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Published: November 27th 2022
Me, Snæfellsjökull
Snæfellsnes PeninsulaDear All
Greetings, in my penultimate entry on my amazing travels through Nordic lands this last summer. I believe I last wrote after having really enjoyed my time exploring the off-beat lands of the Westfjords. In this one I write about my time in the really quite remarkable Snæfellsnes peninsula - this was another wonderful place. I felt a cool vibe as soon as arrived in this unique part of Iceland. The Snæfellsnes peninsula is a long piece of land extending around fifty miles off the west side of mainland Iceland, with a backbone of a mountainous range of peaks, culminating in the amazing, snow- and glacier-covered dormant volcano of Snæfellsjökull on its westernmost tip - the place was gorgeous. I was particularly excited to be there as it is the location of the journey to the centre of the earth, taken by Professor Otto and Axel in Jules Verne's brilliant novel, one of my favourite authors and one of my favourite books. I read the book ages ago, and ever since, the idea of a volcano on a peninsula to the north of Reykjavik being the starting point for a journey to the centre of the earth has been
etched deeply into my imagination. I had often dreamed of visiting this place, and at last I was there! I was so excited, and it probably became my favourite place in Iceland, and that is saying something as everywhere had thus far just been so incredible. But there was something a little extra about this place that was even more special for me.
As I bade farewell to my cool and collected Air BnB host back in Húsavík, my hunch that he was a famous man actually rang true. I asked his surname on the morning of my departure, and after a quick Google search, he turned out to be a very famous Icelandic actor, musician and theatre director. What a modest man, he did not mention this, and did not in any way brag about it. He was most humble when I hinted whether I thought he may be famous or not. He is a member of a 1980s Icelandic rock group called Sniglaband (from YouTube, they seem like an Icelandic version of Australian band "Men at Work"), and also played a role in my favourite Icelandic TV series (well, actually, the only Icelandic TV series that I
know!), called "Trapped". I think he played a minor role, and I have a slight inkling that he may be the character in it whose job it is to set off avalanches - I think I will have to re-watch the series to find out. What a feeling to have met, and stayed in the very home of, such a famous man! I felt star-struck driving away from the place!
The drive to Snæfellsnes was another stunner, although in fact I think every drive in Iceland is just so stunning. The landscape again felt quite different upon entering the peninsula, with a flat coastal desert-like plain giving way inland to high rocky peaks for most of the way. I stopped off at the very secluded Lýsuhóll thermal algae baths on the way for another hot pot soak. These were a little disappointing though, as the main swimming pool was actually cool - apparently they'd had so much wind for so long that it had made the water cold. But there were still two hot pots and one cold pot to enjoy, and I also ended up meeting and talking with a very nice Canadian guy who was changing his
career from nursing into medicine. I then drove through the spine of the peninsula, up and over the stunning mountain range, and on towards my digs for the night - the very charming, and quite expensive, Old Post Office Guesthouse in the delightful little fishing village of Grundarfjörður. Out of quite a number of expensive accommodations so far, I think this was the most expensive, but I'd actually planned this little splurge at this time as after staying in a fair few places with shared facilities until then, I thought I'd appreciate a private bathroom by this time, and indeed I did! It was wonderful having my own space, and not having to worry about the bathroom being engaged when I needed it. The room was lovely and quiet, and had a great view over the village and out onto the fjord and surrounding mountains beyond. It was a great spot to be based in.
On the way there though, just before the village, I parked up at a very famous beauty spot at Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall. This is a very photogenic place, often featuring in tourist photos of Iceland, where you can take an amazing picture of this small
but pretty waterfall, with the hulking loom of Kirkjufell mountain in the distance. The mountain has a distinctly pyramidal shape, and actually reminded me of pretty much every single mountain back in the Faroe Islands. I had not had enough of such beauty by then though, and really appreciated this very sight that many fellow tourists have appreciated in the past, and were certainly very much appreciating it in their great numbers at this time too.
That evening I felt was one of my favourite times in Iceland - it was a very simple, but very special evening. After I had rested up in my accommodation in Grundarfjörður, and noticing that upon arrival the town was very crowded with tourists, the clamour and chatter started to die down around 6pm until it completely emptied of them. I realised they were returning to their cruise shop docked in the harbour, and once they headed off, a certain indescribable hush and serenity descended upon the village. Walking around under the sunny blue sky and in the cool crisp evening air was really quite magical. It was silent, and the authentic Icelandic village was filled with cute houses and fish warehouses. It
was empty and deserted, and I felt I had the whole village, the bay, and surrounding mountains, including Kirkjufell, to myself - I thoroughly enjoyed my serene walk around.
The next day was just amazing, and I can probably add it to one of my best travel experiences in my life. I hiked a glacier, with crampons - wow!! After breakfast, I first drove around the volcano of Snæfellsjökull which sits right at the westernmost tip of this protruding peninsula, through the awesome lava field landscapes of the Snæfellsjökull National Park. As mentioned, I was so excited to be there as it marks the beginning of Otto and Axel's journey to the centre of the earth, and thus the place had filled my imagination for years. I had booked myself into a lava tunnel tour there, so I can say I followed in these chaps' footsteps and entered the volcano which supposedly leads to the earth's centre. This was a very enjoyable 45 minute-tour descending into a volcanic lava tube, going right into the side of the volcano, and thus it could very well have been their exact starting point. There was even a humourous sign down there, pointing
Me, Lýsuhóll Thermal Algae Baths
Drive from Húsavík to Grundarfjörður down a dark hole, showing the way to "Stromboli" - if anyone has read the novel, this is where the expedition group were deposited at the end of their journey, out of the crater of this mighty Italian volcano.
