Days 53-55 . 20th to 22nd August, Snæfellsnes Peninsula, Iceland (West Coast)

.

From Hraunfossar and Barnafoss in the previous post, I turned back along the road from Borgarnes and headed towards the Snæfellsnes Peninsula.  This is a view along the road from Hraunfossar to Borgarnes.  There are many views like this in Iceland, with farms nestled at the foot of long hills.

.

This is the route for this post, from Hraunfossar at bottom right to Stykkisholmur at the top.  You’ll notice an isolated branch in the middle.  This where I thought I was going straight ahead but had turned off into Highway F35 instead of staying on Highway 54.  The problem with this was that F roads are four wheel drive roads and I was driving a huge unwieldy two wheel drive campervan.  By the time I realised this it was too late.  I was on a narrow dirt road climbing a mountain in heavy fog with almost zero visibility.  I could only vaguely determine where the sides of the roads were and was not sure there was enough room should there be an oncoming vehicle.  Fortunately I did not encounter one and eventually found a place at the top of the hill where I could turn round.

.

In due course I arrived at Anarstapi which has this small boat harbour…

.

… and I ate a meal at this restaurant with a turf roof..
.

As you can see, the weather was wet and visibility was restricted.  This is a little further on, I’m not sure quite where, perhaps near Hellnar.  I kept on driving to the camping ground at Hellisandur, where I spent the night.

.

The next day the weather was clearer and I went back to some of the places I had driven past.  This is walking in to Djúpalónssandur and Dritvik.

.

As with much of Iceland, it is a highly volcanic area, so what we have here is moss on lava.

.

.

.

On the beach at Djúpalónssandur there are these historic boulders.  In the days when there was a fishing station here, local fishermen used to try lifting the boulders to test their strength.  The ranged through Fullsterker (Fully Strong, 154kg), Hálfsterkur (Half-Strong, 100kg) and Hálfdrættingur (Half as good, 54kg) to Amloði (weak, 23kg).  It is said that a man had to lift Hálfsterkur to get a job as an oarsman.  There is no record of how many people may have injured their backs trying to lift these stones.

.

Just a little further on, this is Dritvik.  I could have done with more time at Snæfellsnes Peninsula, as well perhaps as better weather.   However, I also didn’t have the most suitable of vehicles as many of the side roads are 4WD.

.

Going back now on the road to Hellisandur and taking a side road, this is Öndverðarnes Lighthouse at the north-west corner of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula.
.

Nearby, this is the entrance to Fálkí, an ancient stone well said to have three waters – fresh, holy and ale.  It was too dark inside for a photograph and the tripod was back in the camper.
.

This is a view nearby.  I suppose it must be looking east along the coast though I don’t understand quite where it was taken.  You can see a bit more if you click on it but I haven’t enlarged it further because there are problems with the stitching.  It does illustrate the nature of the weather, though.

.

Not far from Öndverðarnes Lighthouse, this is the much more picturesque Svörtuloft Lighthouse.

.

Rocks and wild waves near the lighthouse.

.

.

.

A closer view of Svörtuloft Lighthouse with two young German women who were travelling with me on that day.
.

Moss on rocks near the lighthouse.

.

A dramatic little cove near the lighthouse.

Not long after taking this photograph, I discovered the camper had a flat tyre.  I went to consult the manual to work out how to change the tyre and discovered it was written in German.  Fortunately I had German passengers.  Unfortunately however, the manual revealed that there was no jack and no way to change the tyre (!!!).  I had no choice but to drive very slowly to the nearest garage on the rim.  The dates the camera was set to say otherwise but my memory is clear that it was a Saturday afternoon.  When I got to Hellisandur I found there was no mechanic there and I was directed to the next town, Olafsvik.  Fortunately I found a mechanic there to change the tyre but it was several days before I could get the destroyed tyre replaced and the rim repaired.

.

Now with four tyres again, I proceeded to the pretty port of Stykkisholmur, where I had booked to catch a ferry.

.