Iceland-Day 3

This morning’s weather showed some promise with early morning sun.  But Iceland weather is even more changeable than New Hampshire’s.  We tried to get on an ice cave tour this morning, but they were full for the next three days.  We decided instead to drive south and east to the Jokulsarlon (Glacier Lagoon) after which we might do a snowmobile tour on the glacier.

The Glacier Lagoon was about a 40 minute drive from our hotel.  The drive took us past several tongues of the Vatnajokull (Vatna Glacier) which were beautifully bathed in morning sunlight.

By the time we reached the lagoon, the weather had deteriorated dramatically, with low clouds and lower temperatures and increased wind.  No rain had yet to full, though.  Even though the guide book warned us that we would be surprised when we first glimpsed the lagoon, we were still caught off guard.  The volume and size as well as the deep blue hue of the icebergs floating in the lagoon were amazing.   

These bergs are from calving of the Breidamerkurjokull, an offshoot of the Vatnajokul and float in the lagoon, drifting toward the ocean via the shortest river in Iceland, the Jokulsa (maybe 400 yds. long extending from the lagoon on the north side of the ring road N1, to the ocean just on the south side of the main road). 

They can spend 5 years in the lagoon, but once they reach the swift current of the river, they are swept out to sea rapidly. 

In addition to the icebergs, birds and seals are frequently seen in the lagoon.  We spotted several seals and saw plenty of ducks.  

After walking around the lagoon (not actually all the way around, it is a mere 25 sq. km.) we started to get chilled just about the same time the rain started.  

At this point, we decided we saw enough icebergs and continued on south toward Hofn, one of the largest towns in Iceland (pop. 1700- not quite the size of Grantham).  We thought we might still look into snowmobiling on the glacier if the weather improved between the lagoon and Hofn.  

We reached the turn off for snowmobiling and started driving up toward the glacier.  The road was dirt, rutty, steep, and windy, and I began having flashbacks to driving the Titus Canyon Road in Death Valley.  

We drove for about 20 minutes, and after we realized that we had only driven 3 of the 16 km, and the rain had become steady now, we elected to turn around, and head back down the mountain for lunch in Hopn (to pronounce Hofn correctly, you have to say the “f” as a “p”, and make believe you are stifling a hiccup).  Driving into Hofn felt like driving into a huge city after the sparsely populated and often desolate stretch of road between Reykjavik and here.

Iceland and in particular, Hofn, is known for their humar, or  langoustines, so we found a restaurant that got good ratings by Lonely Planet, Kaffi Hornid.  The langoustines were fantastic and after a huge lunch we decide to forego dinner and plan on wine and appetizers back at our hotel later.  This involved us visiting the local Hofn grocery store where we purchased some junk food for later (chips and salsa from Belgium, who knew there was a Mexican enclave there). 

We made a stop at the Gamlabud, a wharehouse from 1864 that has been refurbished and is now the Hofn visitors center with a small museum and running videos about the area.

We also drove out to the seamen’s monument on the promontory of the harbor.  The rain and wind had increased significantly, and no one wanted to get out of the car.  I jumped out to snap a couple of pictures, but upon opening the car door, we were blasted by the most god-awful smell you could imagine.  Molly, who is not particularly fond of fish, almost lost her lunch. It seems we were downwind from a fish processing plant that was processing fish I wouldn’t care to eat.  We got out of there in a flash. 

The weather just got worse as we drove back to our hotel with high winds and horizontal rain.  The driving was a bit hairy with narrow lanes and BIG trucks.  But we made, and after a few glasses of wine and a rousing Scrabble game (which we did not finish), we forgot about the nasty weather and made plans for tomorrow.