Whale-waiting. Not whale-watching.

Whale-waiting.

There's over 20 different species of whales in the sea around here.

So surely we'll see one.

There. And it's on our left side.

We'll be moving now.

Number 11.

What? Where?

There.

SHE LAUGHS

There she blows!

Ooh, look at that!

Ha-ha!

Oh, wow, look at that!

Isn't it exciting?!

I'm glad you're as excited as me!

Look. CAMERAMAN: That's better than any shots I got.

Well, I'm not one to cause trouble, but you need Donna on camera.

No disrespect.

And up. 12, 1...

It's more than one whale now.

Woo-ho-ho!

Oh, my God, it's... It's... Oh...

This is not every day.

Oh, there's three. Three.

They're like buses.

You don't see one, then four come along at once.

Who knew?

Oh, my God.

That was worth...

..everything, to just come on this trip, just to see that.

I didn't think I'd be this excited about seeing whales.

It gets you right here because...

It's... It's just amazing.

Look at this setting. We've got millpond sea today,

we've got blue skies, and we've got four whales coming out to play.

It's just amazing.

I've been blessed today. Blessed.

Coming up, I have a front row seat on a night to remember.

Oh, look!

One of the best things about cruising -

you go to bed and you wake up somewhere completely new,

ready for the next adventure.

And that's certainly what this simple cruise is all about.

Today, we've docked in Seydisfjordur.

Good morning, Jane. Good morning.

Come out here. Come out here and see this lovely view.

We're in Seydisfjor...

Seydisfjor...

We're on the east coast of Iceland.

Just look, look at this.

It's just beautiful, isn't it?

This is where people all chill and have a cup of coffee

on a morning.

And this morning...

..it's all mine, so I'm going to chill.

But I must stress that this weather

is a freak.

Usually in Iceland at this time of year

it's between 6-8 degrees.

Today is between 19-21.

It's like the summer of 1976,

for those who remember it.

I was obviously only three at the time but it was a lovely time.

Very hot, if I remember, and it's just like that here.

It's gorgeous. There's not a cloud in the sky.

I'm having a relaxing day today,

after all the adrenaline of yesterday,

going out on that amazing whale-watching.

So I might have a trip out in the town

cos it looks a little lovely town.

There must be a shop out there somewhere,

and if there is, I'll find it.

After I finish me brew, though.

If you visit this part of the island in winter, you may only get

about five hours of daylight,

but come in the summer

and there can be nearly 24 hours of sun.

Look at the colours of these houses.

I never thought corrugated iron could look so nice.

It's what you put on your garage roof, isn't it?

But look how nice it is.

That is just your dream house.

You thinking of giving up the bright lights of Wakey and coming to settle here?

Nothing will take me away from Wakey.

But I'd come here for the summer,

but that's just a bit extravagant, isn't it?

There's nowt wrong with a caravan in Brid.

Now, I do love a bit of retail therapy.

So where's the shops, before me card burns a hole in my pocket?

Hi. Hey. How are you? I'm good. How are you today?

Really well. And yourself? I'm good. Good.

The sun is shining. Couldn't be better.

Oh, I like that.

Maybe not.

It's really nice, that.

But it's SO expensive!

Ed, look away now.

I'm going in for another purchase.

Can I get you to wrap those up?

Thank you.

It's very much like Wakefield.

It is? Yeah.

No. You've got the wow factor here.

Yeah. Can you say the name of the place again?

It's Seydisfjordur.

Seydis...

..fjordur. Yeah.

We love it when you have a go.

Yeah. Yeah. What do I say goodbye?

Vertu saell. Vertu saell!

Thank you. Takk fyrir.

Takk... Whatever.

SHE LAUGHS Yeah. Bye!

Bless bless.

Oh, is this a shop?

This is somebody's house.

Are we allowed.

Oh, it's a shop. Hello.

Is this a shop? It is, you're welcome to come in.

Oh, thank you very much.

It's a living room store. It's a living room store? Why not?

Hello, I'm Jane.

Hi, I'm Artna. Sorry, say it again. Artna.

Something to practise for the day.

Artna. Yeah. OK. I've heard worse.

Artna. I like that. Yeah. Yeah.

I like it, too.

That helps, doesn't it? Yeah, it does. When people...

Oh, please show me in. After you.

After you. Oh, thank you. Open.

So here we are. Welcome to my living room store.

This is fantastic. A living room store.

Yes.

Oh, lovely.

So do you import all this? It's mostly from Reykjavik. Reykjavik.

Yeah. So different designers and top clothing designers in Iceland.

It's a bold statement, but they're quite famous.

Yeah, quite known.

And just different.

How long have you had this?

It was supposed to be a pop up store for three months last summer.

