August 2017 - Iceland

2 - 14 August - Traveling the Ring Road of Iceland

We drove completely around the island of Iceland on the Ring Road for two weeks. Each night we left the Ring Road and took a small road to a coastal town, typically a fishing village.

We arrived on the 2nd of August, groggy and jet-lagged the morning after traveling from Minneapolis. We could have visited the famous tourist pool, The Blue Lagoon. Instead of being touristy, we rented our van, left the airport town of Keflavik and avoided the city of Rejkavik, the largest town on the island and stopped at a bakery for lunch outside of Rejkavik. We ate at a small bakery in Mossfellsbaer and tried every sandwich and pastry they had.  We headed north and west towards our first destination on the Ring Road (Route 1).

I was intrigued by the Snaefellsues Peninsula as we headed towards the Western Fjords. We toured this first NW peninsula of Iceland in West Iceland. On the south side, there are bird nests built right into the cliffs and beaches to see. This is the recommended coastal hike from Hellnar to Arnarstapi and our first real stop about two hours out of Rejkavik. One immediate change was the climate. We had left behind 80 degree weather in the midwest of the US and traded it for weather in the 50s. We typically needed our fleecies. I had brought shorts along and never wore them!

We hiked part of this and then made our way north to Grundafjordur, our first overnight stop. 

Our first dinner was excellent at Bjargarsteinn on the coast of Grundi, looking at the famous mountain Kirkfell in the water.  The next morning, we visited the large waterfall on the other side of Kirkfell. 

We drove back to Route 1, the Ring Road and drove further north and west to the start of the Western Fjords. We stayed along another fjord in Budardalur at the Thurranes Cottage on our second night on the Ring Road.  The kids loved this stop. Even though we were staying in the middle of nowhere on a farm, our cabin had a hot tub, which we all soaked in after our day of driving. Nice view as well. 

The next day, we headed out for Trollaskagi and the northern most point of Iceland, which was off Route 1 in Siglufjörður.  Along the way, we found a wonderful small town for lunch in Hvammstangi at the Hladan Kaffihus. We stopped and each enjoyed local dishes and lots of desserts. 

We enjoyed our stay in "Siglo", which was our most northern stop. It had been one of the headquarters of the Herring trade in the early 1900's, so we enjoyed the museum there and learned more about how the herring were caught and used for products. There was not much thought about ecology or conservation on the part of the companies involved and now the herring are in other parts of the sea or in much smaller numbers and so that trade has dried up. 

This whole area felt very northern and remote. We were almost in the Artic Circle.

Then we headed east to the Eastern Fjords. To get there, we stopped in this quaint, local coffee and lunch place in Davik at the Kaffihus Bakkabraedra. Everyone seemed to know everyone else; we were quiet observers. We had fish soup and headed across a very barren stretch of Iceland to the east coast. 

We crossed the boiling hot pots and steam areas of Iceland and across the most desolate area I have ever driven. For two hours, I did not see any other cars or living beings.  It felt like what it might feel like to drive on Mars, but we eventually saw green and other life again.

Our next overnight was in the eastern fishing village of Seydisfjordur, which is a Norweigen town and was supposed to be “art fueled”. There is a beautiful waterfall and a ferry to Europe from this town. We loved our waterfall hike here.

  A bit further down the road, but up the same hillside with a view of the town sits the music sculpture Tvisongor. Ted, Alle and I sang to each other in these echo chambers and it was a wonderful experience.

The landscape is so vast and open, I couldn't resist taking pictures constantly, even while we were driving. 

From there, we drove back to Egilstaddir for lunch and gelato at Salt and then to the eastern coast with its fjords, glaciers and waterfalls. This small town we happened upon my daughter called the most beautiful place in the world. 

We drove to Höfn via the “fingers” along the eastern fjords (a great route), towards the Vatnajokull National Park and stayed in a cabin along the Ring Road right next to the glaciers of the park. The next morning, we drove from Höfn to see the blue icebergs at the famous Jokulsarlon Icebergs.   The glaciers break off into pieces as they drift to the sea and create the most amazing shades of blue and white. 

