09.08.2019
Hótel Dyrhólaey Brekkum Vík I Mýrdal – Farm Guesthouse Skalafell Hornafjördur 338 km
We had decided to get going very early this morning. Approx 200 km had to be covered to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon which would take at least 2.5 hrs, but of course we wanted to find a few geocaches on the way and stop for photos as well. So we got up early, packed up the car and drove around to the restaurant for breakfast. Would save us 10 minutes walking back and forth …
The breakfast buffet here was huge. Most of the tour groups were already there. But we found a table in the separate room. There was a lot of fish on a buffet and also a large table full of fresh baked sweet pastries. Very yummy. Once we finished we got on the road by 07:45 this morning. Right at the drive way we had a great view of the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap.
The light was beautiful this morning, even though it was long after sunrise. We stopped at a very windy view point just a couple kilometers from the hotel to take some photos.
Deciding to skip visiting the small village of Vík I Mýrdal we drove along the Ring Road East. Vík is a small village in the shadow of Mýrdalsjökull and famous for its black sand beach and basalt columns at Reynisfjara which we visited yesterday. There is also the Reyniskirka – a wooden church dating to 1929.
From there the road skirted the Mýrdalsjökull on the left and for 25 km crossed the Mýrdalssandur which is a very flat sand plain formed by many glacier floods – jökulhlaups. It lies between the rivers Kúðafljót to the east and Múlakvísl to the west – both rivers taking Mýrdalsjökull glacier water to the sea. The Mýrdalssandur streches along 35 km coastline on which also Cape Kötlutangi – the southermost point of the island Iceland – lies. The last glacier run occured here in 1918 after an explosive eruption of the under the glacier located volcano Katla – it is suspected that the waterflow back then peaked at approx 200000 – 300000 m³/s.
We stopped on a side road just off the main road to find an easy multi cache. It was so cold and windy, Mom stayed in the car while I quickly collected a couple numbers to calculate the final coordinates and found the cache easily. In Þykkvabæjarklaustur – close to the cache site – an Augustinian Monastery had been founded in 1168 which was secularized in 1550 and was after that a rich farm which was abandoned in eventually 1945.
Shortly after that, the Ring Road oad left the coast and crossed a huge lava field – Landbrotshólar. It was a vast, dimpled, sometimes green sometimes brown pseudocrater field – in fact the most extensive area of pseudocraters in Iceland, measuring about 50 km². Pseudocraters form when lava flows into rivers or wetlands. When the 1100°C hot lava comes in contact with water, heavy explosions occur as the subsurface water boils instantly and steam explods through to make barrowlike mounts. This phenomenon is well known in Iceland, where the land is mostly characterized by lava, lakes, rivers and marshes. The age and origin of the lava of Landbrotshólar has been debated, but it is believed to have originated from the volcanic eruption of Eldgjá in 934.
We stopped at a viewpoint to collect data for another Earth Cache at the lava field – an eruption in 1783 opened a 25 km long fissure with 130 craters with phreatomagmatic explosions because of the groundwater interacting with the rising basalt magma. The eruption site which is usually called Skaftáreldar – Skaftá fires – is one of 2 of the largest lava flows that have occurred on Earth in recorded history. This lava flow, which flowed from the Laki Vent, fell into 2 main streams to inhabited areas on each side of the settlement of Kirkjubæjarklaustur. For the 8 months during the eruption, 12 km³ of basalt lava flowed onto the surface and covered about 565 km² of land. For the residents of the region and Iceland as a whole, the results of the eruption were catastrophic – This time is known as Móðuharðindin – the Haze Famine – a period of famine and disease named for the ash mist from the eruption.
The Laki lava flow known as Skaftáreldahraun or Eldhraun – Fire lava – spread out across the highlands and descended in branches to inhabitant areas. There are hundreds of lava caves in this field. All around thick woolly fringe moss forms a continuous layer which gives off a grey colour when dry, but a beautiful green after rain. Today it was still dry and sunny.
