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Published: September 18th 2013
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Just a short drive from Rykholt are two well known waterfalls called Hraunfosser and Barnafoss ("Children's Falls"). The Hraunfosser waterfall is both beautiful and very unique. It is about 1 kilometre in width, but it doesn't flow from a stream over a ledge (as most waterfalls do) it flows from an underground stream and magically appears through some lava rocks on a steep sloping hill. The water from Hraunfosser flows into a stream which showcases Barnafoss ("Children's Falls") just upstream. The Children's Waterfall isn't that grand, but it does have strong powerful waters gushing through it. Sadly it got its name 100's of years ago when two small children fell into the water while playing on a crossing a bridge.
After the falls we hit the road and our next adventure had us involved in some sheep herding. As we were rounding a bend the road was suddenly filled with sheep. The men rustling the sheep were urging them down the road in our direction so we drove along slowly behind the sheep ushering them to their final destination. Herding sheep in your car isn't that labour intensive so we snapped a ton of pics and sat back and enjoyed
the "bleating" walking sweaters around us. If you can somehow work yourself into this lucky predicament we highly recommend you do. The sheep herding lasted about 15 minutes and then we were on our way.
We stopped in the town of Borgarnes and we decided to take in some culture. Borgarnes has a very worthwhile museum called the "Settlement Center", the museum has two well organized exhibits that introduce you to how Iceland was founded and some of its Viking heritage. After the exhibits we stopped into its highly reviewed cafe for lunch. We gave the whole experience two thumbs up and we recommend you don't miss out on the cafe.
Our last tourist stop of the day was the cute fishing village of Stykkisholmur. We trekked to the lighthouse at the top of a high hill and took in the beautiful landscape which includes hundreds of islands, a calm harbour and the colourfully painted houses of Stykkisholmur. It was then time to make our way to our hotel in Grandarfjorour region. This was one of our favourite hotels. It's on the banks of the ocean surrounded by snowcapped mountains, glacier waterfalls and to top it
off our meals were absolutely fantastic.
Our last road trip day had us exploring the Snaefellsnes' penninsula. This is one of the long arms of the country that seems to be reaching out towards Greenland. We did make our way to the furthest point west in this area where we saw beautiful beaches, and monster waves crashing into unique lava rocks. The Snaefellsnes' is home to the Snaefellsjokull glacier and seems to have elements of all the beauty we've seen on our trip; lava fields, snow capped mountains, sheep, horses, craggily rocks, ocean views, glaciers, craters, and the list goes on and on. While we would highly recommend you do a trip around the whole country, the Snaefellsnes region can give you a good taste if you're short on time (but its no replacement... especially for the South of Iceland).
We stopped in Budir to check out the unique black coloured church and then ended our day and our road trip back in Reykjavik. If you're planning a trip to Iceland we highly recommend the pre-booked self drive road trip as we don't think there would be a better way to truly experience this magical place
and all it has to offer.
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