Yeah. And now I think 15 months old.

Wow. So it's not just a pop up any more.

No, it changed somewhere down the lane.

Yeah. So here I am still.

So it's been fun and I meet all kinds of people.

And it's just, it's so much fun. Yeah.

I love that you just open your front room up and there's your shop.

Mm-hmm, a living room store.

This is fabulous. Yeah. This is Philip.

He lives here as well.

He has a store, but he, he's been sick.

So I have a few of his scarves here and they're so nice. Yeah.

So all of us here, we have like two or three of them almost.

So. Yeah. Can you put one on and let me see?

Yeah, of course.

Well, maybe you want to try one.

Can I like see you in it first?

Is that all right? Yes, that's absolutely fine.

So you can wear it like this.

Uh-huh. I wear mine like...

I double it up because we do get snow sometimes

and it's kind of cosy and nice and warm. That's good.

And then you can also have it...

..so it can be over the head.

That's a good idea when it's cold. It is kind of nice.

It's really nice.

So it's perfect.

That's a good colour. Icelandic wool. Icelandic wool.

Sheep is massively important in Iceland, isn't it?

It is. Everything I see has got something to do with the sheep.

Yeah. Yeah. This is Icelandic wool. This is Icelandic wool.

You eat a lot of lamb here.

We do. We do. And they're free-range.

So they just walk around, they're happy little things. Yeah.

Yeah. They're treated quite well.

So it's all organic and...? Yeah. Yeah. It is, it is.

Thank you. I'm going to have a look round the town and have a look. Yeah, of course.

Lovely to meet you. Same to you. Enjoy your stay. You're so nice.

Thank you. Enjoy your stay. Always welcome.

OK, and your dad's lovely. Yeah, he's fine as well. He's OK.

JANE LAUGHS

The captain's told us that tonight we might just see the most fabulous

sight in this part of the world - the northern lights,

or aurora borealis if you watch University Challenge.

That's why we're all out and about on deck, freezing our boots off

and hoping to get a glimpse.

So this is such an exciting night.

I can't even tell you how exciting it is to see the northern lights.

What everybody talks about

and what this trip... The ultimate thing would happen on this trip

is to see them.

They are there, they're just waiting to come out to say hello to us all.

I'm excited!

Yes!

They've even switched all the lights off on the ship so that we can see

this so much better.

Oh, wow. Yeah. Look.

There they are, look.

Woohoo!

Oh, here it comes. Look at that.

Look at that!

Oh, look at that one. Look. Look.

Oh...

Oh, God! They're up here as well.

They're absolutely amazing.

The dancing clouds of light are created when particles

from the sun hit gases in the Earth's atmosphere.

Well, it says here.

Different gases cause all kinds of different colours,

with the most common being a green wave caused by oxygen.

Right, lesson over.

Now, you wouldn't normally catch me dead out in the freezing cold,

but this is just too good to miss.

Oh, that's better.

Ooh-hoo!

Oh, that's... Oh, that's heaven.

Thanks, Jon.

Right, I'm ready for night now.

Get me a flask and I'm here for night.

Oh, good grief.

Look at that.

You know, when you see nature at its finest...

..it-it fair makes you feel humble.

How lucky are we to be here

and seeing all this, Jon?

I mean, it's...it's amazing.

The next leg of our cruise takes us around the rugged south coast,

to Vestmannaeyjar, just here.

This collection of 15 teeny tiny islands is home

to just a few thousand people,

dozens of volcanoes and one of my favourite types of bird.

"These islands are the largest puffin colony of Europe.

"Puffins are monogamous, and mate for life." Mm.

"Male puffins are the homemakers, and every year return to the same

"burrow to prepare it for the arrival of their mate."

I'm definitely related to puffins!

"When the female puffin arrives, the male puffin waits outside

"the burrow while she goes in to inspect it.

"If she comes out and it's bad news,

"her mate has to go back and do a better job."

Just do it right the first time,

and then you're in for a bit of action.

SHE LAUGHS

"They share a room until she's with egg.

"Couples have one chick, known as a puffling, a year.

"Both parents are involved in rearing the puffling."

I love puffins.

I really love puffins.

Every year, thousands of the little ones got lost in-land,

having been lured by the bright lights.

Well, we've all been there.

Luckily, the local children come to the rescue.

They collect up all the baby birds,

and bring them here to puffin HQ.

Right.

I'm going in.

Are you ready?

Coming up, I give my favourite feathered friends a helping hand.

Woo!

I'm cruising round Iceland, and today I'm visiting a rescue centre

that helps one of my favourite birds, the puffin.

Hello. Hi, your name?

Gudrun. Gudrun? Yes. Gudrun.

This is an orphan?

