Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
Sunshine And Snow
by admin - 23:26 on 27 June 2014
Today began well with copious hot water in the shower and wash hand basins. The Reykjavik Plumber must have visited in the night with his plunger and spanner and sorted out the Vogur's problems. This boded well for the rest of our day.
After a slightly less lavish but still respectable breakfast Matchgirl and I boarded the RAV4, me behind the wheel. Driving and automatic is a breeze, I discovered, and driving on the right no problem either. More of a problem was the driving position so Matchgirl took over when we stopped for petrol in Búðardalur, well south of our planned destination but the only place we were certain to find fuel.
From there we drove up into the land of the Westfjords, first stop the tiny village of Reykhólar – there are a lot of those around here – just to see what it looked like. Compact, tidy and dominated by a Lutheran church spire is what we found, typical of such places. The scenery, despite occasional drizzle, was fantastic.
We saw much more of it – towering cliffs, plunging roads, threatening clouds, vast waters, mad birdlife and bored sheep – as Matchgirl piloted us along the road that zig-zags along the ragged coast of Breiðafjörður, then back again after we decided that it would take up too much of our day to go further.
Matchgirl likes to plan her day with military precision, so after regaining the main road again she was dubious about my off-the-cuff suggestion that we take another gravelled road north for twenty-one kilometres. This turned out to be A Good Decision.
The higher we climbed, the mistier it became, then cloudy, then ghostly when we reached great fields of snow that through the murk we first mistook for lakes. This, we disovered after consulting the map, was Þorskafjarðarheiði – exactly what Matchgirl had hoped to find in Iceland. The Pentax was soon in action; the results look promising but I guarantee nothing until I've seen them back home on the Mac's big screen.
About twenty-four kilometres later we took a break in Hólmavík for a very late lunch of cod and trout which turned out to be another Icelandic culinary triumph. We've still not had a bad meal. This was followed by a wander around a fishing village bathed in warm sun that shone out of a blue, whispy-clouded sky. The contrast was remarkable.
In Reykjavik we'd got the impression that, despite the fine food, all Icelanders are svelte and healthy. That may be so in the capital; in Hólmavík we discovered that they can be portly too, especially the three teens who filled themselves with pizza at a table not far from ours. We saw them again later, when picking up a few necessities at the supermarket, where they were stocking up on junk food and energy drinks. Many of the clientele was similar. Another illusion shattered.
We returned late to Vogur Lodge through more pastoral scenery and along the road that skirts Gilsfjörður, almost deserted since a bridge was built across the fjord. More towering cliffs, plunging roads and vast waters were enjoyed plus a wide selection of waterfalls.
You really should visit Iceland. We recommend it.
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