The Ring Road was absolutely straight crossing this lava field with very little traffic this early in the day. We made good timing driving 100 km/h and slightly over the speed limit. Kirkjubæjarklaustur – the name translates as church-farm-cloister – an even for Icelandic standards tiny settlement – is the only service station with a fuel station, a bank, a post office and a supermarket between Vík í Mýrdal and Höfn. Before fueling up the car, we however went to visit Kirkjugólf, an attraction close to the village. Kirkjugólf translates to church floor and is a natural pavement of basalt. Parking the car we walked for a couple hundred meters along a nice path crossing a pasture to the site. On an 80 m² expanse there are basalt columns in the earth, but only the tops can be seen and as the name suggests, they have the appearance of a paved church floor. The hexagonal tiles look every bit as if they were man-made, but there has never been a church or any other building on the site. This lava formation has similar origins to the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland and is a protected natural monument. It looked very cool. Of course there was an Earth Cache located and we took the required photo for that as well.
Next we had to fuel the car and pulled into the N1 gas station. Quickly we figured out the fuel machine – stick in the credit card and select amount to fuel. Since we were not sure how much would fit in the tank, I selected ISK 3000 first. With the diesel – yes, we had a diesel car – being at ISK 227 per liter, the car was not close to full after that … So I had to insert the credit card again and this time I saw the button for Full Tank. That makes it possible to fill up the tank and get charged whatever is used. I had to put in another ISK 4100. Good thing is that with the speed limits, the car does not use so much fuel, but with the 4×4 it increases again. Well …
Leaving Kirkjubæjarklaustur the road followed the steep lava cliffs on the left and the plains with the sea in the distance on the right and kept being rather straight. We saw the Foss á Síðu – Waterfall at Síða – already from afar and I took a couple photos while passing it. There was a small farm right on the Ring Road, the small waterfall falling from the beautiful cliffs lightly covered with moss vegetation just behind it. The farm is mentioned in the Book of Settlement and has been here since Iceland times of settlement in the 9th century. It takes its name after the waterfall that comes from Lake Þórutjörn on the top of the cliffs. Although the waterfall doesn’t have a lot of water, it is apparently one of the most photographed waterfalls in Iceland.
Sandar are eerily flat and empty regions along Iceland’s southern coastline. But in the far distance we could early see the Vatnajökull Ice Cap. Driving fast along the nearly straight road for more than 50 km crossing the Skeiðarársandur we eventually reached another viewpoint.
The Skeiðarársandur is another outwash plain, a vast expanse of sand generated by the transport of debris by the Skeiðará, a relatively short glacier river which has its source on the Glacier Skeiðarárjökull, one of the southern arms of the Vatnajökull. High in the mountains, glaciers scrape up silt, sand and gravel, which is then carried by glacial rivers and more dramatically glacial outbursts down to the coast and dumped in huge, desert like plains. The sadar here are so impressively huge, that the Icelandic word is used internationally to describe this topographic phenomenon. The coastline of the Skeiðarársandur is 56 km long from Hvalsík to Hnappavallaós and from Skeiðarárjökull to the sea it is 20-30 km.
The River Skeiðará was the most important obstacle in the construction of Iceland’s Ring Road 1. It was not until 1974 that it could be completely closed by a 904 m long bridge. The outwash plain originated primarily as alluvial land, i.e. as an accumulation of sediments from the rivers. Eruptions of the volcanic systems of Grímsvötn and Öræfajökull have added to these sediment deposits. The sediments are carried during glacial floods with the glacier water, which thaws during volcanic eruptions, but also through ash deposits.
As we traversed the plain we stopped at an info point for the Great Jökulhlaup of 1996 created in the Vatnajökull Ice Cap when the volcano under the Grímsvötn Lake, part of the Vatnajökull glacier erupted and the river Skeiðará flooded the land in front of Skaftafelljökull. A jökulhlaup – a glacial flood – is a regular feature of this area of Iceland. Earliest accounts date back to the 12th Century. Large jökulhlaups have been recurring every 5 – 15 years since 1900 – but the flood of November 1996 was the most catastrophic since 1938. An area about 20 – 30 km wide was affected.
The western half of Vatnajökull covers part of a volcanic belt, the heat from which maintains a melted lake, even beneath the glacial ice. Known as Lake Grímsvötn, the subglacial water is stored within a large, bowl-shaped volcanic depression formed by the continual heat flow and periodic eruptions. After an volcanic eruption underneath the glacier icecap an enormous quantity of water continued to pour into the lake and soon the water pressure was sufficient to lift the glacier ice off the ground, causing the sudden runoff of the water underneath on Nov 5, 1996. Gaps opened 1000 m from the glacier top, first in the east, then continuously towards west. Water, black from volcanic sediments, forced its way through the gaps, tearing huge ice blocks with it and ran over the glacier. The tsunami that was released reached 4 m high and 600 m wide – the mixture of ice and mud ran from the glacier and flowed down. About 15 mio m³ of ice broke out of the glacier – the biggest piece weighed about 1000 t and was torn away about 15 kms. The gap in the moraine through which the glacial river flows grew from 100 to 400 m and the river channel engorged from 500 to 2000 m at the road. At the maximum of the Jökulhlaup the water flow was 50000 m²/s. The whole volume that flooded out from the glacier was 3.5 km³ and contained 185 mio tons of sediments. The ice cap on the Grimsvötn lowered about 150 m.