After heading at least part of the way along their journey to the earth's centre, I returned to the surface and drove to the lovely nearby seaside village of Arnarstapi, via a couple of very dramatic and photogenic sea stacks called Lóndrangar. Arnarstapi was a real tourist trap, and not particularly pleasant, but its coastline was a stunner. There is an amazing coastal path you can walk along there, taking in a seriously spectacular collection of dramatic headlands, bays, caves, arches, sea stacks and the like. It was a real wonder to walk along, and I got talking to a lovely mother-and-son travelling duo from New Hampshire USA, who I felt a good connection with. Arnarstapi is also home to an interesting monument dedicated to Jules Verne, showing distances to various global cities if you were to travel through the earth (!), as well as a rather cool rock art sculpture portraying local legendary half-troll half-man hero Bárðr Snæfellsáss, who
Snæfellsjökull Volcano
Drive from Húsavík to Grundarfjörður in the Icelandic Viking saga Bárðar Saga Snæfellsáss is the mythical protector of the Snæfellsnes peninsula.
After the walk, it was time for the event of the day, if not the whole journey - the glacier hike! Wow! I was so excited, and actually quite nervous. When I booked it, it said the hike was around three hours. Upon arriving at the agency's office, the Scottish chap who worked there said it was a five-hour hike, which sounded a bit much. Fortunately it turned out that the whole expedition, including the fitting of crampons and other equipment, the drive, setting up etc., was five hours, and the hike itself indeed was only around three. Before I taught religion, I used to teach Geography, and I also studied this as my first degree too. I had always learnt, and even taught, about glaciers, but unlike rivers and coasts, I always felt a bit of a fraud teaching about them as I had never before seen one, let alone been on one. This day righted that wrong for me, and with my own eyes, I was able to see very clearly how a glacier carves out a u-shaped valley, along with
glacial moraines, moulins and crevasses. We were a group of seven hikers, and were fitted with crampons by our excellent guide from Spain. He drove us up the F570, my first "F-road" in Iceland, the kind that you're not allowed to drive on with a rental car, and should really only do with a 4 by 4. Our guide said it was one of the better ones, yet it was still pretty manic - steep, rocky, and filled with cracks and potholes.
Once we were well up the side of the volcano, we parked up and hiked for around half-an-hour over the rock, then snow, until we eventually reached the glacier itself - a serious sight to behold, and beautiful! There were the crevasses, and the beautiful little blue-grey streams of glacial meltwater flowing along their bottoms, and also along the moulins. The water looked so pure. The glacier was steep, and I thought I was going to slip down the whole thing, but the crampons were amazing and clearly stopped me from doing that! There was one particularly steep bit in which the guide told me to "trust the crampons", and this became my motto for the rest
of the day. The crampons prevented a 500-metre long slide to the bottom of the glacier down its steep sides - thank you my little spikes! It became easier to walk on the glacier as I gained more confidence with them. At one point, our guide led us into a really mesmerising ice cave, with solid ice walls and ceilings, and little bubbles visible inside. Apparently those bubbles contain air that had been trapped within the ice thousands of years ago - I found that incredible to learn! We got to a certain height, with an amazing observation point of some huge crevasses, after a particularly steep climb which involved not walking flat-footed on the ice, but hitting the toe of the crampons into the side of the glacier to walk up it. This was a serious crampon-trusting moment for me, although after an incident similar to St Peter's walking on water, I lost my faith in them and ended up on my bottom sliding back down again instead. In all, the whole experience was just incredible, and I loved every single minute of it. It didn't feel like a three-hour hike, and I was smiling and gaping in awe
View from my Guesthouse
Kirkjufell Mountain, Grundarfjörður throughout pretty much the whole thing. This was definitely one of the best travel moments of my life.
Back in Arnarstapi, I bade farewell to my guide and fellow travel companions, in particular a very nice chap from Ecuador who is currently studying in Sweden, and drove back to my lovely Old Post Office Guesthouse room and private bathroom back in Grundarfjörður. It was an amazing, awe-inspiring day, and again, probably my favourite part of Iceland thus far. I just loved every minute of my time on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, the place had some seriously positive vibes for me. That night I slept very peacefully, knowing that the following day I would be driving on to my final destination of my summer travels, the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik and around. I would also be dropping off my little rental car, and was feeling a bit nervous about whether I'd be charged for any damage at all to the car, particularly after my gravel road experiences.
So, until the next time, the final time on this trip, thank you for reading, and all the best for now.
Alex
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Jules Verne leads you to new experiences
Dave and I were just discussing that we've never read Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Looks like we will add that to our list. You are very intuitive and sensed your landlord was famous. I doubt he likes a fuss. Ah, no longer a fraud.... no one would have expected you to experience every thing you taught. But, what a delight you had a great trip. You need to trust the crampons! Your word pictures are excellent and felt we were right there with you. We've walked on glaciers in Alaska and New Zealand. Hopefully, you'll get to both locations soon.