Before leaving Isafjordur there was one shot that had to be taken. In Isafjordur’s Main Street is a zebra crossing that has become an ‘Insta’ sensation. We had to recreate the Abbey Road album cover..
This was a day of driving along both sides of some long fjords as we wended our way to the next destination: a hotel in Laugabakki, a very small community in the middle of nowhere – and which seemed to be being used as a conference centre by the police (at least, we don’t THINK they were looking for any of us! If they were, they changed their minds!). There were a few notable photo ops along the fjords, including a fun encounter with a seal pretending to be the Little Mermaid and some rainy reflections.
But apart from that, it was a long, frequently snowy road with the occasional stop for some minimalist photography!
And after a really good dinner and a good night’s sleep we were off early-ish for another day’s coastal drive to Siglurfjordur.
We started the day at Hvitserkur, where a huge rock is thought of as a dinosaur, though, to me, it resembled an ancient elephant more. The car was parked at the top of a path which was fairly steep in parts and on the way down I did think twice about whether I’d manage to get back up – but I did, and after a very pleasant time playing with angles for shots of the dinosaur at the edge of the beach, watching the seals on a sandbank and, without great success, encouraging them to come closer, we were off again.
What had been intended as a coffee stop became a cookie lunch stop. In fact, the restaurant was still not open for Summer though the hotel was hosting a quilting convention- lots of Icelandic ladies enjoying their craft together as we were ours.
Leaving the car park, Paul set off down a road that seemed to be a dead end and we began to ask why. He said, enigmatically, that he was taking us to see something that at least one of us would find interesting. We all (I think) assumed that as it was going to be something to do with fishing, but no, Paul had remembered the existence of a salt refining centre at the back of the hotel and as we drew up alongside the building there was the Saltverk van for all to see. We were given a guided tour by the Croatian man running it and were pleased to find we’d paid the right price in the little shop in Bjdudal a couple of days earlier.
A little later, despite frequent snow showers, we spent time on a back sand beach surrounded by snow covered mountains. There were opportunities for all sorts of landscape shots and for some closeups of the grasses and the textures on the beach.
Back on the road we drove through fairly heavy snow showers before reaching the farthest north point of our journey, the small fishing port of Siglurfjordur. The hotel here was a real treat with views overlooking the harbour, interesting despite the constant rain.
I decided to be a bit more creative here so focussed on the colours I saw from my window.
Dinner that night was relaxed as we took full advantage of our surroundings. We all decided to have the three course menu and were served traditional seafood soup (though at least two of us wondered if we were being given a non-traditional version as the bowls were brought with the seafood but no soup… that was poured over the seafood at the table)! The main course was beef and we were expecting nouvelle cuisine size portions only to find the plates piled high with what looked like two fillets of beef as well as fresh vegetables. This was the first day I hadn’t eaten fish! And then, of course, there was the chocolate cake dessert…..
We woke to a bleak morning and were headed for Lake Myvatn, renowned for its bird life and geo thermal environment. We were to be there for three days.
But first came what we were told was ‘the best cake shop in Iceland’. We weren’t disappointed! In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if the ‘foodie’ element of this tour should be emphasised in the advertising!!
Living the Journey 