South Iceland

We left the Golden Circle region and headed generally east along Island's south shore. Our next destination, in Vik, was only an hour away so we had plenty of time to stop and see some sites. That and the fact that it never gets dark. Ever.

Our first stop was an interesting waterfall called Seljalandsfoss that has hollowed out the rock behind it, so there's a path you can take to walk behind the waterfall. In the picture you can see people walking the path on the far side. I actually wore my rainpants for this. Sally seemed to do fine with her leggings.

From there we went on to another waterfall called Skogafoss. Skogafoss is a serious curtain waterfall. After seeing it from the bottom, there are steps you can climb to look down at it. The waterfall itself is better seen from the bottom, but on a sunny day you can see a rainbow from the top. We had a brilliantly sunny day - our first one since we're here.

Big Skogafoss, June 2016

Despite only having an hour to travel, we didn't get to our hotel in Vik until mid-afternoon. We checked in, and then asked about someplace for lunch. The guy at the desk suggested the black sand beach, where's there's a lunch spot. We drove the few miles and found the spot. The food was okay; pretty much what you'd expect from a beach place. The black sand was more like black pebbles, and the wind was howling. How hard, you ask? So hard that my tripod almost blew over.

Basalt columns at the black pebble beach, June 2016

So the pictures were taken with one of my legs wrapped around one tripod leg. And with ice cold fingers. And with my hat, which actually has a chin strap for just such conditions, strangling me.

The real interesting part of the location was the basalt columns, both forming the cliff above the beach and rising out of the water. What you don't see is dozens of people climbing like monkeys onto the columns to pose for pictures and selfies. They've all been cropped out.

On our way down to the beach we had passed a little red and white church, and I couldn't resist it's picturesque charm.

Little church, Reynisdrangar, June 2016

The room at the Icelandair Vik was very small, very simple and very functional. Aside from the fact that we had nowhere to put all our stuff, we enjoyed being there and had a nice meal.

Cozy, June 2016

 

Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans