Day 7: Weather For All Sorts

           Last night's neighbours checking me out

Those neighbors I was a bit worried about - would they know to stop 'baa-ing' even if it never got dark? Answer: yes. My other neighbors were a friendly bunch of hikers who camped in a little ravine just over the hill from me - seeking protection from the, luckily, mild wind. They even invited me over for morning tea but i already had my own coffee on. I could have sworn one of the hikers was Elwyn....

I packed up and started out for Skaftafell, a national preserve with great hiking trails and a famous waterfall. I couldn't go more than a mile without pulling over for more roadside pictures. I think I could have used a snap-happy copilot on this trip!

Skaftafell is a highlight for both serious trekkers and coach tourists alike. Trails run from 5km to 2-3 days long. I chose a 7km combination to hit the waterfall and a couple of viewpoints. 

                        Svartifoss 

Turf-covered farm buildings - farmers relocated up the hill in    after devastating  floods

More roadside attractions:

        Cool moss-covered lava stones

            Playing with my Slow Shutter app

                   What a backyard view!

The wind had started blowing quite strongly by the time I took the above snaps, and 20 mins later when I pulled into the Kirkjubaejarklaustur swimming pool parking lot it was grey, drizzly  and blustery. I started to worry about the rental car company's warning about taking out Sand & Ash insurance when driving in this part of the country, but I hadn't planned on being in this part of the country! I'd read reports online of the wind being strong enough to blow off car doors and picking up enough grit to leave the paint job feeling like sandpaper. Hmm. Perhaps I had a quicker soak than usual, and I was back on the road shortly, driving south now in wind and full rain. Ugh.

 Kirkjubaejarklaustur's lava field. This is apparently the world's 2nd greatest lava flow in the last 2000 years. I tried, but couldn't get it all in the picture :-) 

By the time I got to Vik it was blowing a gale with horizontal rain. There isn't much to see in Vik, besides a church on a hill and the woolen goods shop beside the gas station. The two famous black sand beaches with rock pillars and puffins were definitely fair weather attractions. I nabbed a parking spot right outside the wool shop, yet I still had to don my rain jacket, zip it up to the neck, to make the dash to the front door. I lingered there as long as I could for something to do, then dashed across to the gas station which conveniently had a store/diner attached. Cooking dinner on my camp stove was not going to happen tonight in these conditions so I bought myself my first typical Icelandic meal: Kjötsúpa, or lamb soup. It was ...average, but filling and I managed to pass a good hour lingering over my meal and watching the weather outside.

I managed to drive out closer to the beach for a look but the car was being buffeted so badly I took one pic thru the windshield and left. 

Reynisdranger - Famous basalt sea stacks at Vik's black sand beach. Car was shuddering side to side in the gusts.

There are computerized road signs that give the weather conditions of towns ahead and the wind speeds past Vik were all in the danger zone - I'm here for the night. I checked into the local campsite, parked behind a berm, and hunkered down for the night.

                  Comfy car camping!

It really has been a day of weather of all sorts today.