Uh, yes, yes. Aw.

He's here... Well, he's six years old.

And he has been here most of his life, really.

He was probably a week in the wild.

And the reason that he's here is because he was abandoned

in the puffin colony

since he is born about six weeks late, or hatching six weeks late.

So what happens, then?

Do they just...? Do the parents just think,

"This is a late baby, I'm leaving it, I'm going"? Yeah.

And the parents leave the children often.

Well, all the time they leave them,

and then they leave when they get hungry.

So when his parents left him, he was only about a third of the size

and weight he had to be. To survive? Yes. Yeah.

Because they go out at sea and are for a few years at sea.

And he was still all covered in down and just only about a third

of the size and weight he had to be.

So you're like foster parents... Yes. ..for little baby pufflings?

Yeah? Yes, we are a rescue centre

and we try to release all of the birds that we get here.

We don't only get puffins, we get kittiwakes,

we get guillemots and a lot of other birds. Uh-huh.

And he is just here because this is his best chance of living.

So this is the girlfriend. Yeah.

You can see that teenagers are not kind to puffins

as they are not kind to kids.

So she looks a bit rough.

She don't at all. ..but she is still very beautiful.

So next year, she... I don't think she looks rough.

Why do you think she looks rough?

She just looks a bit torn around this bit.

Really? It's fine, it's just because she's three.

I think it adds character, love. Yeah. Don't give her a complex.

So she is still very beautiful, though.

I think she's very beautiful.

Do you want to jump? Ey up. Oh!

THEY LAUGH

That's it, girlfriend's here, mate.

Let's hope that they do the greeting.

No! It's like, "I'm too tired."

She is a bit more petite than he is. Yeah.

And also she is a bit more active than he is. Really?

As in...? She is

probably not very popular amongst the other puffins we have

because she is always trying to get the party started. Really?

And everybody is trying to just chill.

And she just wants everybody to play along with her.

She's like the Pink

of the puffin world.

Yeah, kinda!

It's puffin' great here,

and right on cue there's another delivery.

Hello. What you got?

So this is what happens - the little ones go and rescue them?

So this puffling is number 179 that they have rescued.

You're a chief rescue puffin person.

Where did you find it? Near the harbour. Near the harbour? Yeah.

It comes at night, when they see the light from the street

and they think the reflection is the ocean. Ah.

So they mistake it and land on the street instead.

Oh, bless them.

Oh, look!

The best way to hold it is like this. Yeah, OK.

Just around the wings.

And then they can't scratch you or bite. Hello.

Little puffin.

A little puffin.

Oh, he doesn't like it. He doesn't like it, he doesn't like it.

This one is a very calm one.

Very calm.

They're either like this or absolutely crazy.

There's no in-between.

So now we're going to weigh it.

The puffins are inspected... 235.

And then we take the wing.

So it's kind of like the elbow. Uh-huh.

141.

..then photographed.

How cute is that?

THEY SPEAK ICELANDIC

Yeah, back in your box.

VOICE-OVER: And made ready to go back to their natural home.

I'm going to release this puffin into the wild now.

Hello.

Aw.

It's quite sad.

I bet it quite likes it in there. Look. Can you see?

Aw. I know!

That's my little puffin friend.

Probably, you know, one of me offspring.

That's great. Look at them go.

So this is a pastime of yours, then?

This puffin is number 179 that my family catches this year. Wow.

That's a lot of puffins. Yeah.

Gosh. Flipping heck. It's cold!

This puffin doesn't want to come out of this box.

JANE LAUGHS

I never expected to be releasing puffins to the wild

in my trip to Iceland, with a beautiful Icelandic family.

We ought to call them the Puffin Rescuers.

Welcome to Puffin Rescue on Channel 5.

Whee!

Is there a special technique for releasing them?

People usually do this technique here.

You put your hands underneath her wings... That's it.

..give them a bit of a warm up...

Yeah. ..and do this.

Yeah. Are you ready?

OK.

One, two, three.

Woo!

Look at that, it's gone! Look!

It's gone, it's gone, it's flying like a really good bird.

Oh, that was so exhilarating!

I was so worried that it was just going to go...

You know, and then splat.

And it didn't, it just went whoosh!

It flew.

It did everything. Its little wings were going and it flew over there.

Oh, I'm a proud parent. I've let it go.

I've let it go. Thank you for that.

Oh, you're welcome. Thank you.

Coming up, another ancient Icelandic tradition,

involving sheep, sheep...

..and more sheep.

It's like being on a motorbike!

My cruise around Iceland is nearly over,

and it's turned out to be one to remember.

This trip is all about going from adventure to adventure,

and we've certainly done that.

And before we head back to Reykjavik,

the crew have told me to get me wellies on.