Here is yet another beautiful Iceland waterfall we saw as we drove to the ferry for West Mann Island. 

We left the ring road and took the ferry to visit West Mann Island for two days. This is the nesting home of the puffin. We stayed at main town on the island, Heimay on Vestmannaeyjar or West Mann Island for two nights. We explored the town of Heimay and hiked to see the puffins and their cliffs both days. 

This sea cliff is actually covered with the grassy nests of the sea bird puffin. They only come to land to lay their eggs in April. The pufflings hatch, eat a lot of herring during the summer months and learn to fly by August or September. We saw thousands on each hillside. 

The tip of West Mann Island is the windiest place in Europe!

On another point of the island there are early Viking settlements and I love (the reenactment of) their low rock-constructed, grass-roofed cabins. Their interior structures are made of huge logs. 

From West Mann Island, we returned to the south western part of Iceland and the ring road. I thought it would be fun to drive part of the famous Golden Circle to visit one of the hot spring pools. We went to Gamia Laugin or Secret Lagoon in Fludir for the afternoon. It is in a natural pondlike setting. 

We stayed at Heradsskolinn Guesthouse in Laugarvatn in a family style room. The next day we all enjoyed Fontana, which is a more structured spa. They have a variety of pools and steam rooms as well as a lovely lunch buffet. 

From Fontana, we drove to the Pingvellir National Park to see the original Parliament Ring Rock, which is to the back left below. It was here in 933 that the first all European meetings occurred with representatives from a number of lands or countries to discuss laws and issues important to the groups of the day. 

The ring road brought us back around to Rejkavik, the capital city and suddenly we saw more people and tourists than we had all trip.We rented a city apartment for two nights with a chance to explore the old town, museums and the shopping district, all of which were within walking distance of our apartment. 

 

The trip of a lifetime!

March 2017 - Turks and Caicos Islands

Spring Break 2017 - 11 - 18 March 2017 

We had a great week in the islands of Turks and Caicos in the middle of March, which is a great time to be in the Caribbean. We splurged a bit and rented this house on the south side of the main island, near "Provo" airport, and in the Chalk Sound area of the island. 

  

Our first sunset and view out the back of the house near the pool. We loved having our own pool and access to the incredible sea out the back of our house. 

The "infinity pool" the next morning, before we all jumped in and dumped water out!

The view down our beach. Each house has a bit of beach for ocean entry. The rockiness is all beautiful coral under the water.

 The Conch Shack was one of our favorite places to eat with awesome seafood and reggae music. The boys liked one of their beach games which was trying to get a metal loop on a peg.

Here is our ocean access for swimming and snorkeling.

 We visited the only commercial conch farm in the world. It takes four years to grow a conch shell. Amazingly, they sell most of their conch to mainland US. Most of the conch on the island is still taken from the sea.

We took a wonderful boat ride to do extra snorkeling, see some pirate markings and have lunch on a remote beach. Outback Adventures out of Sapodilla Bay, which was just down the beach from us did a great job, especially with kids.

Apparently, the Turks and Caicos islands were on the shipping line of the Spanish ships coming between South America and Spain, so pirates routinely hung out on the islands and robbed the ships coming and going. There were some cool carvings in rocks from the mid-1800s.

The remote beaches were beautiful and we were the only people there.

We liked this Baci Ristorante which had good pizza and food. It is situated on a canal, so it was fun to watch some boat traffic in the evening. This is "on the way/road" to Grace Bay which is the more commercial part of the island and where all of the tourist hotels and shops are. We were glad we were staying in a more quiet private part of the island.

We spent most of our time just hanging out at our pool

And snorkeling in the sea off our beach. Beautiful fish. We saw a turtle, lobster, ray and dolphins all swimming free. It was super fun and we felt grateful to be part of the beautiful ocean ecosystem there.