Part of the Ring Road was completely washed away along with the 3 girder bridges crossing the Rivers Skeiðará and Gígjukvísl effectively cutting off rural Iceland – if the road is out, the only way to reach the east is going the Ring Road the other way around! While the girder bridge was built to withstand a hefty amount of flood waters, there was no preparing for the house-sized icebergs that the floods washed down the plain. A number of these glacial shards crashed into the bridge wiping it out. It took many months to build a replacement bridge.
Once the longest span in Iceland, now only twisted girders by the side of the new road are all that remains of the Skeiðará Bridge. In extreme landscapes like this, often extraordinary examples of the effects nature can have on seemingly immovable man-made structures can be found. The twisted girders form a unique monument to the lovely but powerful beauty of Iceland’s natural landscape. We stopped for some photos and a beautiful view of the glacier tongue of Skaftafellsjökull which is part of the Vatnajökull National Park. It is one of many tongues stretching from the largest glacier in Europe – Vatnajökull itself. This ice cap once covered 11 % of the surface area of Iceland.
The Vatnajökull National Park was created to incorporate many other protected areas and is now the largest national park in Iceland and was established in 2008. The park now covers an area of approx 14140 km² – 14% of the country. In July 2019, Vatnajökull National Park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
For the first time we noticed a sign concerning driving on Iceland’s mountain and F-Roads. Eventhough we had 4×4 in the car, our’s was not suitable to drive in the highlands. F-Roads are mountain roads marked F and can be, at times, very rough. Caution is always required when driving in the highlands and the unexpected like big pot holes, rocks, very loose gravel, sheep, tight corners, soft shoulders, roads broken by running water and oncoming traffic is to be expected. In fact, there is actually no regular road crossing the country north-south. There is just the Ring Road around it and some of those F-Roads. We stayed on the Ring Road, but often we encountered pick-up trucks with huge wheels, even minibusses fitted with those – all fit to go up the highlands.
Trying to be at Jökulsárlon Glacier Lagoon well in time for our Amphiboat Tour, we got back on the road quickly. Here the Ring Road turned south again following the cliffs to the coast. The unfolding landscape of glittering glaciers and brooding mountains made it difficult to keep eyes on the road. Mom would regularly scold me for lifting the camera to take photos out of the window while navigating the nearly straight highway with the other hand. But it had to be done … since there were parking spaces only at strategic points and stopping on the highways is not allowed.
The problem with driving around Iceland is that you’re basically confronted by a new soul-enriching, breath-taking, life-affirming natural sight every five goddamn minutes. It’s totally exhausting.
Stephen Markley, Tales of Iceland or Running with the Huldufólk in the Permanent Daylight
It was another 50 km or so until we finally reached Jökulsárlon Glacier Lagoon at 11:45. The lagoon sits right beside the Ring Road. There was a single-lane bridge over the glacial outlet to the sea and the view was already stunning. Just after the bridge we turned onto the parking lot. No parking fee here … but it was packed and we had to turn a couple circles before we found a spot.
It was very warm now – the sun was out, blue skies, but a little windy. First thing we checked in on the ticket desk. I had the paid booking only on the mobile phone, but that was no problem. We were early for our 12:30 tour – they had one going every 10 min! We were asked, if we wanted to move up to 12:10 instead – of course we did. That left us with just enough time to walk back to the car and put some warmer clothes on. You never know how it is on the water between the icebergs. And while it was relatively hot and sunny here, the slight wind blowing was rather cold. Better safe than sorry.
Since the Amphiboat embarking platform was right next to car park and ticket booth at the shore of the Galcier Lagoon, before lining up for our tour, we had time to have a look at the beautiful icebergs floating in the lagoon. Of course there was an Earth Cache located here and it was easy enough to collect the required information for that.
