Snæfellsnes Peninsula

 

Today wasn't exactly sunny, but it didn't rain ALL day.  Very little, in fact.  So we set off in search of the Snæfellsjökull National Park Visitor Center, so we could learn all about what there was to do. The problem was that every map or web search said it was in a different place. It was apparently at Rif, Malarrif, Hellissandur, or possibly at Hellnar.  Since they were all on the same road that goes all the way around the edge of the Peninsula, we figured we'd eventually run across it.

But first, we stopped at the Black Church at Búðir.  From the Iceland Tours website:

"The black church at Búðir is one of the most photographed buildings in Iceland, particularly with Snæfellsjökull glacier in the background. The original church was built in 1703 by local merchant Bendt Lauridsen, fell into disrepair, and was deconsecrated in 1816. The present church was rebuilt in 1848, largely through the efforts of Steinunn Sveinsdóttir, a merchant's widow who campaigned for its reconstruction despite opposition from national church officials. The door ring bears the inscription: "The church was rebuilt in 1848, with no support from the spiritual leaders." Steinunn is buried in the churchyard.

The church was moved to its current position in 1984 and reconsecrated in 1987. It holds around 50 people and has no heating or running water, but it has become a popular wedding venue. It is open to visitors."

Dear reader...it was NOT open to visitors.

So we went for a short walk around the lava fields.

Woodcocks seem to like to perch on rocks!

From Buðir, we continued on to the rock formation Lóndrangar--a pair of basaltic sea stacks just off the coast. On the way, we both thought we recognized the villages of Hellnar and Arnartapit from our 2013 trip--maybe we ate lunch in one of them?--but we passed them by.  There's a nice walking path to the viewpoints around the rocks, also giving great views of the bird cliffs where Fulmars and Kittiwakes are nesting.  The swirling birds made for some great photos!

I have video of this, but it won't load. Will try again later.

There was a sign at the "drangar" that indicated that there was a visitor center back at Hellnar, so we backtracked.  There is no visitor center, and not even much of a village.  By this time we were hungry even though it was only 11 (we ate breakfast at 7...stupid jet-lag), so we went another couple of kilometers back to Arnartapi, where we both think we had lunch back in 2013.  That restaurant wouldn't open until 12, but we found another one and had a nice if unexciting lunch, finishing just as 2 tour buses pulled up.

Vacation cottages

Turning west again, we saw a sign on the highway that said "Visitor Center", so turned in at Malarrif. There's a very tall lighthouse, with a small building attached.  We weren't really interested in touring a lighthouse, so drove on. We wanted the Nationa Park's Visitor Center.

As we rounded the end of the peninsula, the sun broke out and we got some nice glimpses of the Snæfellsjökull glacier.  Finally, we reached the National Park Visitor Center at Hellissandur...a striking structure with a nice viewing platform on the roof, but we were underwhelmed by the exhibits inside.

View of the glacier from the parking lot

View from the Visitor Center roof

Interesting use of exterior-grade plywood throughout

Our favorite thing was the plywood topographical map of the park

This church is the very definition of "isolated"

There were Arctic Tern chicks near where Lars is standing.

The adults were not happy.

We continued along the northern coast until we came of one of Iceland's most iconic sights: Kirkjufell. We spent quite a while taking pictures here, and at nearby Grundarfoss waterfall.

Did you know Mercedes made things like this??

We then went on out to Stykkishólmur on the northernmost tip of the peninsula.  This is where the ferries leave for the Westfjords region.  We came in on the ferry back in 2013, but it was late and we had to scramble to reach our night´s accommodation, so we hadn't had a chance to look around.  The town's Danish roots show in the multi-colored buildings of the older section of town.  We stopped at the Norwegian House museum--the oldest two-story wooden house in Iceland (1832).

It's also the regional museum, and hosts rotating art exhibits.  From the website photos, we were expecting the sort of  "house museum" that has room decorated according to the time it was in use as a family home. Instead, there was a sort of history of communications in Iceland...early telephones, record players (with some Beatles and Elvis albums, translated into Icelandic on the covers), and radios. The attic had "open storage", with a hodge-podge of old items, including some very long wooden skis, several saddles, a couple of chairs....there seemed to be no real overarching theme. So we got a cup of coffee and headed back to the guesthouse.

...where we found a map of the area, the PLAINLY shows the OTHER National Park Visitor Center...at the lighthouse in Malarrif. 30 minutes from here.  So guess what we're doing tomorrow??

Sorry about the window glare, but it's the first time I've seen the top of this mountain behind our room!

The menu may be limited to four items, but they are delicious!

Arctic Char with roast potatoes and salad.

Note: most of the photos so far have been from Sheila's phone, as they are the easiest to get directly into the blog.  Once we're on the ship and fully unpacked, we'll transfer things from the cameras to the laptop, so expect a bit of a photo dump during our crossing of the Denmark Strait on Sunday. We may or may not shuffle them back into the appropriate blog posts.