Day 12: Borganes to Borganes

First stop today was Gerduberg, where there is aset of 10m high basalt columns across the cliff face.  NB all future measurements will be quoted in metric as I am so annoyed with Jacob Rees Mogg.

Next stop was Arnarstapi.  It is a beautiful naturereserve with a short 2.5km hiking trail along the cliffs to the village of Hellnar. At the start there is a huge stone sculpture of Bardur Snaefellsas, half man half troll.  According to the sagas he pushed both his nephews off a cliff, gave away his possessions and disappeared into a glacier and hisspirit protects the mountain and is called upon in times of need. Odd to champion someone who pushes nephews off cliffs, but that’s sagas for you. 

The cliffs were stunning with so many nesting birds.  

We walked to Hellnar and had superb waffles with rhubarb jam and cream sitting out on the deck at the Fjoruhusid cafe.

The rock formations here were amazing.  The first photo has a natural arch which gulls were constantly flitting in and out of. 

This was the view back towards the Snaefellsnes mountains.

This is Eve and Leo with Snaefellsjokull mountain in the background (1446m high) - the snow capped bit in the very background on the left, not the rocky one (which is Stapafell, 526m).

Some more cliff top posing

It was so lovely to be in sunshine and not having to wear loads of layers. Next we drove off to the north side of the Snaaefellsnes peninsular to Kirkjufell.  It is apparently the most photographed mountain in Iceland either because it is a beautiful representation of a binomial distribution or because it was in Game of Thrones as “mountain shaped like an arrowhead”. 

Also a lovely waterfall nearby

And me blocking the view of the waterfall

Our final stop of the day was in Stykkisholmur which is a lovely port town full of brightly painted wooden houses.  In the harbour we had the best ever fish and chips for lunch. 

Eve and Leo had a lucky escape as I was going to take them to the Library of Water but it was closed.  It is a series of columns of water taken from ice cores from each of the 24 glaciers in Iceland.  Here is a picture taken through the window.

We are now back at our lovely campsite for the second night.  It is a 2 minute drive from the town centre, but it is so peaceful.  It has a handy little kitchen and eating area.  All the condiments on the shelves are left from other visitors.  Most of the campsites we have stayed in are like this.  

Here is the view from Camper Campersson across the lake.  It is our last night in the van and we have to take it back to Reykjavik by 1pm tomorrow.  It has been a great home for 10 days.