Day 29 – 7 August 2023 – Arnarstapi to Patreksfjorour, Iceland

A somewhat average breakfast at the hotel then on the road around 9 am.  Our first turn-off is in to see Hellnar, it doesn’t have a lot going for it, a small decaying town. The next turn-off is in to Laugarbrekka, a farm where the first white woman to give birth to a child on the American continent, was born. She & her husband sailed to Vinland (America) & settled there with other Norse settlers (Vikings) around the year 1,000. Christopher Columbus wasn’t even close to being born when these people were living in America. There is a small cairn with sculpture to mark the spot.

Our next stop is easy to see, two giant volcanic plugs right on the seashore, they are huge & are named “Londrangar”. From the viewing platform we spot lots of nesting seabirds on the cliff faces with some chicks & some eggs. The view along the coastline is beautiful. Then we stop at a cinder cone near the road that has a carpark plus stairs leading to the top, the climb up is breath taking in both senses of the word. There is a large depression in the top & views all round to the mountains & the sea.

More mountains, more waterfalls, some of them are stunningly beautiful & we drive through an extremely large lava field, “Berserkjahraun” with jumbles of rock covered in moss – no trees, no grass. The mountains are amazing, so steep, lots of scree slopes, the colours & shadows on the mountains & the roads, so much up & down & around with steep climbs & descents. Our first destination is Stykkisholmur today & we stop at a bakery for a late lunch, it is very hard to find somewhere to eat, not many towns around.  We refuel before boarding the car ferry across the Breidafjordur waterway saving a drive of hundreds of kilometres.

There is hardly a breath of wind & the sea is very flat as we sail out of the harbour with only around two thirds a load of cars. There are rocks everywhere as we sail across this giant fjord, I am certainly glad the captain knows his way. We sit out on the back deck in the sunshine with lots of others enjoying the warm day. There are seabirds all the way across with lots of little puffins swimming & flying around the boat, a real treat. The boat stops about two thirds of the way across at an island called Flatey & drops off around a dozen people plus some freight & pumps what I think is drinking water onto the island of around twenty houses. Again there are lots of rocks all round & it is superb seamanship sailing through this maze of rocks. I can’t imagine how hard it would be in bad weather.

The trip takes around 3 hours all up before we come into a tiny port called Saeferoir on the other side with a huge line of cars waiting to catch the ferry, no idea how they could all fit onto that boat. More beautiful scenery & up & down some really high snow topped mountains before we finally make it to Patreksfjordur & our hotel for the night, a new looking Foss Hotel on the water edge. We have a really tasty dinner in the restaurant & fall into bed exhausted after a long, but good day.