That's always a worry.

Apparently, my help's needed at something called a rettir -

a traditional gathering of local farmers and about 1,000 of these.

In summer, all the farmers here send their sheep off to the mountains

to graze freely.

Then, as the winter sets in, they will need to be rounded up

and brought back to the farm.

Oh, my God. Here they come.

They're here. Woo!

There's about twice as many sheep as people in Iceland.

So this job is never going to be easy.

Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God!

So, friends, family and even up-for-it tourists like me

come together to lend the farmers a hand.

Can I come in, too? Yeah, come in.

This is just like...

There's sheep everywhere!

Did you see that one?!

Did you see that then?

THEY LAUGH

I'm being rammed!

Is that a word? Have I just made that up?

Ooh!

SHE LAUGHS

Sorry.

Oh...

This is not my natural habitat.

The lovely thing about this is that the people aren't just rounding

up their own sheep,

they're doing it for each other - very Icelandic.

Luckily, all the animals are tagged,

so all you need to do is match the sheep to the pen.

Take that one. Yeah.

And we just have to read this marking. This is 312.

Yeah. And then we have on the other side here 14... 14R2.

That will be...

I saw it over there somewhere.

JANE LAUGHS

I can't do it!

Hold the horns. So it's like a motorbike? Yeah.

Hold really... You have to grip really good around the horns.

All right. Ah!

Step with the right one over. That one? Yeah.

And put them together. Yeah.

Now we walk it over here.

OK.

Hey!

It's like being on a motorbike!

Oh!

JANE LAUGHS

Oi! HE SPEAKS ICELANDIC

I'm not sure the farming life's for me.

I've only done one and I'm flagging.

Well done.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

SHE PANTS

So how was it? It was...

We don't need to go to the gym today. No.

I've done a workout. Yeah.

I've done a workout there, yeah.

Does it not hurt them? Does it not hurt them?

It doesn't hurt them. No.

If you hold the horns, you're just like holding the...

I mean, they use them to ram each other,

so they are really strong there. OK.

You can also take them by the wool. Yeah. That doesn't hurt them either.

It's just like when you take a puppy up.

I see. The skin doesn't... It doesn't hurt them at all.

That's what we're afraid of is hurting them, isn't it? Yeah.

But they really are tough animals, they've survived Iceland 1,000 years.

Yeah. The harsh nature, bad weathers and all that kind of...

They're pretty tough. ..bad things happening to them.

Yeah. So they're really tough.

They're tough, tough sheep. Even if they get buried in snow,

they will survive for several weeks underneath the snow. Really?

They will just live off the fat that they have. Gosh.

So they are quite tough little...? Really tough.

I don't feel so bad now!

I don't feel too bad.

I love that every single family

from everywhere around here comes together.

Everybody seems genuinely so pleased to see each other.

It's a real good community, and everybody's out here for the

same thing - to get the sheep in for the winter.

How you feeling? I'm feeling exhilarated. And...

I think it's the fresh air.

It's the... It's so cold, but it's fresh...and you feel like

you're doing something really worthwhile.

You know? It's exciting.

You know, Iceland is just the country

that keeps on giving and giving.

It's...It's just amazing.

And it's not just the island itself and how brutal it can be,

and so beautiful at the same time,

but it's the people. The people here have such big, warm hearts.

And, trust me, you need that on an island as cold as this!

So, right. One, two, three.

Good. I don't have to sit on it.

Don't forget you plugs.

I came for an adventure,

and I've definitely had one on here.

So it's been everything it says on the chocolate box tin.

Ooh!

It's been full of adventure.

I've seen whales, I've seen the northern lights.

Look at that one! Look!

It's just been mystical, magical and wonderful.

It's also been one of the most peaceful places I've ever been to.

Ain't that right, Bjork?

Sh.

# It's oh, so quiet

# Sh, sh

# It's oh, so still

# Sh, sh

# You're all alone

# Sh, sh

# And so peaceful until

# You fall in love

# Zing, boom

# The sky up above

# Zing, boom

# Is caving in

# Wow, bam

# You've never been so nuts about a guy

# You want to laugh You want to cry

# You crossed your heart and hope to die

# Till it's over

# And then

# Sh, sh

# It's nice and quiet

# Sh, sh

# But soon again

# Sh, sh

# Starts another big riot

# You blow a fuse

# Zing, boom

# The devil cuts loose

# Zing, boom

# So what's the use

# Of falling in love?

# The sky caves in

# The devil cuts loose

# You blow, blow, blow, blow, blow your fuse

# Ahh!

# When you fall in love. #

Sh.

OK? Yeah, thank you. Thank you.

Coming out. Yeah.

Here we are.

What?

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