Hringvegur Plus #3: Whale Watching, Aurora and a Beautiful Day

Humpback Whale, aurora borealis and Súgandisey cliff

The next day was one of the few where we had a time-sensitive plan. I had booked a whale watch in the afternoon out of Ólafsvík with Láki Tours. (Caty and I had gone out with Láki from Grundarfjörður on our winter trip and Scott and I had gone out with them from Ólafsvík on our most recent trip.)

That visit back in 2019 delivered Humpback and Blue Whales along with some very active White-Beaked Dolphins. We were hoping for Orcas and Sperm Whales this time.

Blue Whale from our last trip

Our plan was to start of early and see as much of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula as we could before we had to get to Ólafsvík. There was not much pressure, because we had explored Snæfellsnes before. 

A brooding morning

It started out overcast as we headed north from Reykjavik, but it partially cleared as the day went on. On the way, we didn’t see much, just a couple of Iceland’s ubiquitous Common Redshanks along the road. 

Common Redshanks are, well, common

We also came upon some Whooper Swans – not a new bird, but this group included some dove-gray juveniles, which I had not seen before. A very pretty bird.

One adult and two juvenile Whooper Swans

Snæfellsnes Peninsula

We had enough time to drive along the south coast of Snæfellsnes and stop at the beautiful little black church in Búðir. 

 Búðir Church

Yes, we have photographed it before. And, yes, we have photographed it in better light, but it is so charming, you just have to stop. 

Búðir Graveyard; Left photo: Scott Stevens

And, this time, Scott managed to get a shot of the interior. I have never even been able to see it.

Búðir Church; Photo: Scott Stevens

Then, we cut across the Peninsula rather than driving around. The drive took us into Snæfellsjökull National Park, which comprises most of the Peninsula and surrounds Snæfellsjökull, the glacier-topped mountain in the center. 

Snæfellsjökull

When I was there before, I noticed some signs warning about “birds on the road.” I assumed it referred to swooping seabirds. This time, we saw what it was all about. Arctic Terns!

I was never able to capture how many there were

Lots of them!  

Hundreds! 

No, thousands! 

So, here was a huge group of nesting Arctic Terns, which I have seen before in Alaska and Svalbard, Norway. 

They nest on the ground and are extremely protective of those nests – and later, their young ‘ens. They are notorious for flying low and for attacking anyone who comes near their territory. 

A graceful bird, but scary

They are terrifying when the come at you, talons out, mouths agape and screeching loudly. I avoided bodily harm, but did get to see some juveniles, which was new for me (but still not a new bird). 

Juvenile Arctic Tern begging to be fed

We stopped a few places to photograph them. There is a nice bird blind by a lagoon near the entrance of the National Park where I have photographed birds before. 

I wonder if Terns bother Icelandic Horses, which can be seen all over the Peninsula

We pulled into the parking lot – which was teeming with Terns – and I attempted to make it to the blind. I made it about ten steps before running back to the car. I have seen these things draw blood. I did not want to be another victim. 

In flight, they are deadly

So, hungry now, we headed on to Ólafsvík to get some lunch. We hoped that the food truck with the world’s best Icelandic fish soup would be waiting for us by the harbor. But, it wasn’t.

We go for the nature, not the food

And, because of COVID, there wasn’t anything else either. The restaurants were closed. So we drove to Grundarfjörður. Nothing there either. We ended up eating some (pretty good, actually) convenience store/gas station pizza. In all fairness, a lot of Icelandic gas stations have pretty good cafes. 

We were glad we had brought a small cooler and supplies so that – once we could hit a grocery store – we could picnic. 

Whale Watch

Ready to head out

The whale watch was a bit windy, but still fairly warm. It started sunny (which is great for photography), but got cloudy on the water.

The trip left from Ólafsvík and traveled out on Breiðafjörður, a very large bay between the Snæfellsnes Peninsula and Vestfirðir, where we would be heading the next day.

Láki provides giant weather suits, so this time I didn’t dress warmly. I am glad I didn’t because the suits fluctuated from comfy to warm as the wind rose and fell and the sun played peek-a-boo. 

Láki ensures you stay warm

As far as whale watches go, this one was okay. We saw one Humpback close to harbor that we stayed with for about the entire watch (indicating that they were not aware of any other whales in the area). It didn’t do much interesting. 