To my delight there was also a webcam cache – my favourite type! It is always fun to open the webcam site and try to find us on the blurred image. Today it was easy enough – Mom’s white jacket and my black one were spotted easily.
Then it was time to get on the Amphiboat. It looked very funny arriving at the embarking platform – which by itself was just a rickety wooden construction. Supposedly it is only temporary anyway. The boat was not crowded – and we had to put on lifejackets. While driving on land we had to stay seated, but once we reached the water and the boat was afloat we could stand up and move around.
Jökulsárlón literally translates to glacial river lagoon – so Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon is actually tautologous … Well, it is a large glacial lake on the edge of Vatnajökull National Park. Situated at the head of the Glacier Breiðamerkurjökull, it developed into a lake after the glacier started receding from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The lake has grown since then at varying rates because of melting of the glaciers and has become one of Iceland’s most popular attractions due to its stunning beauty. It is open to the sea and contains a mixture of salt and freshwater – giving it a unique blue-green color.
The mystical lagoon is enormous and has provided the backdrop for many major feature films and programs – most recently “Game of Thrones” – I am probably one of the few people in the world who have never seen a single episode of that series, though. Action scenes of “A View to Kill” and “Die Another Day” were shot here, also “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”, “Batman Begins”, the TV series “Amazing Race”, various TV shows and documentaries.
Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon is Iceland’s deepest lake – with a max depth of 248 m. Its area covers today approx 18 km². The lake has quadrupled in size since 1970 and it continues to grow – with the glacier retreating between 100 and 300 m each year. Much of that has however to do with the seawater flowing into the lake and melting the glacier tongue, because the sea water is slightly warmer than the glacier water. Climate change is also a factor – but it affects the thickness of the ice cap rather than making the lagoon larger. But glaciers do die due to climate change and most recently Iceland held a funeral for one of them to raise awareness to climate change.
The glacier lagoon did not exist at all until the 1930s. In 870 when Iceland was settled the Breiðamerkurjökull only reached to within 21 km of the coast. During the mini ice age of 1600 – 1900 it advanced 20 km, almost reaching the ocean. In 1894 the area from the glacier to the ocean was only 256 m and no glacier lagoon had formed. From 1920 an increasing number of icebergs calved and the lake started to develop around 15 years later. Warmer temperatures over several decades have produced a pattern of accelerating growth.
The actual tongue of the glacier is now approx 8 – 10 km away from the mouth of the lagoon. It calves icebergs constantly and of various sizes. Our Amphiboat was taking us on a tour around a cluster of icebergs that had sort of collected on the lagoon mouth. The icebergs would have to melt down before the outgoing tide would take them when they fit under the bridge of the Ring Road. The icebergs can be small or up to 30 m high – each one is a unique shape – nature fashions truly original ice sculptures! One of them kind of looked like T-Rex when we drove around it, but on the photos I rather see Snoopy, the dog from the Peanuts Cartoon!
The glittering whiteness of the icebergs is shot through with bright jewel blue and greenish hues. Spectacular gray shadows – formed from the ash of different volcanic eruptions – sliced through a few of them. Some were luminous like diamond jewels, others more opaque. The oldest icebergs originated as pure white snow before being compressed by the weight of the glacier for thousands of years – sometimes for more than 10000 years since the last ice age. When ice is heavily compressed the air is pushed out and the surface does not reflect light nearly so well. When this happens light from the sun within the long wave red spectrum is absorbed and reflected back as blue or sometimes blue/green. Rare entirly electric blue icebergs have been described as blue diamond. Newer icebergs are white unless they have gray streaks from the ash residues of volcanic eruptions or contain a high level of microorganisms.
A sort of safety zodiac was following each of the Amphiboats around the lagoon and the driver would pick up a piece of crystal clear 1000 year old ice and hand it over to guide on board. – Oops, this is more like a bazooka! – he said laughing while trying to maneuver the zodiac alongside one-handed.
Of course, we could have all our turns to hold the chunk of ice for a photo, before our guide chopped it into small pieces, so we could taste it. He said – This is for sure the oldest thing you will ever taste in your life! It is 1000 years old! – It tasted good – just like the Kranavatn …
We also saw some seals of course – far away, but we saw them! They love to swim between the icebergs or lie on them for a nice sunbath, they can also be seen in the waters of the Diamond Beach. As Jokulsarlon has tides – seals as well as some fish join the glacier lagoon when the water runs into it. Seals live in the oceans of both hemispheres and are mostly confined to polar, subpolar and temperate climates. Harbour Seals are the most common in Iceland and the least wary of visitors, although Grey Seals, the only other species to pup on the island, are not at all uncommon.
