Columnar Basalt – Giant’s Causeway’s got nothing on Iceland. The Causeway, whilst still utterly impressive of course, and where my love of basalt columns started, is just outdone by the sheer quantity and variation of columns here in Iceland. So whether it was built by Giants, it’s a prone troll woman lying in the fjord or its some kind of groovy feature of relatively fast cooled basaltic lava I love it. These are care of others (On t’internet, shamelessly stolen for effect), much more professional than my holiday snaps…
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Old homes, farms etc
A recurring theme, not yet played out in full…
Hanging Ravens of Önundarfjörður
Fishdrying was (is?) common in the area of the Westfjords I’m in now and on the way to Flateyri I
Mid-life crisis? A bit introspective?
Travelling for this brief time has made me think and be thankful. I lived in a tent for a bit (5 weeks in total) and was truly thankful for a bed, for electricity, cooking facilities and warmth. I worked on trails, clearing lupins doing outdoor work and was thankful that I didn’t have to do this 365 days a year (or even 225). I picked up hitchers in the rain, booked into a hostel when my tent broke and was thankful that I had the money and flexibility to get the car and not have to rely on the tent. I’ve met a lot of folks whose preoccupation is not about financial wealth creation and been thankful that there are many types of folks who bring a little balance to a world that seems obsessed by consumption and production (by being teachers, medics, conservation workers, weavers, etc (I won’t shy away from a debate about where these sit in the
The ‘main’ road to Rauðasandur
Watch it all or especially from 00:01:30 in I drove at a bit slower speed than the folks in that video, but for those that know me and my general nervousness about driving on gravel roads with steep drops at the side, you’ll know what a feat this was. I am sure the 2 french hitchhikers I was transporting were delighted!
Testing the solar charger a bit too late
My solar charger, it does not seem to be working, hmmm, perhaps I should have tested it before coming! Still, I’ve got Skyr and gingernuts, what more could a girl want? For the none English folk, before your imaginations run wild, gingernuts are a type of very gingery hard biscuit (cookie), delicious. Am in Snæfellsnes, having ‘mastered’ driving on the wrong side of the road am ready to explore the west of Iceland. Spoke too soon, apparently I wasn’t angling it towards the sun enough, still a bit crap though.
Everything in bloom
A final morning of lupin killing was followed by a lovely hike through the Morsá valley. I still love lupins
Iceland 4K
Iceland short film, really rather beautiful… http://youtu.be/U3r62Np_pxY
An Icelandic ‘Cubano’ and the promise of Gold
Just finished watching Jon Favreau film Chef, so made a Cuban sandwich, or as close as I could get with
Over the boardwalk
Two and a half days of effort later and our boardwalk project is complete. This has been a pretty satisfying endeavour. It’s part of a new footpath from Skaftafell to Morsárdalur.
We sourced the wood from a wood pile comprised of old planks from the main bridge over Skeiðarársandur (on route 1). We sawed it to size (140cm lengths), we transported it to the desired location over a sandy wash out area near the levees. Built the boardwalks (a lot of hammering), positioned them, packed them with stones, staked them. Finally we built stone steps from rocks scavenged from the area. Very proud to see it walked on by hiker once we were done; let’s hope it lasts a while.
Ambling over our completed work:
where the raven landed 