Fog Fog and more Fog - July 26

This time around, the sun had disappeared in the morning and been replaced by a dense fog that filled the entire fjord. It was also a bit chillier at around 10C which was a nice change. Leaving Reyðarfjörður there was a 6km long tunnel to the next fjord. It was newer and wider than the one by Ísafjörður and with less traffic. I stopped halfway and waited for a bit, contemplating in the silence that there were 3km both ahead and behind me out of the mountain and at least 1000m of rock on top of me! It was an eerie but really cool feeling, like being a mountain troll! The next fjords were easy riding, with hardly any significant rises, just undulating ups and downs. In fact, I used my gears much more than in previous riding as the road would go up and down every couple of hundred meters. The fog remained though so although there was fine visibility on the road I unfortunately couldn´t see any mountains or scenery. Arriving to Stöðvarfjörður after about 45km I passed a curious sign saying "Steinasafn Petru" or "Petras Stone Museum". I´m so glad I stopped because it was a wonderful museum of Icelandic minerals built on the personal collection of Petra Sveinsdottir. She was a woman born locally in the fjord who throughout the course of her life had built up an exceptional collection of different rocks and minerals including Obsidian, Icelandic Spar, Opal and more. It was all set in a beautiful garden with incredible flowers proving that even in Iceland you can have a colourful garden. There were also examples of eggs from different local birds, and also collections of playing cards, handkerchiefs, keychains and pens! The boy who sold me the entry ticket was also Petras great-grandson. After having spent more time than expected in Stöðvarfjörður I tried to hurry on and although the road was good it got quite late and I didn't quite make it to Djúpivogur as I had hoped, but found a nice camping spot on the side of the road about 6 miles out from town.

Petras rock museum and garden

A rock used as a seat for kids with pictures of the lucky little ones!

Foggy evening at Berufjörður

Black beaches and lagoons of Swans - July 27

With the ever changing Icelandic weather, this morning brought back the sun and the fog was drifting away revealing staggeringly high mountains all around me! As I was breaking down my tent I saw a family cycling south on the road who I later caught up with. They were a family of four from Belgium that had crossed Iceland through the interior at Kjölur, a very tough ride! They had a lot of experience touring also in France, Czech republic, Italy and other places, and were happy to share some stories. It was fun meeting some other cyclists again, but they were taking a more leisurely pace so I passed them and continued on. The scenery in the next fjords was beautiful, not with quite the dramatic rises and cliffs like in the West, but still incredibly beautiful. I had lunch at a place called Þvottá (Washing River) and it turned out to be the site of the beginning of Icelands conversion to Christianity, where the first baptisms had taken place. Despite my fondness of the Aesir gods, it was cool that even on such an unremarkable stop at a little picnic table it turned out to be such a historically significant site. Riding along towards Hvalnes I passed a stunning beach of black rocks and once turning the bend towards Lónsvik I had to stop at the Hvalnes lighthouse to admire the view! It was very peaceful there, sitting listening to the waves crashing and looking out across at the ominous mountains across the bay near my destination for the day, Höfn. As I continued along the bay I passed a lagoon where there must have been at least 300 swans lazily floating around and feeding. It was an incredible sight and I stopped briefly to pick out some beautiful swan feathers left on the shore. The sun grew stronger in the late afternoon and the rest of the ride was very pleasant and quick. Passing through another short tunnel I arrived to Höfn to a stunning sunset. After setting up my tent I went into town to admire my first view of Icelands largest glacier, Vatnajökull. The ice in parts seemed to flow all the way down to the shore and reflected the dying sunlight beautifully. No wonder one of Icelands most famous artists Svavar Guðnason got much of his inspiration from the natural surroundings of his home town Höfn. I took too long admiring the view though, so the restaurants were all closing in town and I had to resort to another meal of a burger at the local N1 rest-stop near the campgrounds. I´ll just have to wait for a good meal and a beer until Selfoss or back in Reykjavík!

Two Belgians cycling up the road near Djúpivogur

One of the many single lane bridges in Iceland - this one at Hofsá in Álftafjörður

A bouquet of Swan feathers in Lónsvik!

Sunset at Höfn with outlet glaciers from Vatnajökull nearly touching the water