Iceland Road Trip – 5

Arnastapi
It’s a long drive to the Snæfellsnes Peninsular. After a couple of hours we’re south enough to be free of the reach of the snow. And we don’t stop until we’re outside a Bónus in Borgarnes buying sandwiches for lunch. There’s been a lot of rain and the yellow shopping complex is rusting out from the downpipes.

We drive north and then west. Snæfellsnes has some unique landscape. You could argue that all of Iceland is stark, dramatic landscape, but nearing the end of the trip, being nearly two weeks on the road and nearing the end of the drive. It stands out. The thing that stands out with this place is that it’s windy. Almost dangerously so. This place is the home to several failed colonies. We’re late for our lava tunnel tour, but we manage to join the last one for the day. While we wait, we kill some time at the nearby Malariff Lighthouse and its nearby visitor centre.

The Vatnshellir Cave was formed from volcanic activity and it’s a former lava tube that used to be a local farmer’s source of water. Old wooden platforms and pylons the last evidence of this. We’re given a torch and helmet, and then descend a spiral staircase into the cave. All lava tube caves are relatively new, rigid. They’re made of volcanic stone, and so lack the limestone and water erosion qualities of other caves. Any stalactites are hair-thin and more fragile than glass. Another spiral staircase and we’re deeper into the cave system. The guide turns off the lights to show that there is no light penetrating from the surface. All you can hear is the sound of water percolating through the stone. Animal bones show that foxes sometimes make it down into the cave.

We return to the surface and the members of the tour group separate. We try to get some photos of the Lóndrangar, a rock formation that stands along the edge of the coast, against violent waves. But the light isn’t good, and the weather becoming unsettling, so we left to the hotel. The Arnastapi Hotel is a series of boxes that look like stone cubes, each housing two or three rooms, all joined by a dark stone path.

The next morning, I get up early, before the sun rises to catch some pre-dawn light. The wind wakes up around the same time, and I have to force my way through it to get back to the hotel. After breakfast and checking out, we return to Lóndrangar to see if we can get a shot of the stones with the sun shining on them. The clouds are racing from over the mountains, bringing rain and light, stinging hail. We get our shots and then head to Hotel Hamar to drop off our stuff and then further inland to Barnafoss.

Barnafoss and Hraunfossar are two waterfalls within walking distance of each other. Hraunfossar a panoramic series of falls. Barnafoss gets its name from the legendary story of children falling into the falls and their mother destroying a stone bridge to prevent other children falling in. Barnafoss is a coiling series of violent rapids and falls made of ice-blue-milky water.

Reykholt
We head back through the Reykholt area to the Krauma baths. The entire Krauma facility is geothermally heated water and surrounding farm with similarly heated greenhouses, which likely supply the attached bistro with vegetables. The baths facilities are the second-best of the trip (after Vök). While the baths are appropriately heated, there’s sauna and relaxation areas and a view of the surrounding complex and farmland through the steam. We had dinner in the bistro and mistook the anticipated size of the loaded fries. This mountain of carbs, loaded with bacon and cheese was followed by a fish dish and eventually a mountain of barley risotto. They had actually forgotten my risotto, and in the five minute hindsight, I should have had them cancel it. While the risotto was okay, it was now way too much food. I was bargaining with God on the way home.

Earlier that day, when we checked into the hotel, the hotel employee asked us if we would like a call if there was any aurora present. And we said yes. So flash back to the present where Sam is attempting to wake me up, because he heard the phone call from the the hotel staff. So I assembled something to wear and rushed out into the midnight cold, with camera and tripod and started shooting. After a short while, the aurora faded and we crawled back inside and we went to sleep.

Reyjavik
After breakfast, we get packed and start our way back to Reykjavik. Along the way, Sam mentions that he wants to check out a geothermal site, but the name he mentions doesn’t seem to match his expectation. The Geothermal Exhibition is a museum about the harnessing geothermal power in Iceland. There are art installations and other information about the geology of Iceland. There is also a small section dedicated to direct air capture, which is to catch and store CO2 underground in a way that it forms some kind of calcium carbonate. We return to Reykjavik, drop off our stuff at the hotel, then return the car to the rental place.

The hotel staff member seemed surprised we would be staying for six nights.