I have been told that the container is now damaged and the log sheet is very wet! I would be very grateful if somebody could put a new container in place with a fresh piece of paper as I cannot do this myself, living as I do in the UK. I would be happy to send a replacement container to anyone who helps out and I always mention people who are helpful "maintainers" in the cache listing. Hoping someone reads this before they go searching for the cache!
I HAD BEEN TOLD PART OF THIS CLIFF (ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE LOOKING OUT) HAS A DEEP CRACK IN IT AND MIGHT BE IN DANGER OF FALLING INTO THE SEA AND IN AUGUST 2018 IT SEEMS THE CLIFF HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR SAFETY REASONS, SO ALAS YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ENJOY VISITING THE ORIGINAL CACHE PLACEMENT.
I first saw Gannets (Sula bassana) diving on St Kilda in summer 1966 (and so must have been one of the few people in the UK missed England’s World Cup victory as they didn’t even have decent radio reception in the Mallaig region back then. How times have changed in the last 45 years!)
Eldey is the third largest breeding area for gannets after St Kilda and Bass Rock so if you go to this cache you may well see these magnificent white birds plummeting into the sea after fish, although the island is further offshore than some of the local maps suggest and was only barely visible on the blustery day I was there.
If you see Pinguinus impennis it will be a real “red letter day” (and will probably indicate you’ve had too much to drink!) as the last one was killed near here in July 1844.
Not one of Iceland’s greatest moments, I fear, condemning the Great Auk to everlasting extinction! The colony on Eldey had nearly 50 birds present when it was initially discovered in 1835. Unfortunately it was accessible from a single side and museums, desiring the skins of the auk for preservation and display, quickly began collecting birds from the colony. The last pair, found incubating an egg, were killed there by 3 men who probably didn’t realise what they were doing. Jón Brandsson and Sigurður Ísleifsson strangled the two adults and Ketill Ketilsson smashed the egg with his boot! The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has accepted that a live individual was sighted in 1852 off Newfoundland but without a mate to breed with the fate of the species was inevitable.
Whatever bird life you see, the cache should be dead easy to find but take care as the site is often extremely windy and there are sheer cliffs nearby. On a windy day the Atlantic breakers and flying foam can be really impressive regardless of whether you see the ‘Super Sulas’ diving but please take care with the cliffs nearby.
Thanks to Dave and Gary Bradshaw aka Team Polarbear and Papoosky there are now 2 caches in the vicinity. As it was blowing 70 miles an hour when they visited, they thought that only somebody who was nuts would place a cache at N 63° 48.684 W 022° 42.793 and so hid the replacement cache they promised me they would set up in a safer spot amongst lava rocks almost directly in line with the path down from the hill.
As "the nutter" who placed the original cache at the top of the cliff (it was only gusting 30pmh when I was there!) and with the experience of hind-sight I have to admit that their hide is much more sensible (though maybe not so much fun!) so I have altered the co-ordinates to the safer position.
If the wind is not at a dangerous level, you might like to go up to N 63° 48.684 W 022° 42.793 where the cache was initially hidden but this is no longer recommended as the cliff is now in a dangerous condition.
The new cache is a regular clip & lock box.
Also a huge THANK YOU to XARIFA (of Viking) for performing some maintenance in June 2018. When they found the box was broken and the logs were so wet that it was impossible to sign they removed the old pot and left a new purple tube with a fresh log in place. Muchas gracias amigos!