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| Flowers were blooming across southern Iceland |
Our last day of
our trip was coming up and I had booked the next night at the Hótel Búðir,
where Caty and I had stayed when we were in Iceland in 2015 – and the location where we saw the best
Aurora Borealis.
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| The Aurora we saw in 2015 |
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| Búðakirkja |
Although only 25 minutes away, we switched to the Hótel Búðir on the south side of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula for our second night.
I knew there wasn't much in Ólafsvík to do beyond a Whale watch. I wanted to take advantage of either evening or morning sun to photograph Búðakirkja, the little black church behind the hotel.
Plus, I knew Hótel Búðir was a nice place, a cut above the utilitarian Við Hafið Guesthouse we stayed in in Ólafsvík.
Caty and I had gotten such nice pictures of Búðakirkja that I thought that Scott would
enjoy the opportunity to photograph it as well. Plus, we would still be able to explore Snæfellsnes
National Park from there if we wanted to.
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| Map: Google Maps |
Turns out, Scott wasn’t that interested and he was inexplicably antsy. Even though he had not mentioned it during the trip planning, what Scott really wanted to do was go back to Jökulsárlón, the glacial lagoon on the south coast (6 1/2 hours away) that we had visited on our previous trips to Iceland.
Had I known, I
would have booked a night there. As it was, we had a non-refundable and expensive
(the most expensive of the trip) hotel reserved in Búðir that night and a room booked in
Keflavik near the airport for our final night.
But, regardless, Scott decided
that we would just make our last day a long one and drive to Jökulsárlón and
then back to Keflavik the next day. Now, a 12-hour-roundtrip may seem severe,
but it’s not as if Jökulsárlón was the only thing to see. The drive itself is
spectacular, so, even if we didn’t make it the whole way, it would be worth the
drive.
Búðir
So, we ended up staying in Búðir before departing on our
long day trip.
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| The view from our hotel room |
A small hamlet on the Búðahraun lava fields in Staðarsveit, Búðir is a cluster of old buildings, the
most significant of which are the hotel and the Búðakirkja. The original old
house of the restaurant and Hótel Búðir burned down in 2001 and was rebuilt with
a great deal of effort to match the original inn and blend into the
existing compound. I couldn’t tell it was new.
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| There isn't much to Búðir |
Commercial
ships and fishing vessels have been landing and trading at Búðir since
Iceland's first inhabitants arrived. The town was a commercial and trade hub
for Snæfellsnes during an extended period of Danish trade monopoly.
Now, you’d
be hard-pressed to call it a town.
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| The black paint and white trim is striking |
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| Local residents |
We were tired after the whale watch so, after a hot dog and fish soup lunch at the Secret Spot food truck, we cut across the Peninsula instead of driving through
the National Park.
That meant that Scott didn't get to see the sea stacks or blowhole or cute little villages, but he was OK with that.
We checked into the Hótel Búðir in the late afternoon.
Initially, Scott made reservations
at the Hotel Búðir dining room, which is quite fancy (and expensive). But, we weren't really hungry, so we
cancelled the reservation and just ate some of our picnic goods. We were tired and had a busy schedule planned for the next day.
I was both pleased with the hotel (it had a bathtub!) and disappointed (we had to walk up two flights of stairs and the room was stifling). After we finally figured out how to open the skylight-style window, the room cooled down and everything was fine.
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| A Common Redshank on the Búðakirkja roof |
As it turned
out, we did have a bit of time to photograph the church, which isn't as old as it looks. The first Búðakirkja
was built in 1703, but was eventually deconstructed due to lack of
parishioners.
The current church was reconstructed in 1987 after a single
member of the church lobbied to have the chapel brought back.
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| Scott did take some photos after all |
It has a historic
graveyard as well as relics such as a bell and chalice from the time the church
was first erected. However, its pure black paint job and rugged, isolated location are the
real attraction to the site.
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| Búðakirkja (with that Common Redshank on the roof) |
The Long Drive
So off we went
and, as we drove, the previously sunny weather became cloudy and drizzly. Before
it got too bad, we did stop near Borgarnes to photograph what turned out to be
two Great Cormorants that were sitting off the bridge across Borgarfjörður.
