Iceland road trip day 2 Wind and Scenery

sam_b · 24 Oct 19, 06:45 PM

I woke up at 6.20 and did a Bagpus impression.
We came round slowly, had showers and headed over for our included breakfast. Standard continental fayre and I managed to stuff it up by picking some kind of sour milk or yoghurt to put on my cereal - rendering it inedible! Then I tried to make tea and picked the coffee urn!
We went back to the room and packed up and set off around about 9.00

Our first stop was just up the road to Hraunfossar - a waterfall and Bjarnefossar another waterfall at the same site. This was literally about 5k away.

We spent a good hour here looking around and taking pictures. (These are mostly my iPhone snaps - Si takes amazing ‘proper’ photos.
Then we started to head back to Borgarnes to refuel, nip to Bonus and head out to the Snæfellsnes peninsula. We saw this guy en route.

After a quick stop for fuel and some pork for tonight’s tea we set off for our day’s adventures.

Next stop was the Basalt cliffs at Gerduberg

and then on to the seal spotting beach at Ytri Tunga.

We pulled into the car park and had lunch in the car - coffee, polar bread with remoulade and cheese and cheese doodles. (Gourmet!) Then we got out into the bracing wind. We did see some seal heads in the water, but it was blowing a gale and they were fishing and swimming, not basking in the beach.
We got back in the car and found another waterfall called bjarnafosser - it was so windy we opted not to get any closer than looking from the car and so instead we drove to the black church.

This is one of the oldest wooden churches in Iceland and sits surrounded by an enormous lava field.
After a few photos we got back in the car heading for Arnarstapi and the arch in the sea.
We parked up and saw this guy.

Then we walked to the cliff pathway. The waves were ferocious at times - it was all very dramatic!

More basalt cliffs here so they were oddly geometric. We walked along the path - the wind was blowing hard enough to make your teeth ache!
Despite this place being beautiful and clearly a stop for tour buses there were no crap shops or any shops that I could see, just a couple of restaurants/cafes. These guys need to learn a thing or two about extracting tourism money!
We set off across the peninsula to our last stop for the day Kirkjufellsfoss. Inland, the weather was murky and wet, but as soon as we got to the coast, the sky was clearer. This place had a tiny little car park that was rammed! We walked up to the top of the waterfalls and took pictures.

Finally, it was time (around 5.30) to go and find our accommodation for the next two night - Dis Cottage about 10mins away.
Once again, this was in a remote landscape, looking out to sea. The pod/cottage was small but perfectly kitted out (from Ikea).
Si set about creating ramen for tea.

And very nice it was too! The sun set in a very pretty pink and we hunkered down for the night listening to the howling wind!

24 Oct 19, 06:45 PM	#1
	24 Oct 19, 06:45 PM sam_b Imagineer
sam_b Imagineer Join Date: Nov 03	Iceland road trip day 2 Wind and Scenery I woke up at 6.20 and did a Bagpus impression. We came round slowly, had showers and headed over for our included breakfast. Standard continental fayre and I managed to stuff it up by picking some kind of sour milk or yoghurt to put on my cereal - rendering it inedible! Then I tried to make tea and picked the coffee urn! We went back to the room and packed up and set off around about 9.00 Our first stop was just up the road to Hraunfossar - a waterfall and Bjarnefossar another waterfall at the same site. This was literally about 5k away. We spent a good hour here looking around and taking pictures. (These are mostly my iPhone snaps - Si takes amazing ‘proper’ photos. Then we started to head back to Borgarnes to refuel, nip to Bonus and head out to the Snæfellsnes peninsula. We saw this guy en route. After a quick stop for fuel and some pork for tonight’s tea we set off for our day’s adventures. Next stop was the Basalt cliffs at Gerduberg and then on to the seal spotting beach at Ytri Tunga. We pulled into the car park and had lunch in the car - coffee, polar bread with remoulade and cheese and cheese doodles. (Gourmet!) Then we got out into the bracing wind. We did see some seal heads in the water, but it was blowing a gale and they were fishing and swimming, not basking in the beach. We got back in the car and found another waterfall called bjarnafosser - it was so windy we opted not to get any closer than looking from the car and so instead we drove to the black church. This is one of the oldest wooden churches in Iceland and sits surrounded by an enormous lava field. After a few photos we got back in the car heading for Arnarstapi and the arch in the sea. We parked up and saw this guy. Then we walked to the cliff pathway. The waves were ferocious at times - it was all very dramatic! More basalt cliffs here so they were oddly geometric. We walked along the path - the wind was blowing hard enough to make your teeth ache! Despite this place being beautiful and clearly a stop for tour buses there were no crap shops or any shops that I could see, just a couple of restaurants/cafes. These guys need to learn a thing or two about extracting tourism money! We set off across the peninsula to our last stop for the day Kirkjufellsfoss. Inland, the weather was murky and wet, but as soon as we got to the coast, the sky was clearer. This place had a tiny little car park that was rammed! We walked up to the top of the waterfalls and took pictures. Finally, it was time (around 5.30) to go and find our accommodation for the next two night - Dis Cottage about 10mins away. Once again, this was in a remote landscape, looking out to sea. The pod/cottage was small but perfectly kitted out (from Ikea). Si set about creating ramen for tea. And very nice it was too! The sun set in a very pretty pink and we hunkered down for the night listening to the howling wind!