Paddling the ungainly plastic kayaks was awkward at first, but we soon got the hang of it. The first few minutes they felt tippy and we took it slowly, moving across a wide flat inlet, with the wind and current behind our backs. The way narrowed to a series of braided streams only wide enough for one or two kayaks. We had no visible guide, but the current only seemed to go one direction, so we just kept paddling. The wind threatened to push us around a bit, and some of the group decided to turn around and paddle back towards the staging area.

Gaining confidence in the boats, we forged ahead, looking for sea birds and nests in the tall grass. Occasionally, the group got bottlenecked at a narrow turn in the stream, and once, Trevor Hewes flipped his boat over and got a bit of a soaking. We didn't see a lot of birds, although Iceland has many sea bird colonies, especially on the coastal cliffs. Gannets, guillemots, razorbills, puffins have huge colonies, and other birds, such as ducks, rock ptarmigans, whooping swans, owls and auks also populate the island.

The lagoon nears the waters edge and the manmade seawall

We brought our boats ashore after an hour or so of aquatic fun at a rocky spot where the stream fed into the harbor. Assistance from the kayak crew soon got everyone back into the Jeeps for a short ride to our lobster feast in Stokkseyri.