The cruise was approx 40 min and it was a very cool tour. They also had Zodiac Tours that take guests close up to the glacier tongue, but our Amphiboat was surely more comfortable. The weather was brilliant – the sun was out, blue sky and we were not at all cold!
Back ashore we stopped to look around the small souvenir shop and Mom had a coffee and a donut in the cantina. I saw the Vatnajökull Beer, I had read about, in the shelf and decided to splurge in one. We could hang around here and look for a couple more geocaches for a while anyway. When the girl at the counter did not make any move to open the bottle, I took one more and we could have them later. I packed them away and we took Mom’s coffee outside and sat on a bench in the sun studying the guide book and map to figure out what to do with the rest of the day.
Since I did not have the beer, we drove the couple of kilometers across the bridge and the Ring Road to the parking lot for Diamond Beach – instead of walking. Diamond Beach is a strip of black sand belonging to the greater Breiðamerkursandur glacial plain. Here, the icebergs which fill Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon wash up on shore, standing dazzling and defiant in stark contrast to the black sand beach.
Walking along the beach we indeed found some beautiful icebergs sitting on the shore. There were not many, but in the sun they glittered mesmerizingly. I decided this would be a good spot to have that special beer! I told Mom we should sit on the sand and watch the ice, but she said she could not get down or up again. So I found her a couple rocks, piled them on top of each other and she had a seat! We shared the beer which was very nice.
The local Ölvisholt Brewery makes this very special beer named Vatnajökull. Brewed from the clear icebergs of Jökulsárlón and spiced with local Arctic Thyme, allowing to experience with all senses the Vatnajökull Region in its purest form. It is only available in the restaurants in the Vatnajökull region. We never saw it in any of the Vínbúðin. It was rather tasty and in this location an absolutely must! Cooled by 1000 year old ice as well …
Of course I had take lots of photos of the ice. It looked so cool with the waves coming up the beach – so many photo opportunities here! I was in heaven!
Walking back to the parking lot we noticed that the tide had just turned and all the small icebergs were coming floating out of the lagoon into the sea now! Another cool sight, that was.
The majority of Iceland beaches are made up of jet black sand. This is a result of the volcanic nature of the island. The rocks and ash are ground down over time and eventually become the black sand that makes up these vast stretches of shore. The contrast between the black sand, the thunderous waves, the glistering ice dimonds and the atmosphere of Iceland is something we will not forget.
More ice washed up on the beach as well. That, of course, brought also more tourists – but also more photo opportunities …
We even saw a couple of seals playing in the water around the icebergs as well.
Mom then waited in the car looking at the icebergs while I went in search for one more geocache. We had tried that one before coming to the beach, but one parking lot was closed and the other one too far a way to walk there. From the Diamond Beach however, I just had to cross the road and then climb the dam between the road and the lagoon. It was a quick find with a beautiful last view over the lagoon, icebergs and glacier.
On the dam I also found a lot of Wild Arctic Thyme – Thymus praecox arcticus – Blóðberg as it is known in Iceland. It can be found across the island due to its proclivity for sandy and gravelly soils of which there is no shortage. The pretty purple flowers have long been used to make tea and Blóðberg is considered a staple in the world of Icelandic herbs. It is regarded to have medicinal properties as well as health benefits such as strengthening the heart and head, cleansing the blood and contributing to menstrual regulation. And of course, it is in the Vatnajökull Beer we just tasted!
Getting back on the road towards the east we had to cross the bridge over the lagoon river again and there were still many icebergs floating out to the sea. An amazing sight even when driving over a one-lane narrow bridge at the same time!
We drove only a few kilometers and found a parking spot with a picnic table. There was another car parked, but people just packed up their supplies and we just had to wait a few minutes to take over the spot. There was a nice view over the very flat Breiðamerkursandur. And as we settled in with our snacks another couple of cars pulled up and tourists obviously had their sights set on the picnic table as well. As I said before – there are not as many picnic spots along the road in Iceland as we encountered during last year’s road trip in Norway … We did not have to share the table – eventhough we gladly would have to – because the others went to picnic on the rocks behind us.
