Another early start for us as we had a busy day, with a number of sites to see.
Today was a full day on the Snæfellsjökull Peninsula. Our first stop was the Gerðuberg Cliffs on the way to the Snæfellsjökul peninsula. These cliffs were said to have inspired the Hallgrimskirkja church in Reykjavik. The cliffs are a series of basalt columns.
We had a nice flat hike to our next waterfall Grunderfoss. Yet another beautiful waterfall.
Then it was on to the Kikjufell peak and the Kirkjufellfoss. This was also crowded with people from the cruise ship. It was either a good walk from the ship or they were able to take the city bus that has a bus stop right at the waterfall parking lot. We didn’t climb any of the peak, but got the iconic shot of the waterfall in front with the distinctive peak in the background.
Next up the Svödufoss waterfall. It’s outside the small town of Olafovik. It’s a pretty waterfall and makes for an even better photo if you can get the Snæfellsjökull glacier in the background. So, of course the glacier was buried in cloud cover. Walking back from the falls, we thought the clouds might clear and give us a glimpse of the glacier. So, we waited and lo and behold we got a pretty good view of the glacier.
We were starved so we stopped at the small town of Hellissandur. There’s a cafe, Madatr. It was very expensive, but so good. There is also a visitor center for the National Park in the same building. This small town is the Iceland street art capital. They have a number of murals around town. So, we walked around to check them out.
Our first stop inside the National Park was the Saxhóll Crater. The crater isn’t much, but we had a fantastic sunny day. The views that you get from climbing the stairs up the crater are amazing.
We drove down to Djúpalónssandur beach. It’s a black sand beach known for its rock formations and for the shipwrecked remains of a British trawler from 1948 that crashed on shore.
There were also lifting stones on the beach. These were used by fisherman to determine if you were strong enough to work on board. To be an oarsman you had to be able to lift 120lbs.
Lóndrangar view point gives a nice sea view with stones and a number of nesting seagulls.
Then on to the town of Hellner for another viewpoint. If you have more time to walk around, it’s probably a good view. At the bluff itself there’s a sea wall that kind of spoils the view.
Arnarstapi Cliff View was next on our list. The Guardian statue,Bárður is said to be half troll/half titan and gave the peninsula its name when he saw snow and ice from the glacier. Plus it was another nice ocean view.
We made a quick stop at the Raudfeldsgja Gorge, but didn’t fell the view was worth the walk uphill yet again.
Made a short stop at the Budir Church. The Black Church which also offers some great views of the glacier.
Our last stop was the Ytri Tonga Beach. It is where a number of different kind of seals come to give birth. They are usually found there in June and July. Luckily, for us there were still some there who don’t keep track of the calendar.
We camped that night at the Snorrastadir Farm Holiday. Got there early enough to get a spot with electric. It was a nice place with decent facilities. There are also some hikes in the area, but we didn’t have time as we had to get to our scheduled tour the next day.
