Snaefellsnes
One last time on this journey the alarm clock gets us out of bed early to start a day full of wonder. As we open the curtains it looks like a sunny day will be upon us. The weather forecast looked promising at least!
We head over to the breakfast area and enjoy a yet again breakfast buffet with a wide range of options. It's still quiet and tranquil and we wonder of most tourists go in the opposite direction, or also to Snaefellsnes from here.
Time to go! Checking out, loading everything in the car and off we go. We start today with a long drive to almost halfway on the peninsula: Kirkjufell. Because we did the first two highlights yesterday (Glanni and Grábrók), we can just drive passed them and safe some time. It's a 2,5h drive to Kirkjufell and about 170km. Luckily, with the sun and blue sky this can't be a bad day!
As we get closer to the ocean, the high green mountains appear again. Around Reykholt we saw more pastures and fields, but after a couple of mountain passes, we're back into the landscape that's somewhat comparable to what we saw the first days.
Unfortunately, after about a 1h drive the road turns to gravel. Nothing too bad, not like the F-roads we've done before. Nevertheless, it slows down our speed and with so much on the planning today, that's something we didn't foresee. The gravel road seems to continue for a long while and I'm hoping that the entire road around the peninsula isn't this way. Should that be the case, we can be sure that we'll arrive back at the hotel after dark. There are some tiny potholes and every now and then we encounter another car. Most of them not 4-wheel drive or even a camper. They advance very slowly at about 50km/h maximum. Luckily, we've got 11 days of experience on Icelandic roads, and we can comfortably push up the speed to 80km/h. We're both convinced that should we have done our entire holiday in the opposite direction; we would also drive this section at a slower speed and not be able to finish the highlights this day. After about 75km of gravel road we finally see asphalt again. Grateful for this change we press on the last couple of kilometres to Kirkjufell.
I'm sure most of you have definitely seen a picture of Kirkjufell before. It's one of Iceland's most iconic pictures: the pointy mountain with the waterfalls in front. We park the car at the designated parking area and pay with our smartphones the requested parking fee. There are signs with a QR-code that request you to pay for the parking lot to keep up the maintenance. Sadly, it seems like we're one of the few that actually seem to do this. Most tourists just walk past the sign or ignore it all together.
50m from the parking lot, there is a bunch of people taking the famous picture. Today is especially good because of the beautiful weather. Lots of people with tripods and camera filters. All looking to get that one amazing shot. And yes of course... so are we. Nevertheless, we didn't bring the tripod and are happy with a few decent shots. The mountain is impressive, and it surely makes a beautiful picture. Although, somehow on picture it looks more surreal. While standing there, the Kirkjufell mountain actually gets easily lost in between all the other mountains. The view behind us is honestly also a very impressive sight: green cliffs with waterfalls coming down. It truly is an amazing country!
Not much further lays the town of Ólafsvík. It's a tiny village with a surprisingly modern church. Just next to the church there is a short trail that leads to a waterfall: Bæjarfoss. It's not a common touristic stop, but because it's just a 5 minute side stop, we decide to stop here too. The waterfall lays in the backyard of the town's school. How cool is that?! Imagine the kids saying: "I went to school in Ólafsvík, we had a waterfall in our backyard".
We continue our drive and pass Hellissandur where we stop in a grocery store to buy some lunch. From here it's not much further to the peninsula's top and another landmark: Skarðsvík. We decide to have lunch there. About this time, we enter the Snæfellsjökull National Park. At the end of the peninsula there is a huge volcano where the top is cover by a glacier. It's so big that on a clear day you can see Snæfellsjökull from Reykjavik! The main road takes us around the volcano. But first, a tiny windy road leads to Skarðsvík: a small yellow sand beach. Yes, you read that well: yellow sand beach. It's one of the few places in Iceland where you can see find sand that isn't black. We have lunch at a picknick table and enjoy the waves crashing into the rocks on either side of the sand. We're so lucky that the sun is shining on this last busy day.
From one beach to another. On the southern tip of the peninsula, we find Djúpalónssandur. Also a famous beach, but this time it's back to black marbles. Apart from the stunning beach, there's a lot to see here. According to old folk tale the fishermen measured the strength of the men who wanted to join their ships by lifting certain stones. There are 4 stones: "Fullsterkur" (full power) with a total weight of 154 kg, "Hálfsterkur" (half power) of about 100 kg, "Hálfdrættingur" (weakling) of 54 kg and "Amlóði" (useless) of 23 kg. Unfortunately, the smallest one of 23kg has gotten lost. If you could lift "Hálfdrættingur" to the height of your hip, you were allowed to enter the ship.
Let's put it this way: I managed to lift the 54kg stone a bit from the ground. The 100kg stone barely moved. And I didn't even touch the 154kg one. Pretty sure the fishermen's life isn't my destiny.
