Iceland

July 3, 2019

Our last day in Iceland

We left our accommodation at the Borgarnes HI Hostel after breakfast this morning.

It is hard to believe that this is our last day in Iceland. Although we always knew that we had a full itinerary planned for this trip, it has been great. We managed to see all the sights and places we wanted to see.

Today we had one planned activity, as we had to be at the Keflavík airport just after 2pm to return our car. By the way, if any of you following our blog are intending to visit Iceland in the near future, I would recommend hiring a 4WD to do this adventure. I can also recommend the Blue Car rental company. Our car was a Kia Sportage 4WD, a nice medium size car.

Our stop for today was the Viking Museum, which is very close to Keflavík airport. This museum has a lot of information about the Vikings and their travels, with a focus on Leifur Eiriksson and his landing in North America, 500 years before Christopher Columbus.

The centrepiece of the museum is the Islendingur, a replica Viking boat, which was built in Iceland and sailed to New York in 2000, in commemoration of Eiriksson’s voyage 1000 years ago. You can walk on to the boat and imagine what it was like to be sailing on a boat like that so many years ago.

Another great end to our time in Iceland.

July 2, 2019

Exploring West Iceland

We left our accommodation at the post office in Grundarfjordur after breakfast this morning.

We are travelling around the Western region of Iceland today. Our first stop was at the Hraunfossar and Barnafoss waterfalls. Although these two waterfalls are adjacent, they are very different. Barnafoss is a more powerful and short waterfall, whilst Hraunfossar stretches wide over nearly a kilometre. These waterfalls are very photogenic, so took a lot of photos here. We were amazed by the stupidity of people crossing over the safety barriers to pose for photos.

The next stop was at the tiny hamlet of Reykholt, which was the home of Snorri Sturlusson, who was a 12th century historian. The place has a hotel and a cultural centre. Across the highway we discovered that there was a natural hot stream at the local service station.

Following these visits we went to see Deildartunguhver, which is Europe’s largest hot spring. The water here is pumped to two nearby coastal town to heat the houses and provide hot water. A lot of steam, bubbling, spluttering and the smell of sulphur in the air.

Next to this spring is the Krauma natural geothermal baths, where we spent a very relaxing couple of hours. Krauma has five hot baths and one cold bath, steam baths, and a relaxation room with reclining lounges, soothing music, and an open fireplace.

We reached our accommodation in Borgarnes late in the afternoon. We briefly explored this town and later had dinner at the Settlement Centre.

A lot of great highlights today. See some more photos from today’s journey here: https://adobe.ly/3211mjr

Another great day in Iceland.

June 30, 2019

Visiting the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, Iceland

We left Holmavik after breakfast, which we had at the hotel this morning.

Our destination today is the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, another wonderful Icelandic region.

Our first stop was at the south coast of Iceland’s Snæfellsnes peninsula at a place called Budir. This place is a village with only a hotel and a tiny black church called the Búðakirkja. Whilst the hamlet of Búðir doesn’t sound like much, especially when compared to Snæfellsjökull, the dormant ice-capped volcano looming nearby, what Búðir lacks in infrastructure it more makes up for in its surreal, dreamlike landscape, epitomised by the singular Búðakirkja. Búðir sits within the Búðahraun lava field, an expansive environment of torn-up earth that has grown over with grassy flora. One could easily imagine creatures from folktales living amongst the jagged rock formations and in the deep holes that have formed here.

We then kept on driving to the town of Arnarstapi, one of the many pretty small fishing villages dotted along the Snaefellsnes peninsula. We had lunch at this place today. We also stopped at the town of Hellnar, which sits only a few minutes drive from Arnarstapi. Hellnar used to be one of the largest fishing stations in the Snaefellsnes peninsula many years ago. Now Hellnar has a hotel, a restaurant and a café, as tourism is the main source of income and employment for this village.

We also stopped by the visitors centre for the Snaefellsnes peninsula area in Malarrif opposite the lighthouse.

Afterwards we booked into a cave tour. We visited the Vatnshellir lava cave, which is situated within the Snæfellsjökull National Park. This tour is called “the first steps in the Journey to the Centre of the Earth”, and we descended 35 metres underground. This was a very interesting and worthwhile activity. Pam and I enjoyed this tour very much.

