Tim: Hired a car today – studs in the tires, which apparently helps with the grip in the snow! We were collected at the front door by the car company (Berg – recommended by Evelyn and competitively priced).
Drove round Hvalfjordur, a very nice great big Fjord. Walked up to what is reputed to be the tallest waterfall in Iceland. Now, it didn”t seem spectacularly tall or high, so we weren’t exactly sure if we made it – but we saw an impressive waterfall, with lots of icicles hang down, so it was a result, regardless.
We drove on to Stykkisholmur, and failed to get in contact with anyone from the the local hotel or hostel. So we drove another 40km west to Grundarfjordur, in fairly unpleasant weather by this time. We phoned ahead to book accomodation – it was pricey but we decided to take the hit. Of course, when we arrived in town and asked a local for directions we realised that the room was actually a “farmstay” 7kms out of town, along the road we’d just driven.
When we got there we weren’t particularly impressed with the tiny, dark room at 50% more than what we’d paid in Rekjavik (and no breakfast). But we weren’t in a position to be choosy.
So – as soon as we had parted with the cash we hot footed it back to town to have a bite of dinner before we were completely snowed in. Then headed back to our new gaff. Got the notebook hooked up to the walkman, and listened to Bon Iver….all pretty cool with a gale/blizzard blowing round us outside. Have a hopeful set of fingers crossed to see the Northern Lights – for that the cloud needs to bugger off, and chances of that are looking pretty slim.