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| Great Cormorants |
But, then we
continued on into the fog and rain. Because of the gray weather, we ended up
not stopping at any of the waterfalls along the route …
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| Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, Systrafoss, 2017 |
We also didn’t stop at Renisdrangar, the black beach overlooking
incredible basalt sea stacks. It just made more sense to keep moving.
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| Renisdrangar, 2017 |
We did,
however, stop in Vík to get a look at Renisdrangar from across the water.
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| Renisdranger on this trip |
And, it was in Vík that we started seeing the flowers.
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| Purple Nootka is everywhere |
Unlike brown Snæfellsnes,
the south coast of Iceland was green, green, green (wet, foggy, rainy weather
will do that).
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| Green, green Vík |
Along the coast, the fields were filled with purple
flowers. Purple flowers as far as the eye could see.
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| Purple Nootka |
These flowers,
interestingly enough, are not native to Iceland. Rather they are Purple Nootka,
or Alaskan Lupine, which was introduced
in 1945 to lowland areas in the southwest as a means to add nitrogen to the
soil and also to function as an anchor for organic matter. It took off like
crazy. It is everywhere.
I hope the Nootka is good for the environment because it is
certainly lovely.
At Vik, we spent a short time on the beach, looking at the
Sea Stacks and listening to the Northern Fulmars nesting on the nearby cliff.
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| Nesting Northern Fulmars |
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| Jökulsárlón |
Jökulsárlón
I hadn't planned visiting this trip because we had been so many times – summer, winter and even once at night where we photographed a very weak Aurora Borealis. I have blogged about Jökulsárlón here.
I usually try to go to new places rather than return again and again to the same place. However, I did not factor in how much Scott loved the Lagoon.
So, we were off to the Glacial Lagoon, even if it meant a very, very, very long day.
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| Vatnajökull Glacier in the distance |
The Vatnajökull Glacier created
the lagoon in the 1930s when icebergs coming off the glacier simultaneously dug a depression near the foot of the glacier and pushed up an underwater moraine at the mouth
of the narrow outlet.
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| Arctic Tern over the Lagoon |
The moraine is low enough that icebergs can escape at
high tide, but they become trapped at low tide.
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| Vatnajökull Glacier up close |
In the summer there are boat tours through the lagoon up to the face of the glacier.
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| Icebergs (the red speck in the distance is a tour boat) |
Across the street, where the water (and icebergs) flow out of
the lagoon is “Diamond Beach,” a black beach that is usually studded with spectacular
chunks of ice washed back up after they escape the lagoon.
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| Diamond Beach with no "diamonds" |
The beach was virtually empty, most likely because
the weather was calm and the waves mild. That was a disappointment. Here’s a
comparison.
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| Lots of "diamonds" back in 2015 |
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| Some small pieces of stranded ice |
There was a small amount of ice here and there, but the sun and the waves were melting it almost as quickly as it got washed up on the shore.
So, we drove all that way for a so-so experience at Jökulsárlón. I am glad we
have been there before so we know how incredible it can be.
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| Female Common Eider on a mission |
And, don’t get me wrong; it was pretty this time, just not
mind-blowing. See it here.
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| Ice can be incredibly beautiful |
While there, we did see some more Common Eiders, which love
the icy cold water. I believe the first Common Eiders I ever saw were on this
spot. This time, however, there were ducklings – adorable little Common Eider
ducklings.
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| Common Eiders |
I also saw a mysterious brown bird that turned out the be a
dark morph Parasitic Jaeger. That was pretty cool; I didn’t even know such a
thing existed, but the dark morphs are apparently pretty common in Iceland. I
saw one on Diamond Beach …
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| Dark Morph Parasitic Jaeger |
… and another in the Lagoon ...
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| Dark Morph Parasitic Jaeger |
I have always been blown away by the icebergs in the Lagoon and on the beach across the
road.
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| Some of the icebergs are quite large |
Because it was gray and we were
there in the afternoon of a day in which the sun would not set until near
midnight, Jökulsárlón was a bit flat.