Afterwards we visited the Dritvik area. Dritvík is a place with a beautiful landscape and rich history. Today it is difficult to imagine that Dritvík was one of the largest fishing stations in Iceland for centuries. The first settler in Dritvík was the half-man / half troll Bárður Snæfellsás. On the beach, we saw several spectacular rock formations in addition to the beautiful pebble stones. One of the rocks dividing the cove is Bárðarskip (Bárður’s Vessel), and another one is Tröllakirkja (The Troll’s Church).

We then walked to Djúpalónssandur or the Black Lava Pearl Beach. This is like stepping into a lava wonderland. The road that we travelled to reach Dritvik and Djúpalónssandur is cut through a lava field with huge lava formations. There is a peculiar rock here with a hole in it, called Gatklettur. Through the hole, you can see Snæfellsjökull glacier.

On the beach, we saw iron pieces from the British trawler, The Epine GY7, which was wrecked east of Dritvík cove on the night of 13th March 1948. Fourteen men lost their lives and five were saved by the Icelandic rescue team.

On exiting the lava field, we reached the black Lava pearl beach, as the whole beach is made of small black smooth pebbles called Djúpalónsperlur – Pearls of Djúpalón.

We then drove through a number of fishing villages prior to reaching our destination in Grundarfjorour. Just outside the town, we stopped at the beautiful Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall. This is situated near the base of Kirkjufell mountain, which is one of Iceland’s most photogenic mountains.

The wind was blowing and therefore the temperature felt colder than it really was, nevertheless we needed our hats and jackets to somehow stay warm.

Our hotel in Grundarfjordur used to be a post office, and it still has the old safe inside. We even got a room upgrade and have views of the sea and Kirkjufell mountain.

A lot of great highlights today. See some more photos from today’s journey here: https://adobe.ly/2NoZr4N

Another great day in Iceland.

June 29, 2019

Visiting the Westfjords, Iceland

We left Akureyri this morning on the way to the Westfjords area in north west Iceland.

This day although not a long driving day, it proved to be a challenging drive as a result of the road conditions.

Our first stop was at the new Church at Blönduós, a very striking building. The information board in front of the church gave the following details: the church’s architecture was the idea of a local architect from a nearby farm who drew her inspirations from the surrounding landscape, including volcanic craters.

Afterwards, we headed to see another church, but this time was a very old church. Þingeyrakirkja church is not only a beautiful church but one of the oldest in Iceland. It is located at Þingeyrar in North-Iceland by Húnafjörður bay. At Þingeyrar the first monastery in Iceland was erected in 1133. It stood here until the Reformation in 1550. Þingeyraklaustur monastery was well known for its literature, which was written down on parchment in the years 1100-1300.

After the visit to this church we headed further north to see Hvitserkur a natural rock formation – referred by some, as the Troll of North Iceland. This natural monument is situated on the Vatnsnes peninsula in North-West Iceland, some 50 meters offshore. This rock is a 15 meter high monolith or sea-stack, an eroded volcanic dyke. It looks like an animal of some sort, an elephant or a rhino; or even a dinosaur drinking. The legend goes that Hvítserkur is a petrified troll. The troll lived in Strandir in the Wesfjords and wanted to tear down the bells at Þingeyraklaustur convent. The Icelandic trolls are not Christian and don’t like the sound or sight of churches or church-bells. Coming down the steep cliff I nearly fell down, as it was very slippery. Pam being more cautious used the longer way to come down to the beach.

After this site, we stopped for a short break for coffee, at a local café.

We then headed towards our destination at Holmavik. The road and scenery was striking, although very different than the other areas we have visited so far. One can see that the winters in this area of Iceland would be very harsh. One point of interest in this part of the coast, is the large amount of drift wood found by the shoreline. This wood apparently comes from Siberia in Russia.

We reached Holmavik just after 4 pm. There is a festival in town today, so many people are in the port area celebrating.

We ate at a local restaurant recommended by our guide book. The place was full, as many of the locals also had decided to come to have dinner at this restaurant , following today’s festivities. Lucky we were there early on, and got a table. The pizza was great and also huge. The beer wasn’t bad either.

A lot of great highlights today. See some more photos from today’s journey here:

https://adobe.ly/2NikWUO

Another great day in Iceland.

June 29, 2019

Akureyri, Iceland day 2

The plan for today was to visit the artic circle -Grinsey island, but when we went to book for this trip the boat was full. So plan B was put in place. After breakfast and some chores like doing some washing and finishing writing and posting yesterday’s blog, we decided to go for a walk – and hour or so- along the shore of the fjord next to our accommodation. Once again great scenery.

