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Other entries in Stykkishólmur

Craters and Snaefellsjokull

With only two days left we thought we better leg it across to the western side of Iceland to see the icecap Snaefellsjokul and the crater walk Holly found in the Lonely Planet. On the way we stopped at the superbly set seaside town of Akureyri in the northwest. We browsed the art galleries and jostled with tourists in wool stores. We both wanted to buy some woollen clothes before we left. I wanted a knitted hat and Holly a sweater or wrap.

So we're in this clothing store discussing the prices and what do we stumble across but a man laying on his back in between the racks. We stopped, looked down and thought he might have collapsed or fainted. He then lifted his leg and lowered it and mumbled "I need my ball". His jacket-matching wife next to him, completely oblivious as she browsed the rack, said "What!!!??" to which the man repeated, "I need my ball to do these exercises." Holly and I looked at each other and walked away without a word.

We left Akureyri and drove west along Route 1 passing through Blonduos where we stopped for our one and only hot-dog meal. Yech! We continued on for a about 40kms when I saw a turn-off to a woollen wear factory outlet in the small town of Hvammstangi. Here we found jumpers, socks, mittens, wraps and jackets that were more than half the price of anywhere else. I bought a little knitted blue hat for 800 kronur instead of the 1800 kronur they were asking in the tourist shops. (800 kronur = $16 AUS)

We continued on west and arrived along the Snaefellsnes Peninsular to look for a place to stay the night. All throughout Iceland there are small farm communities that work sheep and cattle. To supplement their income, the farmers build small cabins to accommodate tourists during the summer. We found such a place nestled between the ocean and the huge black mountain, Thorgeirsfell. It was called Lysuholl and was run by a nice Icelandic woman who showed us to the small cabin that had a great view out towards Snaefellsnes from the balcony. We then drove north across the mountains to the town of Olafsvik to buy some beer and steaks for dinner, after which we played card games.

The next morning we got up early and set off down the coast to Budavik Bay to do the Buoaklettur crater walk. We parked the car of the Buoir Hotel, one of Icelands best hotels, and started on our 2-hour hike through the Budahran lava field. The track through the lava field was covered in a green spongy moss and small deep caves that appeared out of nowhere. A small herd of sheep chewed on the vegetation and stared at us as we walked past towards the crater. Upon reaching the crater, we climbed halfway up and stopped when small loose volcanic rocks combined with the steep incline prevented us from going further.

We started on our way back and detoured towards the rocky beach eventually coming up behind an old church and it's graveyard. The wind had picked up by then and I was glad to get back into the car to start our drive up to Snaefellsjokull and try to see the glacier.

The road up to the peak was steep and rocky so I had to drive slowly to avoid damage to the car or worse, a flat tyre. Eventually we reached a small clearing that had a road running off it with a sign indicating 4WD's only. I took a photo of the peak and drove on down the other side of the mountain, turned right and headed towards Reykjavik for our last night.