Tag: grundarfjordur

Iceland Ring Road – Snaefellsnes Peninsula

by ginnyinshanghai

While technically we were no longer on the ‘Ring Road’ since we turned off to explore the Snaelfellsnes Peninsula………..I wanted continuity with my posts. There you go.

Grundarfjordur

Our city for the night was situated on the North Snaefellsnes peninsula, exactly in the middle of the northern peninsula coast. The town was between a mountain range and the sea. Due to its natural harbor it was a center of trade for the peninsula since the 15th century. Fishing boats come in and out, offloading their catches – except when we were there. We arrived on the weekend AND it was an Icelandic holiday. Even their grocery store was closed – not good, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

My previous post ended with wind and rain. That’s where this starts. We stayed at a former post office that had been converted into guest rooms. Yep, still raining. We should be using an umbrella but we don’t have one and it seemed silly to drive in the small town – so we walked and got soaked.

We were on the ground floor, with our own bathroom and an extra bed.

A nice restaurant was fairly close and easily walkable. Website indicated it was open and cars were in their parking lot. Closed for a private event that evening. Uh oh. Find a plan B. Googled more eating establishments and walked to Harbour Cafe – it’s open, but everyone not part of the private event was there. BTW – still raining.

It’s generally bad news when you enter and a person asks ‘Do you have a reservation?’. Another couple was ordering and being seated at a table for five with the caveat it needed to be vacated at 7pm. She asked if we could join them – they gave us a thumbs up and said yes. Thank you!

I needed a beer. The lighter one on the right was mine and I was keeping up with Eric.

They also had a bar, beer on draft and wines – pretty nice for this very small establishment.

Eric started with the langoustine soup – fitting for tonight. It was steaming hot, filled with veggies and BIG. He had enough for all of us.

My lamb steak was just what I needed that evening. The potatoes were crunchy and the salad crisp – delicious.

Eric was staying with seafood, ordering Icelandic cod.

When we got our beers, they put a slip of paper on the table, 7pm. We were fine with that and not offended. Our ‘new best friends’ were from Belgium and had gotten their food fairly quickly. Did we make it out by 7pm? We could have but……….not a chance nor our fault. The waitress came towards our table, looked at me and said ‘What? Where is your food?’ That was exactly what we were thinking and it was 7:10pm. Needless to say, it came fairly quickly after that.

The next morning breakfast was at the same locale. It was the only thing open we could find. It was near the harbor and we discovered the Icelandic Coast Guard was in port.

A few houses had graphitti, not to the extent in Reykjavik. It is generally sanctioned in Iceland and there have been some fabulous ones.

But why had we deviated off the ring road? Why were we here? To see one of the most photographed places in Iceland – Kirkjufell, which means church mountain. The mountain generally looks like a steeple on a church.

The free-standing mountain with volcanic rock was 463 meters or 1519 feet tall.

It is not a volcano but a nunatak – a mountain that protruded above the glaciers surrounding it during the ice age. The word nunatak is Greenlandic. It is the result of glacial erosion. BTW – Alaska has the largest nunatak called ‘Great Nunatak’. Who knew?

The view most seen encompasses the nearby falls. Have you seen it? If you’ve done any reading or research about Iceland, there’s no doubt you’ve seen this.

Turned around and got this shot. The town we stayed in was at our backs. The sun is trying to shine through the cloud cover. Still very windy.

It was a short hike to get here with the parking lot beyond the waterfalls. While the rain had stopped, the wind did not. You had to lean in headfirst to make any progress. It was the strongest wind felt since arriving. We definitely held onto our car doors!

The mountain can be hiked by an experienced mountain climber but truly only with an expert guide. My reading indicated there had been three recent fatalities.

My last shot as we got back onto the road passing by Kirkjufell and looking back.

I say ‘my shot’ as I’m including some shots I found on the internet. The color changes during the passing seasons.

Summer & lush growth:

June equinox and the midnight sun:

Winter -barren, white and brown

September and months onward for the Northern Lights:

It has stood the test of time.

Ginny

Iceland Ring Road – North then West

by ginnyinshanghai

We were driving five+ hours and jumping off the ring road with Grundarfjordur being the night’s destination. This drive gave us the opportunity to see a variety of landscapes. This post was about transitions.

Let’s talk trees.

My previous post talked about how the land was deforested 1000+ years ago. When the Vikings arrived 25-40% of the land was forested. At the beginning of the 20th century .5% of Iceland was covered by trees. In 1907 the Icelandic Forestry Service was established. While trees had been planted it was in the 1950s the first large scale tree planting occurred, with mainly native birch. The hope is that 12% of Iceland will be forested by 2100.

They were planting poplars, Englemore spruce and Alaskan willows. Plant growth has been slow due to low nitrogen in the soil and the cooler growing temperatures. Millions of seedlings are planted yearly.

Let’s talk farmland.

The North has extensive areas of green acres supporting crop and livestock farming. Today farming is practiced by 5% of the population with sheep and cattle being the two most farm raised.

Economic actives include animal breeding, offering accommodations and activities for tourists. The second offering someone might question – accommodations. Really? Really. A number of properties and farmland had small individual tiny houses for guest to rent. Riding horses, especially along a beach is a popular activity. Icelandic horses are a pure breed and garner world-wide interest. Once a horse leaves Iceland, they are not allowed back for fear of spreading disease.

You’ve got to keep your eyes on the road. Never know what you may be following.

The production of meat, dairy and eggs is sufficient for the country’s needs. Meaning Iceland does not have to import these goods. Despite a seemingly uncultivable environment, Iceland grows over half of its own vegetable produce, all with 100% green renewable energy. Crops such as potatoes, rhubarb, turnips, radishes, carrots, cabbage, kale and cauliflower to name a few. Subtropical crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, pepper and bananas (yes, bananas) are grown in greenhouses.

Let’s talk stark beauty.

While not ‘pretty’ in a traditional sense, the landscape can change in a blink of an eye.

Eric was a little worried about the weather, but up to now there were no issues.

Occasionally you would come upon a car – and pass them.

We were driving between ranges, meandering along route 1. A few guidebooks called this boring and a few suggested driving this first and save the ‘best’ (south Iceland) until last. I like our route and direction.

The weather can change quickly.

When we turned off the ring road, we ran into rain and WIND. BTW – your insurance doesn’t cover car damage caused by blowing sand nor door damage if you lose control of the door when opening it. We kept a tight handle on the doors. The other we couldn’t control. Yes, it is that windy. And rainy. And windy with more rain.

No lie, this vehicle HAD to be having a tricky drive. I would not want to be in a vehicle this tall.

It was still gray, raining and extremely windy as we drove into our destination. Small town, majestic views, but I will save that for the next post. There was a reason we strayed off the ring road for one of the last legs of our Icelandic journey.

Ginny