Iceland Day 10- To Snaefellsnes!

Monday, May 29, 2017

In preparation for this next destination, we have been listening to Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in the car during the long stretches of road.  For our travels, I have always tried to find books or stories that I hope would help the boys connect with our destination in a way beyond learning just the facts & was excited to find Verne's classic science fiction novel about traveling into the depths of a volcanic crater- which we will have the opportunity to do on this trip!  

Let me just say that it has been much to the boys' chagrin that I was able to link my iPad to the rental car's bluetooth...  This classic story, while it is an adventure tale written from the perspective of a young man and takes place in Snaefellsnes, Iceland,  it is full of archaic vocabulary and very long and detailed scientific accounts of geology & other various sciences that override the action.  After nearly 5 hours of listening we are only 42% through the story and just inside the glacier... no real nail-biting, exciting encounters...yet...

On our way towards Snaefellsnes Peninsula we try to have some exciting encounters of our own...

First stop: Icelandic Seal Center
 to learn about the kinds of seals we might see and a bit about the history of sealing here

Complete fog-
decide to head south & hope for seals in Snaefellsnes

**We also opt to forgo the longer scenic route through the West Fjords as the weather would not provide a scenic drive... the driver is disappointed, the riders...not so much-

Nash & His Blue Tractor-
When we saw this farmer working, it was a sweet reminder of the Christmas when Nash was only 2 years old and all he wanted was a "blue tractor"

The long and bumpy road... unable to see what is on either side-

Not tired of spotting these majestic animals in this beautiful setting-

We finally drove onto the Snaefellsnes Peninsula and pulled up to Helgafell mountain where once a temple in honor of the Norse god Thor was built by one of the first settlers in this area and the gravesite of a character in the Sagas.  It is only a small mountain, really just a hill, but is still considered by some to be a "holy" place.  Legend says that if you can climb it without looking back or speaking a word then you will have 3 wishes come true...

More fascinating to us than trying to climb the hill in the cold windy rain was watching this collie herd his sheep and keep them safe from wandering outide their  border-
He sure was persistent and perseverant!

We've seen A LOT of sheep, but not one with horns like this- 

Either riding makes one very hungry or requesting lunch is a way to escape from listening to "Journey to the Center of the Earth"...hmmm...

Whichever the reason, our meal in this beautiful old house in Stykkisholmur was delicious!

Stykkisholmur is a fishing village on the northern part of the peninsula
 right on the Breidafjordur Bay which links this part of the country to the West Fjords via ferry boat

It must be lunch time for the birds too-

This town's natural harbor made it an important trading post early in Iceland's history

Fishing boat bringing in the day's catch

Iced fish come off the boat...

and re-crated to go to the processing plant.

Once again we come into the lava fields as we near the volcano

and other strange volcanic landscape phenomena.

Near the town Grundarfjordur is the oft photographed,
Kirkjufell Mountain- (translates to Church Mountain)
As you can see the weather was not cooperating to allow for the perfect picture, I think the wind may have taken Nash's coat if his hands had not been in his pockets!

One more view of Kirkjufell, sans boys

The wind was so strong that it was blowing the water from this fall UP!!

Finally. The seals that we began the day looking for!

I think these must be the "scouts" ...

Less than 10 minutes from our guesthouse is the beach at Ytri Tunga where a seal colony makes its home.
We were fortunate enough to arrive near the time of low tide and watch them swim in to take a rest on the rocks and sand.

"Here's looking at you kid!"

The Langaholt Guesthouse- our stay for the next 2 nights-
Complete with golf course.  Hard to believe but we passed a guy on a golf cart trying his best to play against the wind...