Breakfast was extra special today as there was a third kind of pickled herring availble.
We drove south and east along the coast, stopping at every waterfall or church we spotted. The waterfalls are big and magnificent. The churches are small and all built to the same plan, but quaint.
Incidentally, this is only about 10 km from the volcano eruption site on Eyjafjallajökull that shut down the airlines in 2010. We took a side trip and a 1 km walk to the tip of a glacier at Solhelmajokul. The snow is far dirtier here (with ash) than the Rockies.
We arrived at our day’s destination, Vik, by noon, in time for lunch at a soup shop. We thought we would check in to the hotel early, only to find it was actually 15 km from Vik. I had seen a lot of hotel signs along the highway on places that seemed pretty small, and this was one of those.
It appears that many, a very many, of the farms throw together a prefab motel unit block, or build some cabins, put up a sign saying hotel, and charge you an arm and a leg for it. Since most also advertise as a resturant, they also serve the evening meal in an attempt to get that other arm and leg. The place is nice, the buildings nestled well off the highway tight under the edge of a huge hill.
The room block is new and well built, but it is just a motel block. I’m assuming all the other farms are similar, as they appear to be. Anyway, there are 14 cars here tonight, so the cash flow is better than it would be from the half dozen sheep grazing in the yard.
After booking in we headed to Dyrholaey. Here there is a crashing surf on a cliff with some islands that have arches worn through them. There is also a high headland with a lighthouse.
Across the estuary is another similar headland, Reynisfjara. This is known for its long black sand beach; the remarkable columnar basalt formation; plus some very vertical sea stack formations just off shore.
On the other side of the headland is the town of Vik, also with a black sand beach. We spent some time exploring the town, and a lovely town it is. I could stay there, but I think Vic would find it small.
The geography of this area is different than it was further west. The hills are bigger and sharper, and far more lush with grass growth. There is still not a tree to be seen anywhere.
We had dinner at our “hotel”, and it was good. I had Arctic char (better than salmon) which is farmed locally, I believe.
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