This morning was a slightly earlier start than usual as we were in for a long day of driving. The Westfjords was somewhere we were both keen to visit, as only around 10% of visitors actually make it here due to its vastness and distance from the main ‘tourist attractions’. Its also only somewhere you can visit during the summer months, as the roads are a lot less maintained and snowfall is incredibly heavy during the winter. The scenery here is beyond stunning but there are very few places to pull over and actually admire it properly. We did manage to find one, however Mark was very quickly attacked by a group of Arctic Tern (a very angry bird!) and after running around the van a few times, he decided that they had won and returned to safety. After a bit of research, it turns out that they are notorious for attacking people, and scratching you with their talons!
Our first proper stop of the day was the mighty Dynjandi waterfall, which means thunderous, and is often referred to as the jewel of the Westfjords. It’s also known as the bridal veil falls due to its distinctive shape. Thanks to a group of volunteers, it’s so easily accessible from the car park meaning more people can enjoy the beauty. It is definitely one of our favourite falls and the photos really don’t do it justice. As a treat, there are also 6 smaller falls on the way up to Dynjandi, making it a foss heaven 💦
Driving the Westfjords involves lots of arse twitchy twisty roads that are full of potholes, so this is something to bear in mind if you want to add it to your trip. As the area is so big we had to decide what was most important to see, and as we hadn’t yet done a ‘side of the road hot spring’ we chose to add this to the itinerary, and headed to Krosslaug. It’s well hidden and Google promised minimal people know its location. Turns out the day we went, lots of people found it! But it was still so lovely to sit and enjoy the views with a cold drink to hand. The only small issue was when I went back to get changed, I found a pair of someone else’s knickers in my shoe!
Home for this evening was probably one of our favourites so far as it had a waterfall and a ‘normal’ coloured beach, which is very rare for Iceland. We fired up the BBQ tonight because it was just too nice not to, and had yet more hot dogs with crispy onion and that fabulous sauce. As Rauðisandur beach was right next to the campsite, we decided to have a midnight sun walk to enjoy the sound of the crashing waves, whilst looking on at the moody clouds over cliffs in the distance.
The Travelling Ginger 