Afterwards, we decided to travel to the north of Akureyri, the Tröllaskagi peninsula which is located between two fjords around this area. Our first stop was the area known as Holar, which was an important religious centre since the 12C, and also where Iceland’s first printing press was founded in 1530. The last catholic bishop was executed after the reformation and is buried in the church’s tower.

Then we went to Hofsos for a late lunch and also a dip in the local seaside hot pool, with beautiful views.

Last stop was at Siglufjordur, a remotely located fishing town that during the herring boom in early 20th century used to be the most prosperous fishing town in Iceland. This pretty harbour town is high on the north coast of Iceland, on the artic sea.

On the way back to Akureyri we travelled via a number of mountain tunnels, including two, which were single lane. As we entered the first one, we could see the headlights of a big truck coming in our direction. I quickly reversed our car. Later we discovered that we had right of way, and every few hundred meters there are areas where vehicles pull to the side of the tunnel, so that other vehicles can get through. We arrived back at our accommodation around 7.40 pm.

The place where we are staying – Guesthouse Petursborg – is run by a couple, the wife is Swiss and looks after the accommodation side of the business, whilst the Icelandic husband runs tours in the area. They have 3 beautiful Icelandic horses on their property, which their daughters and her friends ride on a regular basis.

A lot of great highlights today. See some more photos from today’s journey here: https://adobe.ly/2NmR21J

Another great day in Iceland.

June 28, 2019

Akureyri, Iceland

We left our fabulous accommodation at Borgarfjordur Eystri after having an early breakfast. We knew we had a long road ahead today. The scenic route took us along the Egilss Jökuldalur Valley and across the highland desert of Möðrudalsöræfi, heading towards Akureyri. We then continued to the north along a rather rough but scenic route to the powerful Dettifoss waterfall, the largest waterfall in Europe. We discovered that one of the front tyres was leaking air, so we stopped at a local farm to change the tyre, and to my surprise the spare tyre is one of those that you use for short periods. We then called the hire company to arrange to fix the tyre in Akureyri later today.

We then headed to the Lake Mývatn a large and beautiful lake. We also visited the Námaskarð pass where boiling mud pools and flashing colours of the pass merge with lava and ash from the Krafla volcanic system. The lake’s surroundings show great variety in stunning landscapes and amazing geological formations. We had a stop for afternoon tea at the nature baths at Mývatn, where one can take a bath in geothermal water in the open air. At this place we discovered that

Our last stop before our final destination at Akureyri was at the beautiful waterfall Goðafoss.

We arrived in Akureyri just after 4 pm and drove straight to the tyre shop to get the tyre fixed.

We spent some time around the old part of town, visited a large Lutheran church and had a great dinner at a local restaurant, before reaching our accommodation in a farm close to town.

We have a cottage next to the main house. Great setting. We were in the outside hot tub, when a cruise ship when by.

A lot of great highlights today. See some more photos from today’s journey here: https://adobe.ly/31QSUTA

Another great day in Iceland.

June 27, 2019

Borgarfjordur Eystri, Iceland

Today we spent driving around up the beautiful Iceland’s eastern coast. We drove pass towering mountain ranges, patches of ice stall melting and flowing down mountain sides into streams.

The road also winded along the coast with beautiful sea views.

We made short stops in Djúpivogur, then Eglisstadir. We then drove along through more incredible mountain scenery towards our final destination for the day, Borgarfjodur Estry.

A lot of great highlights today, but the outstanding one today was a visit to the puffin colony. See some more photos from today’s journey here: https://adobe.ly/2YhLYg2

Another great day in Iceland.

June 25, 2019

Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland

Hofn

As we were awake early this morning, we decided to leave our accommodation just after 6.30 am.

We headed on a north easterly direction towards the area where a huge volcano eruption passed through in 1996. The power of nature was there for all to see, many of the roads were destroyed as well as many houses. A huge steel girder from a bridge was totally wrenched away and twisted and you can see this by the roadside. At one stage the water which was being melted by the volcano was running at a rate of 25 square metres per second, that is really some mighty power.

Afterwards, we visited Skaftafell, which is situated in the Vatnajökull National Park, which covers 14% of Iceland’s landmass. We hiked some 5.2 kms return trip to get to the Svartifoss waterfall, surrounded by incredible scenery – the huge Vatnajökull icecap, meadows with wildflowers and smaller waterfalls. Lawrence this is similar to going up the mountain side of the 1000 steps, hard yakka. The waterfall was sensational. Spent some time up the top admiring the views as well as taking many photos.

