Vik and beyond

Having made a return visit to the beach at Jokulsarlon after the glacier visit the previous day, with, for me, some amazing images captured, it was easier than I might have expected to encourage our leader to drive past as we began the drive east along Highway 1 – the road that takes travellers all the way around the country.

By now you must have realised that this was a place that absolutely fascinated me: we’re likely to revisit when we return to Reykjavik and I have no doubt that if there is any sign of ice, I’ll be headed to the beach with all the camera fun it offers.

And so we continued east, aiming for the small port of Hofn and an area we were told was one of Iceland’s most dramatic coastlines. We had also heard about an interesting restaurant called Pakkhaus and housed in an old building which used to be a packing factory for the fish brought in to the harbour.

Along the way we happened across some photogenic ruins:

I was intrigued by the milk churn here!

Then some Icelandic horses, one of whom decided he should be in the Lloyds Bank adverts and galloped away from us!

We arrived in time for an early checkin at The Milk Factory and then headed for lunch at the restaurant:

You can’t book a table here – and it is not uncommon for there to be long queues at busy times. On both days we were lucky!

Then we were off to Stokksnes the most southeasterly point of the country, famous for black sand dunes and views of the Vestrahorn mountain range. We were warned that wet feet might well be the result of taking photographs on the water’s edge – and they were!

The sun had more than set by the time we returned to the Milk Factory – I thought I was shattered then: little did I know what the next day would bring, though I knew we were returning to Stokksnes ( about a thirty minute drive from the hotel) early in the morning.