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| Iceberg |
In the winter, the low sun can give it a pink or golden glow that greatly enhances the photography opportunities.
Of course, a sunny day would have rendered it very photogenic, as well.
We were just somewhere in the middle and even Photoshop couldn't pull a rabbit out of that hat.
Still, there
were large, impressive icebergs jammed up near the outlet to the ocean. I think
we were there a tidal change because, at first, they appeared to be heading
out, and then, they seemed to be coming back.
One of the cool
things we witnessed was an iceberg breaking apart. I heard it before I saw it
and was able to catch just a splash. I was hoping it would flip over, but it
didn’t.
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| Splash after an iceberg break-up (that's a section rolling in the front) |
At Jökulsárlón,
we usually see a couple of Harbor Seals in the Lagoon. But, this time was
special, there was a group of them hauled out on Diamond Beach – many more than I have ever seen
there.
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| Harbor Seals on Diamond Beach |
Harbor Seals
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| Harbor Seal showing off his V-nose |
Also known as the Common Seal (because they are!), the Harbor
Seal is the most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared seals
and true seals). They are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans and the Baltic and North Seas.
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| A good scratch |
Harbor Seals can be brown, silvery white, tan, gray or
mottled. Some individual harbor seals possess a unique pattern of spots, either
dark on a light background or light on a dark. Many variations are often found
within the one group of Seals.
They can be identified by their distinctive
V-shaped nostrils. Their bodies and flippers are short and their heads rounded.
As a true Seal, Harbor Seals have no pinna (ear flap), although an ear canal
may be visible behind the eye.
An adult can attain a length of 6 ft. and a
mass of up to 370 lbs., which includes a thick layer of blubber that helps to
maintain body temperature.
Females are generally smaller than males. Pups can
weigh up to 35 lbs. and are able to swim and dive within hours of birth. They
develop quickly on their mothers' fat-rich milk and are weaned after four to
six weeks. Females can live to 30-35 years and males up to 25 years.
Harbor Seals are generally solitary, but often haul out in small groups, usually sticking to familiar rocky areas, pack ice, sand bars or beaches where they are protected from weather and predation.
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| Swimming Seal |
They tend to be
coastal, not venturing more than 15 miles offshore. They may spend several days
at sea and travel up to 30 miles a day in search of feeding grounds; they have
also been known to swim more than a 100 miles upstream into fresh water in
large rivers in search of migratory fish like shad and salmon.
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| You can see the ear hole behind the eye of this mottled Seal |
Harbor Seals frequently
congregate in harbors, bays, sandy intertidal zones and estuaries in pursuit of
prey fish such as salmon, anchovy, sea bass, herring, mackerel, cod, whiting
and flatfish, and occasionally shrimp, crabs, mollusks and squid. Although
primarily coastal, they can dive to more than 1,600 ft.
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| Swimming buddies |
The global population of Harbor Seals is 350,000-500,000, but
subspecies in certain habitats are threatened (not in Iceland). Once a common
practice, sealing is now illegal in many nations within the animal's range.
On the Road
On the way back to Keflavik, we stopped a few times – first
to photograph some Barnacle Geese with their Goslings …
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| Barnacle Geese |
Once to photograph some Redwings that were flitting
about in the beautiful flowers ...
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| A Redwing among the flowers |
And, a few times just to photograph the beauty ...
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| A ghostly kind of beauty |
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| I guess Iceland really has heart! |
While we spent most of the day driving, it was glorious –
especially those phenomenal purple flowers. It was a nice (almost) ending to a
lovely trip.
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| Iceland has my heart |
Keflavik
The next
morning we had a short amount of time before we had to get to the airport for
our trip home. It was a
reasonably blustery – and briefly sunny again – morning, but we had to get
going.
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| A slightly angry ocean |
We had been traveling for almost three weeks and it was time to go home.
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| Iceland, like Norway, has many brightly colored buildings |
The last leg of
our trip was First Class (I have no idea why, but miles trips can be that
way).
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| Headed for home! |
It made coming home a tiny bit less painful.
Trip date: June 15-July 4, 2019
