Grundarfjordur to Reykavik

While travelling in Sweden and Norway, we met Beth and Evan, neighbours from across the ditch. They were a little ahead of us but they've been driving around Iceland too. We met up with them for brekky in Grundarfjordur this morning which was really cool.

There were a lot of K's to travel again today but we did plan a few pretty pit stops along the way. With exceptional weather until now, the gods decided to send us a few showers of rain, hampering our views just a little…

Just around the corner and up the road from Grundarfjordur is a mountain known as Kirkjufell, or Church Mountain. It's a dramatically shaped mountain peak, much like a church steeple (hence its name) and is claimed to be the most photographed mountain in Iceland. Perhaps this is because it featured in later seasons of Game of Thrones, though, where it was known as Arrowhead Mountain, north of The Wall. It's neighbouring waterfall, Kirkjufellsfoss, was a pretty addition to the scene.

We headed off over the range and literally through a flock of Arctic Terns, hiding amongst the low cloud! We found Injalsdholskirkja, a pretty little red-roofed church thought to be the oldest concrete church in the world. The original church here was built in 1317 and was apparently quite a biggie! This little lovely is only over a century old and is set against a glacial backdrop.

The misty rain was starting to turn some of our favourite roads (corrugated dirt!!) into slippery mud. Nevertheless, we took another road less travelled to locate Svortuloft Lighthouse. To get there we passed by Viking Cove, so named for a viking burial site of some rich but unknown Viking, buried with his sword, arrow heads and other treasures. It was a rather pretty resting place near sand that was not black! From here, the road turned a tad bumpy but we made it to the bright orange lighthouse set amidst the lava fields. The coastline was dramatic and spectacular and we saw humpback whales!

Later, we wandered about in the rain to see the Gatklettur Rock Arch where wave erosion has caused the weathering of the rock into natural arches and swirling rock patterns. It was also cold and wet!

Our final stop if the day was at the little black wooden church known as Burakirkja. The deep black colour of this church, set upon a hill on an open clearing, contrasts nicely with the cloudy, mountainous background. It was quite the popular place. Samara was shunned by a sheep!

Our day ends back in Reykjavik for our last evening in Iceland, where we wander around the lake and streets (Rainbow Street, in particular). Here, Samara is shunned by both a goose and a cat!! Not pleasant for her! Tomorrow we're off to Denmark!!Read more