StIck it Homer

It's Thursday and we awoke to high winds and ,dare I say it.....snow drizzle. Catherine informed me that where we were heading today was going to feel like -2C with the wind chill. As the Brits often say, "oh bloody hell."

Off we headed....our target area being the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. Driving was easy peazy today....Catherine was shocked that I ,at times, was driving 100km/hr (max speed limit is 90). As we sped along, the weatherman paid an IOU and delivered sunny skies.

First stop was Arnastapi along the SW coast of the peninsula. I think Arnastapi could be Icelandic for Ahhhhhh-Nold "I'll be back" Schwarzenager. This place would take top prize in a body building contest hands down. In the "Most Dramatic" category, it wins by a landslide. You get the picture. We could have returned to our hotel (the farm) right then and there and been very happy campers.....this place blew us away....and almost did literally as the high winds wreaked havoc with some picture taking!! I think Catherine thought we were staying on Hwy 54 and doing an easy lap around the Peninsula. She was very happy we veered off the main road and took a slight detour. Can't tell you how many pics we snapped here but they would fill a book on their own.

We eventually said goodbye and headed west to loop around the western point of Snaefellsnes. We were bordered by the Arctic Ocean to our left and Snaefelljokull Glacier to our right. Yup....a boring drive indeed !!!

We round the bend and are now on the northern coast.....brief stop at Hellissandur for gas and a snack then onwards to Olafsvik, another highly touted port to take a whale watching tour. We missed our daily "foss" at the small port of Rif as the waterfall is too far removed from the highway. Oh well, not like we haven't seen any waterfalls since we arrived.

Next stop....Kirkjufell.....waterfall and the most photographed mountain in Iceland. We were still enjoying the oooohs and ahhhs derived from sites 5 minutes up the road that we almost missed this stop. I actually had to back up on the highway to pull in. That tells you how much traffic we encountered today. (did I mention there are no shoulders on these roads?) If you would like to see this site, apparently Ben Stiller skateboards at it in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." No skateboards today AND we spotted a "No Drone Zone" sign as the land behind the waterfall is private property.

OK....last stop....Stykkisholmur (stick it homer) a quaint port on a point. Lovely looking town....can catch a ferry to Flatey here but best to wait until June as Flatey is pretty much closed till then. We had hoped to have a bite as it was now 5:00 p.m and we had been on the road all day. No such luck so we headed for " the farm".

All in all, a great day. The weather co-operated and the sites were as dramatic as we have encountered our entire time here. We chowed on "the farm's" burgers and called it a night. Tomorrow we finally land in Reykjavik for 5 nights. Friday will be an easy day as we are only 70 km away. Hotel staff suggested some sites to see on our way. We booked an apartment for 4 nights followed by a hotel next to the airport for Tues night.

Photos....other than the glacier, these are all at Arnastapi.....what did we tell you !! Will create a second entry for today just to add more pix.Read more