It wasn't very exciting, but it was close

But, what was interesting was the small pod of White-beaked Dolphins.

White-beaked Dolphins are very entertaining

And, what was really interesting was that the Dolphins were harassing the whale by jumping on and over its head. 

White-beaked Dolphin harassing a Humpback Whale

Interesting to watch. 

The Dolphins stayed close

It was unclear whether the Humpback was annoyed or enjoying the company. 

The roll and fin slap could have been a warning or an invitation

But, there was a fair amount of Dolphin action. 

Jumping Dolphins

Unfortunately, there were no Sperm Whales (maybe someday!), Orcas (I can’t be greedy, I had just seen them in Washington, Puffins (I knew they’d be gone, but one can always hope), Minke Whales (I have seen them often, but my only photo is a partial dorsal fin) or anything new. 

Just the Humpback ...

Now I feel guilty for calling this boring

... the White-beaked Dolphins ...

An airborne White-beaked Dolphin; Photo: Scott Stevens

... a couple of Black Guillemots ...

A juvenile Black Guillemot

... Northern Fulmars ...

Definitely one of the most common birds

... some Black-legged Kittiwakes and Arctic Terns ... 

Definitely among the noisiest birds

... and beautiful scenery ...

Snæfellsjökull from Breiðafjörður

We had another whale watch scheduled in a week in Húsavík (the whale watching capital of Iceland), so maybe we’d see something new on that trip. 

Maybe later

Grundarfjörður

A reliable spot for dinner

The food options improved a tiny bit as a few places opened for dinner. We ended up eating at Kaffi 59: I had a bleu cheeseburger (yummy but not as good as one I had there with Caty back in 2015) and Scott had the strangest lamb chops I had ever seen (breaded and fried, they looked like fish cakes). 

A conversation starter

Oddly, we met two different couples there who had kids attending the University of Florida (Scott was wearing his Gator sweatshirt). 

Both were traveling the Hringvegur, but in the opposite direction. 

 

That night we stayed at Dis Cottages in Grundarfjörður. 

The Dis Cottages are ultra-modern; Photo: Scott Stevens

The cottages sit in a remote area opposite the harbor from the town, providing a gorgeous view. 

Looking across the bay to Grundarfjörður

This is where I learned to check my email regarding check-in procedures. We pulled up to an empty office and several cabins and another couple also confused about what to do. I finally got the owner on the phone and got my instructions. He seemed a bit piqued and mentioned the email. I logged on and there it was – all the details I needed. 

A comfortable cabin with crazy great views (and a nice deck)

I was a bit embarrassed, but, I checked my messages from then on out. The cabin was gorgeous – modern and sleek – with deck and great view of Kirkjufell, Iceland’s iconic triangular mountain that I will talk about in a moment. 

Kirkjufoss and Kirkjufell

It’s a shame we weren’t in the cabin longer. That night (our second in Iceland), we had a spectacular sunset punctuated with a cacophony of sea birds just out of sight at the shore. I never knew what they were, but there were a lot of them. They were deafening. 

Icelandic sunset

Then, we had a tiny bit of aurora. 

It wasn't bright and didn't last long, but it was pretty

Maybe this trip would deliver more than we expected. 

Kirkjufell

After a good night’s sleep, we headed out early in the morning to photograph Kirkjufell (literally, “church mountain” because it is supposed to resemble a church) ... 

Kirkjufell

... and the falls across the street, Kirkjufoss ... 

Kirkjufoss

It was early, which provided a great advantage. No one else was there.

Downstream from the falls

Usually this is a crowded tourist stop ...

Close to Reykjavik, Kirkjufoss attracts large number of people

... especially after the mountain was featured in Game of Thrones.

Me in front of the iconic mountain; Photo: Scott Stevens

Icelandic Naming

Let me take a break here to talk about Icelandic place names. Unlike here in the U.S., Iceland doesn’t name places after people or other places. Everything is, quite simply, what it is. 