A short hop further on we stopped for another secret box – we were in no hurry now since we had no more appointments today and our next guesthouse was not that far away. The Þórbergur center Museum and Cultural center in tiny settlement of Hali was close to the Ring Road. It is a cultural center with an exhibition dedicated to the great writer Þórbergur Þórðarson (1888 – 1974) who grew up here. The center occupies a prominent purpose built site, easily visible from the road, with its eye-catching row of 2m high book spines that line the side of the building. The geocache was hidden behind one of the “books”.
We did not visit the museum, but rather kept on driving after we found the cache. It was a very scenic stretch of road again towards Höfn. The road was once more skirting the cliffs of the highlands of Vatnajökull National Park with the sea on our right in a rather straight manner again.
It was only a few kilometers before we reached the Farm Guesthouse Skálafell. The Farm Skálafell is located in an ideal destination for travelers exploring the Vatnajökull Region. We found out that popular hiking trails started started right behind the guesthouse with only 45 min walk to the roots of Vatnajökull Glacier. But we did not do it.
We rather checked in, booked dinner for tonight and dropped our bags in our room. We had a beautiful room – one in the middle of a row of rooms with floor length windows and a beautiful view over the plain and the river towards the sea.
Since it was only 15:15 in the afternoon and Mom did not want to go hiking, I was keen on going to find some more geocaches. Jón Eiríksson, one of the greatest fighters for the independence of Iceland was born at Skálafell and a memorial statue was set just at the end of the driveway from the guesthouse. A cache was hidden right there and we stopped to find it. Some sheep were running around the memorial – they did not care that there was a fence actually to keep them off.
As soon as they saw us approaching they ran head over heels as fast as they could towards the fence and funnily enough they fit through the tight fence mesh. It was a trio of sheep – an Icelandic phenomenon? – and 2 of them more or less ran straight through the fence. The 3rd one kind of missed the spot and nervously rand a couple times back and forth along the fence right were my cache was hidden. Then the sheep just jumped head first into the fence and kind of flooped right through it. The mesh was approx 25 cm in square and those sheep had so much wool on them but – I swear – that sheep just went straight through! Amazing! I found the secret box and we got back in the car.
We had decided to drive the approx 40 km to Höfn this afternoon. Höfn is a fishing town of just over 2000 people in the southeast of Iceland. It is the most significant settlement on Ring Road 1 between Kirkjubæjarklaustur in the south and Egilsstaðir in the east.
The road circled around the River Hornafjardarfljot, which runs into the Hornafjörður – Fjord of Horns. It is short but voluminous. It receives most of the glacial water from River Sudurfljot, the glacier snout Svinafellsjokull and River Austurfljot. In fact the river looks more like a bay than a river. A bridge was built only in 1961. It was with 255 m the second longest of its time and is still a part of Ring Road 1.
Coming around the fjord we turned off the Ring Road towards the town. Although it is no bigger than many European villages, the Southeast’s main town feels like a sprawling metropolis after driving through the emptiness before. Höfn simply means Harbour and is famous for its cultural heritage, stunning panoramas and glittering fjord. It was the arrival point on Iceland for the world’s first aerial circumnavigation flight in August 1924, by the way.
We did not have planned to do anything in town other than find some geocaches and wander around. But we spotted the Post Office and stopped there to buy some stamps first. We had gotten postcards before, but stamps they only sell in Post Offices and this was the first one we encountered. We got beautiful ones with Northern Lights on them.
Later we parked the car at the car park of the town’s shopping center. We made a round through the supermarket and stocked up on Skyr and fruits for our picnic. In the Vínbúðin we looked for Vatnajökull Beer, but they indeed did not have it. They had the same range of bottles as in the other Vínbúðin … not surprising since it is a state owned chain.
Taking a walk to find some geocaches we headed for the waterside. The town’s setting is stunning. It is located in one of the few natural harbours of Iceland’s South Coast – unlike the rest of the country, this stretch is beachy and flat and thus there are hardly any small coastal villages. Höfn is right at the tip of its own peninsula and is surrounded on 3 sides by the ocean, which has been known to freeze over in extreme conditions.
The guide book stated as activity – On a clear day, wander down to the waterside, find a quiet bench and just gaze at Vatnajökull and its guild of glaciers nursing a beer. – OK, maybe the beer part is my invention, but that statement just called for this addition. And we did just that. We found a geocache and then a bench to sit and share our last Vatnajökull Beer while looking out over the fjord to the glaciers in the distance. The largest glacier in Europe – Vatnajökull – is within clear view of Höfn.
