Horses, Seals, and a Dragon?

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After a good night's sleep and breakfast in the basement we loaded up the car. The grandparents found an easy way to maneuver the suitcases down the steep stairs - they slid them down!

Anyway, we got ourselves loaded up and noticed the windshield was frosted over! Now I understand why the window cleaning fluid smells like medical alcohol. So we wiped the windshield and watched the frost grow over it again. Don't laugh, this is new to us! Soon enough it cleared up and we were on our way. Next stop is at Hvitserkur, where there's a really crazy rock formation just off the beach, and hopefully some seals as well. We drove out of town, heading West. After driving through the hills for a while, we saw a horse farm, and decided to stop for some pictures of the gorgeous Icelandic horses.

Just after we started going again, we saw a herd of horses trotting along the opposite side of the road! We just had to stop again! A large herd of horses was being led along the roadside, accompanied by a couple of trucks with horse trailers. Fantastic! We sat and watched them go by, happy that we finally got some reasonable pictures of them.

Later, we turned off the main road onto a dirt track, route 726, and then route 711. Many roads in Iceland are named, have a number and are considered proper roads, but are unpaved. Even parts of the main ring road, route 1, the main highway around the island, are unpaved. This one was a little rougher than usual, but manageable. So we drove up the track for probably about a half hour, until we got to the signs for Hvitserkur. There's even a parking lot there.

We walked down to the rock formation. There's a viewing balcony on the cliff where you can watch seals on the rock without bothering them, but we saw no seals. The Hvitserkur formation looks a bit like a dragon, or maybe a giant horse with its head down, drinking from the sea. Hvitserkur is a basalt stack on the coast of the Vatnsnes peninsula. It stands about 15 meters high, just off the beach.

Gilat, the kids and I took the steep, narrow path down to the beach. On the way down, Ethan found a small path to a tiny waterfall. There was some grass next to the fall coated in ice, like upside-down icicles. The beach itself is wide (I think it was close to low tide when we got there). We wandered along the beach, picking up shells and other interesting things. Some time later we climbed back up to where the grandparents were waiting. Back at the car it was decision time. Go back as planed, or go on? We decided that since we had time, and we didn't get to see any seals, we'd go on around the Vatnsnes peninsula.

Great choice!

We drove carefully on, planning to go all the way around the peninsula with a stop at one of the seal watching sites I'd read about yesterday. After a pleasant, if bumpy ride, we saw some more horses by the side of the road, and stopped near them. They were just as curious as we were, and we soon had horses sticking their heads into the van to get a closer look! Or maybe a treat... What a memorable experience! The kids got out of the van to pet the horses, who loved the attention. We were satisfied with petting the horses who stuck their heads into the van. Pictures ensued!

We eventually managed to drag ourselves away from the lovely beasts and drove on to Illugastadir seal watching point, just a short drive later. Illugastadir is a farm on the coast, with several rock shelves where the seals like to bask. There's an easy path down to the beach where you can take a stroll and watch the seals, the birds and the sheep. Did yo know that sheep like seaweed?

There were lots of harbor seals laying around on the rocks, sunning themselves. We got lucky with the weather again!

We moved on, this time aiming for the town of Hvammstangi to find something to eat. After a short visit at the Icelandic Seal Center there we ate at the attached restaurant. A nice enough place and the food was good (I had some delicious lamb), but the service was slow and they made a mistake with Granny's order, so we had to wait even longer.

We got out of there and headed on. We've got a long drive from here to our hotel, the Kast Guesthouse on the Snaefellsness peninsula. We stopped on the way to try and find the Landbrotalaug Hot Springs, but I guess we missed them. We did find the Olkelda Mineral Spring a little farther on. This spring is just a pipe with a tap coming out of the ground with some water bubbling around it. The spring itself provides carbonated water, with loads of minerals, so it's supposed to be really healthy. Tastes very metallic with the high iron content. There's a sign next to the spring with a short explanation and a table comparing the mineral content in the spring to regular tap water.

It was almost dark by now and the weather was taking a turn for the worse. It was very windy and started to rain by the time we got to the guesthouse. Once again we were the only people there. The proprietor took us to our rooms and showed me where to park the van closer to them. I parked on the grass, just outside our wing of the hotel, in what is a camp ground in the summer.

Tomorrow we're getting up early and driving around the Snaefellsness peninsula.

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