Búðardalur

It was so good to get some sleep last night (even though a big group of local campers partied until 4 am😳😳). We slept hard from 7:30 - 12:30, then again from 4 am until 8:00.

Our first stop today was Djúpalónssandur, a black pebble beach with lava formations and the rusted remains of a crashed fishing ship. At Djúpalónssandur beach there are 4 differently sized stones. They are well-known Aflraunasteinar - Steinatök or lifting-stones. They were used to measure the strength of fishermen in Iceland. The name given to each stone is the rank you earn when you lift it to at least waist height:

Amlóði (weakling) - 23kg
Hálfdrættingur (half-carrier) - 54kg
Hálfsterkur (half strong) - 100kg
Fullsterkur (full strong) - 154kg

It was foggy this morning which made the mossy lava on the path to the beach look awesome!

We then drove to Kirkjufell Mountain. During the whole drive there, we saw literally 100’s of water falls streaming from the green hills and mountains but Kirkjufell with it’s falls topped them all and definitely lived up to my expectations. I took WAY too many pictures and video shots 😂😂

Afterwards, we drove through Grundarfjörður, a gorgeous stretch of road…there were Icelandic horses on the hillsides amongst the waterfalls and streams and sheep everywhere! Alan had to stop a few times to not hit them.

We drove to the end of a small peninsula to Stykkishólmur - It’s an adorable fishing village where I guess they filmed part of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”.

We walked to the harbor and hiked to the top of the cliff for a great view of the town and to see the cute orange lighthouse.

Our last stretch of road today was our first experience on an Iceland gravel road. It was at times a tad bit bumpier than Alan would have liked 😂. It took us to Búðardalur where we are now camped for the night. Tomorrow we head into the Westfjords.Read more