On Sunday, we went from the Snæfellsnes peninsula to the Westfjords. We first stopped at the home of Erik the Red,
who established the first settlement in Greenland. We went inside a turf house replica of his
house and listened to a story about Erik the Red’s life. I learned that Icelanders back then slept
sitting up and that all that driftwood their houses were made of came from Siberia. Next, we drove to the Hólar
petting farm which we were invited to visit since our van driver (my distant cousin
Kent) knows the owner of the farm. The
farm had many types of animals including sheep, horses, bunnies, turkeys,
guinea pigs, a crow, chickens, an artic fox, and cows.
Then we drove to the Museum of Icelandic
sorcery and witchcraft in Hólmavík. There we were able to catch the last 15
minutes of the final World Cup match between France and Croatia. The museum displayed magical symbols and ingredients
necessary for performing certain magical powers. Next to each magical sign, it explained the
steps required to achieve the magical powers such as making oneself invisible,
how to gain wealth, or raising the dead.
All of the processes were very specific about the random assortment of
materials needed. The museum also
explained the witch trials in Iceland and that 21 people were burnt for witchcraft.
After the museum we went to Strandir in the
Westfjords where we camped in tents at a campsite that night. The weather was cloudy with rain and wind
when we arrived. At least there was a shelter
we could cook and eat dinner in at the campground. As we started pitching the tents, I could
tell that camping outside was going to be a bad idea. With the campsite being located to the
coastline, we were exposed to strong winds and the constant rain didn’t help. Nevertheless we pitched the tents. After dinner we drove to a pool called
Krossneslaug down the road. The pool was
outdoors and had very plain facilities (no lights inside, thankfully it’s
daylight most of the time here). We
floated around in the pool from around 11:30pm-1am before going back to the
campsite. When we went to go sleep in
our tents most of them were already soaked through.
I didn’t end up sleeping much with the wind continually
knocking against the side of the tent and pushing the top of the tent into our
faces. In the morning we shared stories
of tents leaking overnight. One of the
tents was so wet that the people sleeping in it had to go to the shelter with
the kitchen for the night. It had been a
long night for everyone and the mood was rather low. We ate breakfast and tried to warm up before
having to take the tents down again in the terrible weather.
On Monday we were driving to Skagafjörður which was about a five and
half hour’s drive. I and most of the
others slept on the bus for the first several hours since we were so tired from
the night before. On the way we stopped at
a place to go river rafting on the West Glacial River. So we got off the bus at the river rafting
company, some of us still semi-wet, and prepared to go rafting. We put on wetsuits and extra waterproof
shirts. Inside the rafts it was a fun
experience. The rapids were rather
mellow but this was good since most of the Snorri participants hadn’t been
rafting before. We travelled through a
canyon with grass and waterfalls on the each side. We passed by sheep and hot springs several
times along the route. All the guides
were Nepalese men who said they lead rafting trips in Iceland during the summer
months then go to Nepal to lead rafting trips there the rest of the year. We stopped at the side of the river after
about 30 mins next to a natural hot spring and they made us hot chocolate! Then we stopped later where there was a 10-12
foot rock for us to jump off into the 35-41°F river if we wanted to. I didn’t jump because my clothes weren’t
soaked yet and I wanted to conserve my dry clothes after the camping experience
the previous night.
After rafting we drove to the campsite in Skagaströnd
and ate dinner at a restaurant in town.
Pitching the tents was a lot nicer after dinner since the weather was sunny
with mostly clear skies. The low sun in
the sky was beautiful as we set up our tents.
That night was great for camping – cold but no rain or wind so everyone was
happier on Tuesday.
The next day started with us visiting the Museum of
Prophecies in town. At the museum we
learned about the different types of fortune telling that Icelanders have used
in the past. One of the types was
intestine readings where they removed the intestines of the first pig killed at
the end of summer to “read” the intestines for how the winter conditions would
be. Pieces of bone were another thing
used in a similar way to a magic 8 ball for answering yes and no questions
about the future. At the end of our
visit, the museum guide had a bag of small sheep bones with ruins carved on
them and let us blindly draw one to read us our fortunes. Mine was that I have trouble around me right
now but it will leave soon. Those around
me joked that the ‘trouble’ was the Snorri participants.
It was a day of beautiful blue skies and sun with
breathtaking mountain views across the fjord as we drove from Skagaströnd
to Reykir in Skagafjörður.
At Reykir we
caught a boat to Drangey Island where we got a tour. Drangey Island is located in Skagafjörður
and is about 170 meters high with sheer rock cliffs on some sides. After the short boat ride to island we climbed
up a steep path to the top of the island.
I was thankful that the path had a hand rope since some areas were steep
and with the ocean below me I didn’t want to feel unsecure. The island is home to many types of birds that
we got to see including puffins! The air on the top of the island was so warm that I couldn't believe it. I assumed being in the middle of the fjord would be windy and cold but on the contrary Drangey was calm and sunny - a perfect place to sit in the grass and relax by yourself as you enjoy a beautiful view.
Finally,
after the tour we drove to the small coastal town Hófsos where we are staying the next two
nights!
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