On Our Way Two Night Stay in Hvolsvullur, Iceland

Vatnajokull, Europe's largest icecap, covers 8% of Iceland's total land. It is located in the southeast corner of the country. As we continued clockwise on the Ring Road, we noticed that the glacier fields were beginning to appear to us on the distant mountains.

DIAMOND BEACH

Icebergs wash up on the shore of this black sand beach and appear to sparkle like diamonds.

JOKULSARLON GLACIER

Glacial lagoons are formed by melting ice. The first lagoon we encountered, at the foot of Jokulsarlon Glacier, was very busy with tour boat operators and souvenir shops. We tried to book a RIB boat tour through this operator, but lucky for us, they were booked solid for the entire summer.

Both RIB and duck boat tours were offered at this glacial lagoon.

We stopped for various views of the glacier and lagoon.

FJALLSARLON GLACIER BOAT TOURS

The second glacial lagoon, just west of Jokulsarlon, was formed in the last 20 years and consequently the lagoon is smaller and the boat ride to the glacier was shorter, that resulted in a longer visit at the ice.

The boat vendor provided warm jackets and life vests.

Suited up and ready to go.

Our RIB was the last to load and had only us and a family of four from Spain.

This iceberg had just rolled over, so it displayed its blue underside for about 30 minutes before exposure to the air changed it to white.

We stopped in a flock of ice cubes. Where is the margarita mixin's.

This young harbor seal was taking a break on one of the icebergs.

Normally seals are not in the lagoon, because there are not many fish, but maybe he came in here to rest and visit with the tourists.

Sitting on the bow of the rubber inflatable boat (RIB).

We were glad that the other lagoon operators were booked solid, or we would have never found this quieter, better run concession.

Leaving the lagoon, we looked at many glacial crevices, that look like vanilla ice cream running down the valleys from this massive ice cap. 

We had to slow down for sheep crossing the road or deal with ground lamb.

More great scenery.

Followed by another single lane bridge.

 Skeioara Bridge Monument is mangled girders left when a 1996 volcano eruption quickly melted glacial ice creating a fast-moving flood which peaked at a 10-million-gallon flow per second.

We liked this Mazda 2 and put over 1400 miles on it during our twelve-day tour around Iceland.

This ridge is the dividing line between the ice cap area and a desolate volcanic desert that took about two hours to cross to reach the town of Vik. Wind/sandstorms are quite common here. We were fortunate not to have much wind during our crossing.

Halsanefshellir Cave on Black Beach near Vik, Iceland

SKOGAFOSS    

There is a 500-step stairway that takes you to the top of the falls.

Skógafoss is one of Iceland's biggest and most beautiful waterfalls with a width of 82 feet and a drop of 197 feet. The sun came out to give us a rainbow in the mist.

RAUDUSKRIDUR FARMS - THE GREEN CABIN

The Green Cabin, which is on a working farm, will be our home for two nights. It is located very close to the Westman Island Ferry for which we had reservations the following morning and return that evening.

This was our smallest accommodations of the trip. Kurt knew we were in trouble when Virginia came out and said, "just leave the suitcases in the car for now".

On Our Way to Hofn, Iceland

We passed Gufufoss as the road climbed over the mountain leaving the town of Seydisfjordur.

We encountered many dark, long (up to 10km) tunnels on the Ring Road. One tunnel in particular was 5km long, bidirectional and only one lane wide. There were meeting points designated in the tunnel to allow the oncoming traffic to pass. It is an odd feeling as you drive 35km an hour through the dark and see oncoming headlights in your lane.

One lane bridges are very common. Ice jams cause a lot of damage to bridges, so they build them one-lane to save time and money on repairs.

The first one to the bridge goes first, so you have to look far ahead to see about oncoming traffic. In Iceland headlights are required to be on at all times. On our rental car, the headlights went on and off with the ignition.

GREEN ROCK

The Green Rock

This odd colored rock is composed of ignimbrite formed long ago by volcanic activity.

Herd of reindeer on the far east side of the island, along the edge of the Ring Road.

EGGIN OR THE EGGS OF MERRY BAY

This harbor sculpture consists of 34 eggs, all about the same size, each representing a local bird. The largest one (above center) represents the red throated diver which is the official bird of Djupivogur. 

HVALNES NATURE RESERVE BEACH

We saw thousands of seabirds off this coastline which reminded us of the Oregon coast.

THE RED CHAIR

This Red Chair is a popular sculpture along the southeast coast of Iceland. Many tourists stop here for a photo op.

STUDIO APARTMENT

This BnB apartment is on a working farm in southeast Iceland.

The walls and ceiling were constructed of poured concrete much like a basement. 

On Our Way to Seydisfjordur, Iceland

Leaving Myvatn we continued on the Ring Road to the northeast part of the island. One of the things you see everywhere is sheep, either in the fields or on the menu. They all have a long wool coat and look like marshmallows with short legs out in the fields. In Iceland we had lamb a number of different ways roast lamb, sliced lamb and lamb steak, and in the hearty Icelandic lamb soup.

Lambs, Lambs Everywhere

North European Short Tailed sheep 

RJUKANDAFOSS

This waterfall is 420 feet high and one of several along the road in the East Fjord area.

Some waterfalls had turnouts, most didn't. Some were just drive bys. We met a couple from Amsterdam who were kind enough to take our picture here.

STUDIO BY THE SEA

We drove over a mountain range covered in fog to get to the small town and our BnB.

A cruise ship was anchored in the port of Seydisfjordur, population 676, at the end of the fjord.

Our small BnB shared a roof with the owner's home. It was on the shore of the fjord.

All of our Iceland BnB's bedding consisted of individual duvets. This seems to be a common practice in Europe.