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  • Kim Nena DuggenSabbatical 2017
    Day23

    Snæfellsnes - the west of Iceland

    June 12, 2017 in Iceland

    Today we went west. Saw some amazing cliffs, a cave and tons of waterfalls, mountains, sheep and horses - enough for a lifetime, one might think, but every single one of these sights is incredible and we can't get enough!
    Even took some nothern German hitchhikers for the good karma - can't have enough of that either

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  • j.k.adventuresIceland Against The Wind
    Day7

    Day 6: 64°33'2" N 21°11'50" W

    September 3, 2015 in Iceland

    It was a tough night. Around one at night, there was a huge storm over us. I have never been in a tent when it was that stormy. The tent was holding up well. The next day we had only some little uphills, followed by a long descent to a small city where we stayed at a campground and made the plans for the next day.

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  • Lars JansenWeltreise
    Day21

    Heute: Snæfellsnes

    June 12, 2017 in Iceland

    Der Westen Islands stand heute auf dem Programm. Eine Schlucht mit Wasserfall, vulkanische Klippen (inklusive eines Torbogens), ein verwunschener Berg und dann haben wir noch aus einer Quelle getrunken, bei der das Wasser schon mit Kohlensäure aus der Erde kommt...verrückte Sachen und wieder absolut atemberaubend.

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  • Creating MemoriesTraum. Welt. Reise.
    Day32

    Poldi besuchen

    August 20, 2017 in Iceland

    Auf einem Vulkankrater lasse ich den Tag ausklingen. Nachdem ich die letzte Nacht nach Nordlichtern Ausschau gehalten habe, bin ich heute recht KO. Tatsächlich habe ich Welche gesehen. Allerdings recht schwach und eher grauweiß als grün. Diesen Effekt macht wohl häufig nur die Kamera 😊

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  • TimmeMOUNTAIN ADVENTURE
    Day340

    Snæfellsens

    September 17, 2016 in Iceland

    Die Hauptstadt liegt hinter uns und wir haben nun bis zum Schluss der Reise ein Auto gemietet um einmal um die Insel zu düsen. Erstes Ziel war die Halbinsel Snæfellsens ... ja auch wir müssen uns hier erstmal an die ganzen komischen Namen gewöhnen. Bei fast ständigen Regen muss man zwar immer eine Regenjacke dabei haben, aber wir sind gut gewappnet. So begrüßt und die wunderschöne Landschaft unter anderem mit Wasserfällen und Gletschern. Wobei wir leider bei dem Wetter nicht auf den Gletscher konnten und die Wolken uns die Sicht versperrt haben. Aber wir haben das beste draus gemacht und mitgenommen was ging.Read more

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  • Catherine and Paul Dilworthiceland
    Day9

    Welcome to Heaven....ooops, Hraunsnef

    May 16, 2017 in Iceland

    As mentioned in today's other post, we landed in Borganes. Booking a place to stay was the easy part...justifying the price most places wanted was not easy. Eventually we found a place 24 km out of town. The price looked good and it scored 9 on Booking.com. We locked in and headed out.

    We booked the Hraunsnef Hotel, a working farm with cottages, a hotel and a fabulous on-site restaurant. Check it all out at www.hraunsnef.is

    This is a terrific hotel whose farm provides the restaurant with beef, pork,chicken,lamb and eggs. Other local items are supplied by nearby farms. We ate dinner here.....2 thumbs up and another 2 for the apple cake dessert.

    Dinner was followed by another soak in one of their 2 "hot pots". That's 5 days in pools and /or hot pots for us.....guess we're turning into Icelanders. Now if we could only do something about their native language!!

    Executive decisions have been made....we're staying here for 2 nights.    Read more

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  • Catherine and Paul Dilworthiceland
    Day9

    Paul Anka meets The Who

    May 16, 2017 in Iceland

    Today was a driving day from Hofsos to Borganes. We covered a lot of ground and can report that the N1 station in Varmahlid sucks while the one in Blonduos is very clean and efficient.

    Yup, that is about as good as the day got on the road. As the attached pics will demonstrate, we are caught somewhere between Paul Anka's "I'm Just a Lonely Boy" and The Who's "I Can See for Miles". Travelling through Iceland at this time is pretty good as many of the expected 2 million tourists are not here yet. In addition, we are travelling the country counter clockwise while the many tour busses we saw today were heading clockwise. Not only are we salmon swimming up stream, most of the water scenery to see is on your right....Cath has a front row seat to it all without me blocking her view.

    Ah, it's a tough life but we are happy to try and do it. We shudder to think what the traffic is like in late June thru September.

    We get to Borganes mid-afternoon.....find an information centre, a Bonus and a Nordic Clothing store. We are reminded that despite the high prices, we are entitled to a VAT reimbursement on larger purchases when we leave the country. The VAT totals approximately 20% so we may yet return to the Nordic Store.