Here is a partial list:

Akrar/Akur – field 

Á – river or stream 

Bær – farm

Bakki – riverbank or land along the coast 

Berg – rock 

Bjarg – cliff or rocky edge  

Botn – bottom (usually at the beginning of the fjord or valley)

Brú/Brýr – bridge

Dalur – valley Djúp – long and deep inlet

Drangi/Drangur – column of rock

separated from others

Dyngja – dome of a volcano 

Eldfjall/Eldstöð/Eldfjöll – volcano 

Ey/Eyjar – island Eyri – sandpit or gravel area

Fell – mountain or hill (usually solitary)

Fjall/Fjöll – mountain

Fjörð/Fjörður/Firði/Firðir – fjord

Foss – waterfall 

Garður – garden 

Haf/Höf/Sjór – ocean

Höfn – harbor

Hólmur – islet or reef

Hús – house

Hver – very hot spring

Hvoll – hill

Jökull – glacier

Kirkja – church

Leir – clay

Lón – lagoon

Mýri – swamp or bog

Nes – peninsula

Ós – river mouth

Reykur – steam

Sandur – sand

Skógur – woodland

Staðir/Staður – place (usually a church area or big farm)

Strönd/Strandir – coastline or beach

Vatn/Vötn – lake

Vegur – road

Vellir/Völlur – flat area of land

Vík – bay

Viti/Vitar – lighthouse 

Plus, Norður means north, Suður means south, Austur means east and Vestur means west. 

The result is that it is pretty easy to figure out what a place is. 

The problem is that names repeat all over the country. 

So, which Húsavík (“house bay”) do you want to go to? 

Stykkishólmur

Back to our trip: After Kirkjufell, we started to meander toward Stykkishólmur, the harbor where we would depart on our ferry to Vestfirðir. 

The ferry waiting for us

It was a gorgeous day, so we were hoping for a beautiful day at sea. 

What a glorious day! Photo: Scott Stevens

On the way, we encountered a new bird! For some background, I had had a goal of reaching 700 life birds in 2020. The pandemic squashed that. 

I track my birds on eBird

Here it was 2021 and I was still sitting at 692. 

I didn’t have a lot of hope for new birds in Iceland, because it was late in the season, because I have been to Iceland before and because Iceland has many of the same birds as Norway and, to some extent, Alaska. 

But, a pretty little European Golden Plover gave me hope as it was piping away among the rocks. 

European Golden Plovers are noisy little things

Throughout the trip, we discovered that European Golden Plovers are pretty common in Iceland; almost as common as White Wagtails, which we saw everywhere.

White Wagtail

We spent some time in Stykkishólmur, a cute little town with a lovely harbor on Breiðafjörður and the launching point for Ferry Baldur to Vestfirðir via Flatey Island.

Stykkishólmur Harbor; Photo: Scott Stevens

Stykkishólmur has been an important trading post since 1550, early in Iceland’s history. Today, business here concentrates on fishing and tourism. The town was named after a small island in front of the harbor called Stykkið ("the piece"). 

The view from Stykkishólmur

The nearby mountain of Helgafell is the burial place of Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir, a heroine of the Icelandic Sagas (stand by, I’ll get to Sagas in a later post).

A roadside sign about the Sagas

The town was the filming location for the depictions of Nuuk, Greenland, in the 2013 movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The gorgeous scenery in that movie was an initial motivation for our first visits to Iceland. 

Maritime scenes in Iceland were used for Greenland; Left photo: Scott Stevens

We started our visit in Stykkishólmur with lunch at a local bakery that included some of the most delicious mushroom soup you can imagine. Icelanders sure know how to make soup!

A local eatery

Then, we walked to the top of the basalt cliffs that protect the harbor.

These cliffs define Stykkishólmur; Photo: Scott Stevens

Formerly this area, called Súgandisey, was not attached to the mainland; now a short road connects them.

The cliffs protect the harbor and provide a perch for the lighthouse

The top provides views of the bay ... 

Looking out on Breiðafjörður

... a number of tiny islands ... 

A small boat heads out to the islands off Stykkishólmur; Photo: Scott Stevens

... and Northern Fulmars alighting on and flying from the cliffs ...

It is interesting to stand level with -- or even above -- them

Plus, you can walk up to the Súgandisey Light, which looks rather like a big orange trash can. 

Súgandisey Light

Iceland has lots of lighthouses, but, unfortunately, few are particularly quaint. Most have a rather utilitarian look. Súgandisey Light was once located at Grótta in Seltjarnarnes Town, which is part of the Greater Reykjavík area, but was moved to Stykkishólmur. 

The day was lovely, so we just hung out and enjoyed the sunshine, the views and the birds until it was time to board Ferry Baldur.

The sea beckons

Trip date: August 13-September 1, 2021