As we all know, if it’s on Google, it must be true…

…that’s why, when there was a sign on the road we were supposed to take telling us that for almost 20 kilometres, and with gradients reaching almost 20 degrees… Harry and I decided to press on!

These photos do not even come close to giving an indication of how long nor how slippery nor how high we climbed – but we literally drove over the top of a mountain – and I was so proud of little Harry!

If one looks top right of the image below, one may see the ribbon of track we were still to encounter – and that was less than a third of the way!

At times, the ‘road’ was reasonable as in this photo – at other times, it was a slippery, wide track…

Hmmmmm, just what one wants to see – not…

 

…time for a beverage…

…and an amazing dinner…

…and although my birthday is not until September, this looked soooooo good (and the chef made it especially from scratch) so I decided I would treat myself to this as my birthday cake!  YUM!

…and, contrary to popular opinion, there is more advanced communication here on the island…

Tomorrow, it is off to find Walter Mitty’s skateboard mountain!  http://luxuriousnomad.com/seydisfjordur-and-walter-mitty-skateboard-road/

~ Bella

 

 

 

34 huge granite eggs represent the eggs of each of the nesting birds in this area, many of which are migrating birds, flying over to Iceland from far away to lay their eggs in Iceland.  Each one of the 34 eggs is an exact replica of the egg of the bird in question. The eggs are all different in shape, nuance, and colour. Most of the bird species represented by the eggs are migratory and the best bird-watching time in Iceland is from June to August.

 

The amazing sculpture is the work of noted visual artist, Sigurður Guðmundsson.

…from here we take on an adventure that we didn’t expect…  Google said there was a road there… so we went…….. little did we know Harry would end up climbing a mountain on a loose gravel track!

~ Bella

 

This is what you get when you put an engineer together with a house designer in 1954 and ask them to build a lighthouse.  The light still operates to this day with two white flashes that are emitted every 20 seconds.

Now, time to find some eggs!  http://luxuriousnomad.com/in-search-of-eggs-eggin-i-gledivik/

~ Bella

Höfn í Hornafirði is a relatively new settlement, with people first living there in the early 1800s.  It only became a city in 1988 – but a city with only 2,200 residents.

It’s amazing how many cyclists I saw… especially when you consider that one can drive for hours and not see a town…

Next stop – off to find Walter Mitty’s ‘Greenland’ airport…  http://luxuriousnomad.com/hornafjordur-walter-mitty-airport/

~ Bella

At times like this, I wish I had more superlatives in my vocabulary…  I was literally AWE-struck!

Jökulsárlón – literally meaning “glacial river lagoon” – and if the sight of the icebergs floating by wasn’t extraordinary enough, the icebergs in Jökulsárlón are composed of ice that is over 1,000 years old!

Jökulsárlón first started forming in 1934, when the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier started retreating, leaving the lagoon in its path.

…and looking carefully, one can see a seal toward the bottom right of the next photo…

…

Diamond Beach is a strip of black sand on the greater Breiðamerkursandur glacial plain, so called for the ‘diamonds’ (chunks of ice) that are scattered across the beach…

…and across this bridge is one of the most magical of all sights…  http://luxuriousnomad.com/glaciers-and-icebergs/

~ Bella

Continuing on, we go in search of the last turf church ever to be built in Iceland…

Originally constructed in 1884, this is still a practicing parish church…

…surrounded by burial mounds…

Next stop – Diamond Beach:  http://luxuriousnomad.com/diamond-beach/

~ Bella

When the Vatnajökull volcano erupted in 1996, the 880-metre-long (2,890 ft) bridge was damaged by icebergs the size of houses that had broken off and floated down and across the plains…

Thankfully, no one was killed when the bridge was destroyed…

…and this monument is all that remains…

Hofskirkja Turf Church next…  http://luxuriousnomad.com/hofskirkja-turf-church/

~ Bella