Oh my goodness, the wind here in Vík is intense! We fell asleep last night after placing wagers on whether or not we would wake up in Oz. The van shook all night. In the middle of the night there was a crazy rain storm. Although my weather app says the wind speeds are only 25 mph sustained and 35 mph gusts, it honestly feels like a lot more.
In order to board the plane home (which, ironically, might not actually take off on time given a real hurricane hitting New England Sunday night and Monday), we need negative Covid tests. Nobody cared on the way here, but Delta won’t allow us to check in without the results so I do believe this requirement will be enforced. I’ve been worried about having sufficient WiFi for the BinaxNOW tests that I brought to work, but gusty Vík is providing the perfect excuse to spend extra time in the communal WiFi-enabled kitchen getting this requirement out of the way.
Once we all had our test results back and loaded in Delta’s system, we hit the road for Dyrhólaey. This is an area named for a key-hole rock formation in the water, but we’ve seen it before so we were heading there for a different reason – puffins!! I’d read a TripAdvisor posting from last week saying they were there (they only nest in the area until mid/late August) so we thought it was worth the 15-minute detour.
As with Vík, the wind was outrageous. If you opened your mouth facing the wind, it felt like your lungs got forcefully inflated for you. Very uncomfortable, and really hard to walk uphill into it, but worth it because at the top of the cliff there were hundreds and hundreds of puffins.
I didn’t realize that puffins land backwards. They fly to where they want to go, turn around, and fly in reverse the last few feet. It looks strange, but actually makes great sense given the intense wind – flying in toward a cliff head-first would likely end very badly much of the time.
Some of them nest in holes on the ground or tall grassy areas to protect the babies (called pufflings – really!). I watched one parent bring a small fish back from the sea and deliver into down a hole, presumably to a small puffin who was sheltering from the biting cold wind.
As we left the parking lot, we noticed a Kuki Camper (a campervan company that paints funny pictures on the sides of their vans) with a particularly special painting. I had to get a photo.
With a bucket-list item checked off, we headed north-westerly toward a waterfall, but when we got there we realized that we’ve been there before! This particular waterfall has several less famous neighbors, so I didn’t realize that we’d seen these all before. Well, no harm done since it was on the way anyway – we stopped for lunch with a stunning backdrop.
As we ate, we debated how to spend our last 1.5 days. We had a few things we really wanted to do, so we scrambled the itinerary to ensure that we tackled the remaining sites in priority order. Thus, we headed out toward Fagradasfajall, the volcano which has been erupting for several weeks.
Again, I feel the need to point out that Iceland officials are totally ok with tourists hiking up near the actively erupting volcano and out onto the shouldering lava fields. No ropes, no warnings, nothing. Just a few helpful signs in case the characteristics of an active volcano were murky for you.
We hiked up trail C (trail A is currently under lava, so that ones been retired). About 1/3 of the way up the first peak we could see the lava flowing down the mountainside and it was simply stunning. The clouds and light rain obscure just how vividly orange the lava is.
I was totally awestruck by the volcano. I get the science, but to actually see it in action is enough to render even me speechless. I spent a lot of time reflecting on how fortunate I am to be in the right place at the right time to see this wonder of our dear planet in action.
We only hiked up the first of 3 peaks, but then it started to rain. Iceland gets a lot of very cold rain, accompanied by some very cold wind. It took the magic down a notch or two, so we turned to head back. As we descended, we talked about whether or not we would make it to the hot spring river. I did want to go, but didn’t want to deal with another 80-minute drive, so we compromised and walked out onto the lava field instead.
We decided to camp in Reykjavik proper to make the trip into the city tomorrow easier. The campsite has a public swimming pool adjacent to it, so we took an evening swim there. I am embarrassed for every pool in the US – Icelandic municipal pools are luxurious! There’s a multi-lane Olympic-sized outdoor pool, at least that much more outdoor pool for playing (all heated to 38 degrees Celsius, which is essentially body temperature), a massive water slide, and at least half a dozen various hot tubs. Oh yeah, that’s all outside. There’s also a steam room and full indoor pool. All for $6 USD per adult! A delightful end to a truly amazing day!
Vacation Days 