Tooling around the eastern fjords

Today (7th) was a beautiful clear morning in Seydisfjordur, and after packing up and checking out, we discovered that the village itself was as shiny and picturesque as you could hope for. Also, it had an open coffee shop, albeit one in which the hipster barista explained that the pastries had finished at ten, and if we’d wanted them we should have got up earlier. Bet he wasn’t up looking at auroras the night before. Anyway, pretty blue wooden church, lovely still clear water surrounded by painted houses. Nice place.

Back over the pass that we had come in by, to Eglisstadir, from where we could join route-1 south past Reydarfjordur, Faskrudsfjordur (which we detoured to drive around and through, as it has some interesting history with France, and has street names in Icelandic and French), stopped for lunch at a guesthouse cafe in Stodvarfjordur. Good soup and goulash, although the order turned up reversed. Interesting place, where some artist types seemed to have moved into the various abandoned fishing-related buildings. Lots of broken cars and machinery around, but lots of great wall-art too.

The causeway bridge at Breiddalsvik was closed for repair, so we had to take the old, longer road around the end of the fjord. All the way around Berudfjordur. We stopped to stretch our legs and take some photographs at Havalnes Lighthouse, which afforded a great view west-south-west along the long black sand spit. Eventually we came to Hofn, a town mannicured and gardened to extreme lengths. It probably deserves it though, because from there it is possible to look north and west across the flood plain at five or six glaciers, the eastern edge of the Vatnajokull National Park ice shelf that occupies the south-eastern quarter of Iceland (more or less: it’s big).

We’re over-nighting a bit north of there, in a hotel with a view of a couple of the glaciers.

Big day, and here I am, caught-up.


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