As we enter the black marble beach, we can spot the rusty remains of the Epine GY7. A fishermen boat that stranded and crashed on the rocks before the coast in March 1948. Sadly, 14 of the crew drowned. The remains washed ashore and have remained there unspoiled ever since. Just like the DC3 plane wreck at the beginning of our journey, I'm amazed by how they leave these things untouched in nature. Honestly, it connects way more this way than being in a museum or completely forgotten. At the shoreline we can understand why the sea around this part of the island is notorious. The waves crash into the black rocks and with the sun right in front of us provide really great photos for silhouette photography. We spend a couple of minutes here soaking in the beautiful landscape.
We follow the main road and make a stop at Hellnar. This is a tiny settlement that offers great views on the cliffs. There's also a famous walk between the town of Hellnar and Arnarstapi. But because the walk is about 4km one way, we would lose quite a lot of time with a round trip. Most of the pictures we've seen online show the same jagged coastline. We get out of the car and have a quick look around. Walk a few metres onto the trail but then turn back and continue our trip. Next up is the famous black church of Búðir. Again one of Iceland's most photographed icons: the black wooden church in the middle of nowhere. It's located next to a lava field and a few metres apart from an old hotel. With the sun, this makes the classic guidebook picture. We make a short walk in the lava field before heading back to the car. Most of the lava is covered by grass or moss yet one has to be careful where to tread. There are cracks in the earth or depressions in between the lava structures.
We won't be seeing puffins on our journey at this time of year. However, seals are also often to be seen on this island. We've read that at our next stop, Ytri-Tunga beach, there is a high chance of seeing them. Convinced that this would also be one of the non-touristic hidden gems, I was clearly proven wrong when we arrive at the parking. As we walk to the beach, we see some signs telling us to keep a good distance from the seals and to be quiet. Not knowing whether to turn to the left or the right, we follow a bunch of other tourists to the left. After a while we spot some seals laying on the rocks in front of us. They're lazy animals that enjoy the sun today as much as we do. For them it's a relax day: sunbathing on the rocks. There isn't much movement. With a proper telescopic lens you could take amazing pictures here. Unfortunately, our lenses don't allow for this type of wildlife photography so it's not always easy to get a good shot.
We walk back to explore the right-hand side of the beach and after a while see a huge mass on the beach. We say to each other that it looks like a beached whale from afar, but immediately realise that sounds pretty unrealistic. When we get a bit closer, we spot a huge vertebra, turns out it's a whale carcass after all! As we approach the carcass the intense odour of rotting flesh becomes more prominent. Nevertheless, it's quite baffling to stand next to such an extraordinary creature. The size of the bones is simply huge!
I quickly look up what type of whale it was and when it washed ashore. A news article says it's a humpback whale that was found dead before the coast and washed ashore in March 2021. So, over the last 6 months the carcass has slowly been rotting away up to what is left today. What did I just say about Iceland leaving nature untouched?
Blown away by what we just saw, we continue a bit further in search of some more seals. At the end of the beach, we see another group resting on the rocks and swimming in the water.
The evening sun starts to set in as we drive to our next stop. A little gravel road brings us to the Gerðuberg cliffs. A one-kilometre-long cliff of basalt columns that rise up about 10 metres from the ground. With the evening sun illuminating the wall it's a beautiful sight. We walk up to the columns and to the top. Enjoy the scenery around us but also realise that we won't be able to do every item on our planning today. We had another crater 'Eldborg' and a hot spring on our list, but because we've visited two craters by now decide to erase Eldborg from our list. The hot spring seems like a well-hidden place but is also far from the main road. Also, the hot spring itself is so tiny it can only accommodate two people. So, in case we're not alone, we probably have to wait to enter. We decide to drop this one as well and continue down to our hotel near Borgarnes. It's still about a 40 minutes' drive to the hotel. On the way we'll stop by Brúarfoss. A waterfall just next to the road.
We only found reference of this waterfall in one guidebook, and are a bit confused by the name. If you Google Brúarfoss you'll only find the famous blue waterfall we did the day before. So, it's a well-planned search for coordinates where this waterfall should be located.
When we arrive, there is a house next to the waterfall with a lot of signs: "private property, no trespassing. Pictures of waterfall, other side of the bridge." Confused by all the signs we drive back over the bridge from where we came. There is indeed a tiny exit that leads to a parking area. We get out and walk again to the house from the other side of the river. Once more we come across signs that clearly state that this is private property and we're not allowed to go any further. The house is actually a fishing club, and apparently the owners/club doesn't want tourists to come close. We take a few pictures from the actually not impressive waterfall and continue to our hotel.
Our hotel looks like a typical American motel. We park the car just in front of our room and relax a few minutes after this busy day. We've driven some 370km and made quite a few stops. Happy that we managed to do most things on our list we prepare for dinner. This motel doesn't serve dinner, so we have to drive back to Borgarnes to find a restaurant. It's clear that we're getting back to the southwestern part of the island. More people, bigger cities, and more fancy cars. It's been a long time since we saw a Tesla. After dinner we quickly go to bed to catch some sleep. It doesn't take long before we realise the rooms aren't isolated at all. At around 11PM our neighbours arrive and every single word they say is loud and clear. It's just like they're standing in our room. Later, at around 2AM another bunch arrives to their room and keep us awake for a big part of the night. Not all accommodations are equal I suppose.
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