15.06 - Day 152 - Stokkseyri to Hali
Saturday 15th June - Stokkseyri to Hali (Day 152)
After the success with the local hotdogs for lunch yesterday we added some Skyr to our basket last night, a really thick yoghurt low in sugar and high in protein and it tastes great too for Seb and I at breakfast at Fisherinn.
Today is a longer driving day heading east along the south coast starting with a 70 minute stint on the single lane N1 that circumvents the island, to Seljalandsfoss - a narrow waterfall near the road which has the selling point of being able to walk behind it. But not a strong enough selling point for Sienna and Seb who sit and dig holes in the rocky path - their loss.
A 5 minute walk further walk brings us to another waterfall - Gljufrabui - hidden in a gorge. Seb is keen to enter trying to step from stone to stone on the edge of the river, but in the end I pick him up, hoping we both don’t end up slipping over. It’s misty in the tight space but it is a decent view of the water almost falling on to us from 30 metres above.
As we continue east we spot more waterfalls plunging over the large mountain ledges on the 50 minute run to the small town of Vik, where we stock up on groceries and run onto the black sand beach from the crushed lava.
We eat our lunch in a hollow under Uxafotafoss just outside Vik - no parking here for this quiet waterfall surrounded by fields of the purple lupines, all very picturesque indeed.
On the next 50 minute drive, there’s more evidence of where glaciers used to be - which is to say vast expanses of crushed rock, small black pebbles and sand all the way to the sea. Off to the north of us you can still see the mountains but the driving on the straight narrow roads has tinges of driving through Kansas.
We stop at Fjadrargljufur for a 20 minute walk along the rim of a straight-sided gorge with a fast flowing river below - dramatic enough for some scenes from Game of Thrones.
On the next 100 minute leg there is a 30 km stretch of driving through a massive lava field, all now covered in thick moss creating an effect of a blanket of dirty snow, smooth mounds covering the sharp edges of the jutting lava. Now on our left multiple glaciers emerge at the bottom of valleys between mountains.
We make a final brief stop to take a quick look at our target, the Jokulsarlon or Glacier Lagoon. It’s a little fresh in the air but the first view of the lagoon precipitates more intakes of breath; it’s visually stunning to see chunks of white and blue ice which have toppled from the retreating glacier into the lagoon at its base.
Encouraged then for tomorrow when we’ll come back here to explore properly we drive the final 15 minutes to Skyrhusid Guest House with 10 compact rooms and one small shared kitchen; our home for only the next 15 hours or so. We have an extra mattress on the floor in our already small triple room but it’s cosy in estate agent speak and the kids are just as happy, Seb is even happier to be sleeping on the floor.
We make pasta downstairs and chat to an Australian couple from Sydney whilst also enjoying some marriage cake - baked rhubarb jam on oats baked by the host for guests - before settling down having clipped our 3 towels over the room’s curtains to try and block out some of the ever present light.
This photo taken at midnight...