The weather had changed a bit – more clouds now and it had gotten cooler. The cold wind was strong and every now and then a little drizzle came. But in the end the sun came out again and we saw a beautiful rainbow.
There was another cache on a view point over the fjord – unfortunately I did not find it, but the view was magnificent.
We walked through town in search of 2 more caches. Mom found a bench and waited for me, though. The rainbow persisted as if it tried to show me the way to the secret box.
One of the caches was hidden in the forest near a camping ground – actually it was hidden on a Frisbígólf course! I was wondering what those funny yellow basket like things were and investigated.
Frisbígólf – or Disc Golf – is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target – it is played using rules similar to golf. It is often played on a course of 9 or 18 holes. Players complete a hole by throwing a disc from a tee area toward a target, throwing again from the landing position of the disc until the target is reached. Usually, the number of throws a player uses to reach each target are tallied and players seek to complete each hole and the course in the lowest number of total throws. Never heard of it before …
They do play a lot of golf in Iceland, I have to say. At least it seems like that, because we passed so many golf courses on our road trip around Iceland! Those were often just along the road and while driving past, we could watched them play. I read this quote the other day which is probably true …
Did you know there’s probably more golf played in Iceland than most places in the world? They play 24 hours a day in the summertime and the northern part is warmer than the southern part. – Jack Nicklaus
Once I had collected Mom we got the car and drove a couple more kilometers past the fishing harbour to a view point on Ósland, a bird-filled promontory south of town.
There were 2 more geocaches waiting to be found – one was located on Óslandshæð, a hill that sports a memorial to local fishermen lost at sea and incredible views of town and the nearby glaciers.
I took a short walk to find the last cache of the day near the shore. I did not see many birds there, but plenty of White Cottongrass – Eriophorum scheuchzeri. It has an arctic circumpolar and circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. This species is a perennial herb producing colonies via its rhizomes. It is restricted to wet habitat types and grows in marshes and wet meadows, by ponds and lakes and on riverbanks, in moist and wet gravel and sand.
Also Angelica – Angelica archangelica – commonly known as garden angelica, wild celery, and Norwegian angelica – I have noticed. Angelica ranks supreme in the world of Icelandic flora, referred to as Hvönn and known also as Angel Herb in Anglo-terms thanks to a monk in the midst of the plague. This medical marvel was assumedly brought to Iceland by its first settlers. Along with livestock, this plant was considered invaluable for the survival and success of an intrepid nation. Recently, Angelica has been scientifically proven to alleviate and prevent stomach ailments, respiratory problems, infections, antitumour activity, digestive agitation, congestion, cramps, flatulence and liver problems as well as cancer. The list is endless. Not only has it alimentally sustained its earliest cultivators but it has also medically assisted the Vikings and their descendants ever since its original transition to the harsh conditions of the Icelandic environment. Angelica was so widely valued that it served as currency within Iceland and abroad. It has been so highly prized throughout the years that in the 12th century there were laws set in place to protect cultivators from burglary.
Driving back towards the guesthouse again we took our time and stopped for some photos on the way. The plain of the River Hornafjardarfljot was dipped in wonderful early evening light. With Iceland being situated below the Arctic Circle there was no Midnight Sun anymore this time of the year. The sun did set late around 22:45 or so and it was dark after that, but very early light again. This late in the afternoon with the changing weather of sun, clouds and rain the light was beautiful.
When we reached our Farm Guesthouse Skálafell the sun had already disappeared behind the cliffs of the highlands of Vatnajökull National Park and it was rather cold in the shade. Nevertheless, we put all our warm clothes on and had a well-deserved Vodka & Tonic on our porch with a stunning view over the plain and the Kolgrima glacial river towards the sea.
Dinner was served in the small restaurant of the farm house and we were on at 19:30. The guesthouse had quite a few rooms and huts and the restaurant was full. They had a fish and a lamp dish to choose from and also desserts. Mom took the fish and I took the lamb. We skipped dessert and stuck to water, because we had not only one V & T before but 2 … The very local food was served quickly – traditional housewife cooking. It was very tasty, I must say. And huge portions as well.
After dinner we did the usual – enjoy the view, sort and post some photos and sleep early.
