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Our
Beautiful World
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ICELAND 2004
Day 8 and 9
 The next morning we visited the Viðgerhellir cave, one of the three largest in Iceland. As it rained, and we were alone, noone could threat us going further down, so we didn't....  Of course, we did look into some of the holes, but we don't think we found the main entrance. So that's why we're still here, able to tell you the story.  Some places the lava-roof had fallen down and revealed big holes. Here we got a picture of what had formed the Hraunfossar, where the water came right out through the mountainslopes. 
After leaving another 30 kilometers behind of lava-plains, as we rounded the corner to head for Snæfellsnes (the ridge in the background), we passed this old volcano named Eldfell (Firemountain).  Another 70 kilometers along the mountainridge, only interupted by waterfalls, sheep and horses  At Búðahraun we found this irregular mountain not far from the mainroad.  Arnarstapi with its very special coastline, birdlife and caves was next. This place were so interesting that we dedicated a seperate page HERE.  Now, if someone tried to make a copy of the mountain in the background, he failed, but may be he just made a monument for himself? No text, no explanation at the spot. Who knows?  Wishing to get out the the westernmost point on Snæfellsnes, we turned left just before Hellissandur, but as the road was prette rough, we decided to stop by at a quite place. Next picture.  We was not disturbed here. You see why? The Snæfellsnes mountain in the background, about 1,446 m asl. We had the sea just below the front of the picture. It was what we call in the Canary Islands: 'costa risco', which means that the coastline were quite risky to climb around.  But here, as everywhere else in Iceland, flowers were coloring the landscape. What you can see on this picture is to the right, the common , the one to the left where white, and we still haven't found out why. However, it's name is Silene acaulis. Nice, isn't it? And it's latin. In english its just 'moss campion'.  As usual, we walked along the coastline to see what we could find, and got pretty much surprised of what suddenly showed up.  Since the sun were shining, and the Greenlandsea out there somewhere, what could be more right than having a bath after a long day in the car, before we went to bed at the end of Day 8?   Believe it or not, the first one taken at 22:45, the second at 00:.05 local time. Day 9  Ready for a new day, and new surprises. That's what so wonderful about driving in Iceland. You never know what comes up behind the next corner.... 'Be aware - nest area - Birds on the road'. By the way, do you notice the hang-over up on the mountain-slope? What do you do when the weather is hot? You take a swin in a nearby river. What do you do in Iceland, when the weather is cold? You go to the nearest swimming-pool. And so we did.  Sundlaug in Stykkisholmur, on the northern coastline of Snæfellsnes. Where the temperature in the water is 30° Celcius, and in the hot pools between 30° and 42°. You don't have to freeze in here!  From Stykkisholmur and eastward, quite an ordinary landscape at first, but in between beautiful green fields and farms, mountains with and without snow on top, and long sandy beaches.  Our next stop was the home of Leif Eiriksson, the guy who is supposed to have discovered America. That's a long story, and therefore Leif has his own page HERE.  However, the wind blew harder in the afternoon, so we decided to stop at Laugarbakki, and stay there till the next morning, hoping the weather would be better for our planned trip around the peninsular of Vatnsnes, where we were promised to be able to see seals along the coast. Continue to day 10 Return to the menu |
 ANIMALS over 250 |
 BIRDS over 500 |
 FLOWERS over 225 |
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