    We book accommodation and head out to find it. Catherine says I should devote a separate blog to our hotel so that we can add 6 pics of it. I will conclude by saying today has been the best day weather wise....as high as 14C. Perfect driving day.

    Photos.....morning in Hofsos ,Cath at Hofsos Guesthouse,"cat's arch bridge", empty highway, golf course outside Borganes    Read more

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  • Catherine and Paul Dilworthiceland
    Day10

    Snorri Time

    May 17, 2017 in Iceland

    Since we decided to stay at "the farm" for a second night, we planned an easy day with very little driving. Problem was the weatherman messed with us and dropped the temps to 6C and tossed in some wind and a bit of drizzle. Bastard !!

    Oh well, we packed for it so off we went...heading towards Reykholt. along the way, we stopped at Deildartunguhver as did a bus load of Asian tourists. They stayed for 5 minutes.....we lasted 10. The place is Europe's biggest hot spring...water temp 100C. Next !!

    We zip along to Reykholt and discover Snorralaug (aka Snorri's Pool) along with a statue of Snorri Sturluson, a famous son credited with writing Egil's Saga. A side note....sagas are a big deal here in Iceland. While we aren't fluent in them as yet, they seem to be part myth, part fact, part who knows what !! Catherine and I are attending a comedy play on Saturday night in Reykjavik that deals entirely with the sagas. We will report on it later.

    Snorri's Pool is small and cannot be used as a hot tub. Fine.....put a check mark beside that....let's move along.

    Today featured a daily double "foss" siting. For those of you who have been paying attention, you know that anything ending in "foss" or containing the word "foss" means only one thing......WATERFALL !! Woo hoo.....we scored 2 today and as luck would have it, they were side by side. We came across Hraunfossar and Barnafoss. It was a shame that we had a cloudy day....both are beautiful and very unique when compared to the BIG ones on our trip. The pics will give you some idea. I'm thinking that we should open a Tubing business at these falls. They are too narrow for white water rafting but would make an excellent tube run as long as participants wore hockey elbow pads and a helmet. Water is coming at you from every direction and the speed is a warp factor 7 (been a few days since I tossed in a Star Trek reference!!)

    That concludes our "to do" list for this neck of the woods. Now back to Borganes. We luck out along the way to visit with some Icelandic horses. Once we pulled over and put the window down, one strolled over to the fence out of curiosity. In the background were 2 playful white horses who, once we put the camera away, leapt onto their hind legs and gave high fives !! Reminded me of that Far Side cartoon where the cows are standing around on two legs until one yells "car" at which point the cows drop down onto all four hooves. Stupid tourists !!!

    Borganes features an Icelandic Settlement Centre. Upon entering (and paying....first time we have paid for any attraction here) you are given headsets that have an audio guide to lead you along. It's a two part tour taking one hour. Despite the price, well worth it. The Centre also sold souvenirs but not cheap "made off shore ones". We passed on purchasing anything but the quality of the items being sold was second to none.

    It is now late in the afternoon and we're hungry. We find a koffehuis ( spelling??) and of course run into someone we know. Well, we don't really know them but is is the third day we have crossed paths. "They" are a young German couple whom we first me in Egg Salad Store as we stayed at the same guesthouse. We met up again at the Myvatn Nature Baths and then again today. We are all travelling counter clockwise.

    And guess what? Remember me saying we took the wrong road up to Husavik ? At the Nature Baths I warned the Germans not to take Hwy 87 because it was mostly gravel. Sure enough...they got confused and mistakenly took it.....and saw a car in the ditch being driven by a young girl . Feel bad for all of them but got some measure of redemption for being a scaredy cat 🐱 when we took that road.

    Anyways, we had a great chat with them....compared notes....got some tips for the Golden Circle area and enjoyed their cell phone video of the whales they saw in Husavik.

    Another day comes to an end but not before the farm dog decides I will be her new BFF. Several minutes after befriending her she is outside our room door wimpering. Ah, man's best friend indeed.

    On tap for tomorrow.....the Snaefellsnes Peninsula (aka The Snuffles Ness Peninsula).    Read more

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  • Catherine and Paul Dilworthiceland
    Day11

    StIck it Homer

    May 18, 2017 in Iceland

    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

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  • placeswetravelledWorld trip - Anna & Bertram
    Day22

    An evening ascent outside Reykjavik

    October 30, 2017 in Iceland

    We spent most of today in Borgarnes, relaxing in a nice coffee shop/bakery. In the evening, we tested our slack line, which is a real challenge in Iceland as there are no trees big enough to attach it to. So we did our best with some rocks in a field...
    We then drove over to Akranes and, upon arriving, decided to climb up Mount Háihnúkur during dusk. It is a little mountain overlooking Akranes and the bay outside Reykjavík. It took us little over an hour to climb the 500 meters and were rewarded by a view over the two cities. :-)Read more

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You might also know this place by the following names:

Vesturland, West, Occidental, Ouest, Ovest, Oeste, Västra

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