The best laid plans ...

Iceland August -September 2012

... are sometimes disrupted by Mother Nature.

We awoke to steady rain. And wind. It was nippy. But, being troopers, we rescheduled a tour and headed further northeast around the Lower Eastfjords to the fishing village of Djúpivogur (pop. 350 ish). The towns sits at latitude 64°39' North. This is the furthest north either of us have ever been.

Has a New England feel

The road curves along the coast, at times hugging the side of a mountain (fjall) and reinforcing the decision to purchase International SOS insurance, especially given the fog and rain. Below us were spectacular black beaches, like Hawaii, but colder. And more dangerous looking.

Have I mentioned we have crossed an untold number of one lane bridges? This adds to the driving adventure.

"Is anyone coming on the other side?"

Speaking of driving, we requested and received a GPS with the rental. I pulled it out today, not because we were lost (there is only one road), but to figure out where on that road we were. It's a good thing we weren't lost, the GPS has just one language, Icelandic.

Once again, we are struck by the constant beauty of Iceland. There is an incredible amount of "awesomeness" in a relatively small area.

And, just as much, we are struck by the hardiness of the people who farm. Mile after mile are small farms: some wedged between a mountain and the Atlantic Ocean, some up against the base of an active volcano, and others in protected valleys.

The water to the left is the Atlantic

We are uncertain as to what types of crops are grown. Most of what we've seen is hay, which is probably for the livestock.

And we continue to see lots and lots of sheep. This may become known as the "sheep-waterfall-glacier trip."

In Barbados, John took hundreds of photos of monkeys. He is on track to rival that. To get the sheep's attention, he starts calling "Sheep! Sheep! Sheep!" in a higher than natural pitch. And, the man is Phi Beta Kappa. I must get that on video.

The sheep are, to use an trendy term, free range. They are exceptionally free range because there are very few fences. Of all the animals seen today, they are most well suited for the climate.

Numerically correct sheep

Baa Baa.


"People don't come here for the sun and sandy beaches." - the owner of the guesthouse

Feels much colder