Today is our last full day in Iceland and we are exploring the Western Coast and Snæfellsjökull National Park. The proposed driving time today is just over 4 hours and we are relocating to our last accommodation in Borganes (1 hour north of Reykjavik).
We stopped off at Eiriksstadir home of Erik the Red after leaving Hotel Ljósaland. This was a quick stop as the infomation center and the house were not open, but normally we would be allowed to enter the house. Inside would contain all his old tools and show how the house was built. Erik the Red was one of the first settlers in Greenland and was the father of Leif Erikson a famous Icelandic Explorer. The house is located between route 1 and highway 60, on a gravel road. It’s an interesting place to stop if you are interested in Viking history and seeing how things were made back then. Also there are bathrooms on site. So that’s always a plus.
From Erik the Red’s house we drove west to Snæfellsjökull National Park. Along the way we stopped right outside of the park to get food. We ate at a local resteraunt for 7000 ISK and had some okay fish. Nothing fancy in my opinion but Yve found it too oily. Only good thing was the gas station outside, but no hose to wash the car.
Snæfellsjökull National Park just like Vatnajökull National Park has a glacier located inside the grounds. Scientist theorize that the volcano that the glacier sits on top of is still active and there is still magma deep underground. The surround area was completely covered by lava after a short eruption 5000-8000 years ago. The lava field creates lava rivers that run underground and we took a tour of one of these lava tunnels.
Initially, I wasn’t really sold on the tour for 3200 ISK per person and it was the last tour of the day, but what the heck we are out here anyways so we did it. I was blown away with how informed our tour guide was and the vastness of the lava tunnel underground. They explain how the tunnels are made and lend you all the necessary gear to enter the tunnel. There is a gate system for the tunnel we entered so people could not go in without a guide.
The tunnel entrance is pretty hard to find if there were no signs, as the terrain is too rocky to make out any entrance points. Your guide takes you down a set of twisting steps and you basically enter a black abyss. It’s so dark down there that without the flashlights they lend you, you are guaranteed to get lost and fall. The ground is jagged from molten rock falling and solidifying and the walls are smooth and curve.
You can clearly see that there was something flowing inside the tunnel 35m underground and it was massive. You feel like you are in a large empty hall when everyone’s flashlights are pointed in different directions. As soon as everyone is looking at the same spot, you can feel the darkness seep in as you have no idea how close things are to you. Overall I had a lot of fun on this tour and it rounded out the trip well, as the guides are well informed and have a great sense of humor. Also since we did a ice tour, we felt obliged to do a tour about lava too.
Once our 45 minute tour was over we took a quite look around the park and checked out some of the nearby sights. From cliff faces to moss covered rocks there’s lots to do in this park including glacier hikes to the summit. These were tempting to do but it was getting late and we needed to find out new place to sleep.
Today was kept short as we were driving on our spare tyre still and I did not want to over exert it too much. But once we got to our place in Borganes I tried finding a gas station with a hose to wash the SUV. Funny thing about gas stations in Iceland. Almost 90% are unmanned in the country. Meaning they are fully automated and sometimes finicky, so you need a chip card with pin (mine only worked 3 times) or prepaid gas card. The gas cards you could by when you were in a larger settlement with a full gas station. At these locations you are also suppose to be able to use a hose for free to wash you car. As well air for tires and vacuum for cleaning. Of course no luck for me as all the gas stations in our didn’t have a house. Our car seriously needs a wash.
Tomorrow is our last day in Iceland and most likely will be short as our flight is at 5 PM. So we will stop off in Reykjavik to shop and wash the car, then be on a merry way home.
See you all soon,
-Dan
P.S. The car is so dirty that every time I open the trunk I have to wash my hands and I also leave finger prints on it opening doors.
YipYip 