Just before lunch we visited another amazing site, the Jökulsárlón lagoon, which is next to the Breidamerkurjokull glacier. This lagoon was formed as the glacier began to recede in the 1940s.

The scenery is again incredibly beautiful, as icebergs come apart from the main glacier and then drift to the sea. There is also a beach with black sand, where we saw seals which were sunbaking at that spot.

We reached our destination at Hofn in the early part of the afternoon.

Another great day in Iceland.

June 25, 2019

Day 3 – Travelling around Iceland’s South Coast

Iceland

We started the day with a great buffet breakfast at our accomodation. The weather was colder than in the previous 2 days and we also had a bit of rain early on. Our first stop was at a café and information centre near the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which in English means Ice cap. This centre had a lot of information about the history of the volcano activity over the years. Specifically the information indicated that in this area in March 2010 this volcano started to erupt and lava poured down the valleys. The eruption threw volcanic ash several kilometres up in the atmosphere, which led to air travel disruption in northwest Europe for six days in April 2010 and again, in May 2010, including the closure of airspace over many parts of Europe. The eruptions also created electrical storms. We also watched a movie of the 2010 eruption. A very interesting visit indeed. Afterward we headed to see another impressive Icelandic waterfall, the Skógafoss waterfall. Climbing the stairs to see the waterfall from the top certainly gets your heart pumping, but both Pam and I made it to the top and walked alongside the river bank which feeds this waterfall. Our next stop was at Dryholaey, where, as well as puffins and other sea-birds, one can also see the black sand beach. There are also amazing rock formations in this area. I spent a while taking photos and admiring the views and geo formations of this area. Nearby there is a lighthouse very high on the hill which we visited, the views from here are truly amazing. On the road we went again, this time heading towards the town of Vik, famous for its black sand beaches and troll rocks. We also admired the view at a small church on a hill above the town. Also visited the local supermarket to buy things for dinner tonight, as where we are staying is in an eco farm, where we have to do the cooking. On the way to our destination, near the town of Kirjubaejarklaustur, we visited two other interesting places. One is a UNESCO protected area, a lava field in the Katla Geo Park. Our final stop was a visit to the Kurkjugolf natural park, “The Church Floor”, which contain lava hexagonal formations. Another great day in Iceland.

June 24, 2019

Visiting the Golden Circle, Iceland

Today we had another great day, with the temperature hovering around close to 10 degrees most of the day, except when we had a bit of wind and then the thermometer at times dropped considerably. After picking up our car in the city, a Kia Sportage 4WD, we headed towards the Golden Circle, which includes Iceland’s 3 most visited attractions. Our first stop was at the Thingvellir National Park. It was in this site that around 930 AD the parliament named Alpingi was set up. This National Park also encompasses Iceland’s largest lake and significant flora and fauna can also be found in this area. The North American and European tectonic plates are also situated here. These plates are separating at a rate of 2.5 cm each year, forming a rift valley. Following lunch, which we had at the Thingvellir visitors centre we headed north east to the Geysir. Geysir literally means “gusher” in Icelandic, and this natural phenomenon in the Haukadalur geothermal region has been active for more than 10,000 years. These are hot water pools, with a water spout which shoots boiling water up into the air on a regular basis. I have included some video in today’s post. Another significant natural beauty in this region of Iceland are the waterfalls. We saw many today and the most impressive was one of the largest in Iceland, Gullfoss, meaning “golden waterfall,” which is a massive waterfall on the river Hvita in western Iceland. The falls are considered one of Iceland’s most treasured natural wonders, with a name inspired by the phenomenon when glacial sediment in the water turns the falls golden in the sunlight. We had dinner at a local cafe on the way to our accommodation tonight. A few minutes away from our hostel there is another impressive waterfall. Plunging from a height of around 60 meters, Seljalandsfoss forms a dramatic arch of water that dominates the picturesque Thórsmörk valley. A footpath runs all the way around the waterfall, allowing visitors to stand within feet of the rushing water, amid the spray at the foot of the Eyjafjoll mountains. We arrived at our hostel to be greeted by our host, Lucia a young Italian woman who offered us latte and homemade cake – all on the house. We could also have had dinner here. Great place inside and to top it all off there is also another large waterfall behind the hostel. Another great day exploring the wonders of Iceland.