We all slept decent and got on the road by 8:30a. Our first stop was the beach. The wind was howling and the waves crashing. It was powerful and beautiful. You could lean into the wind to allow it to hold you up. To be fun I thought I would touch the water. On some beaches this is not a safe thing to do, but this seemed like I could walk up to it and just touch it as it was receding. My plan looked like it would go off flawlessly, until a wave snuck up behind me and soaked my feet. Fortunately for me the car was 2 minutes away, with a clean dry pair of socks and boots waiting for me. We were the only ones at the beach, which was wonderful.
Next we stopped at a volcano crater. There were steps that went up to the top of it. The wind continued to be so strong that at one point Mercy looked like she was going to be blown off the crater. It was fun to be hiking in such strong winds. We continued the rest of the day stopping at beaches, lookouts, and waterfalls. We wound our way along the peninsula and eventually finished with all the requisite sites and started the long drive to our next hotel. When I was setting up the hotels, I goofed one and put us in an area we have already seen. There is a unique waterfall in the area that we plan to see tomorrow, so not all is lost, but it did mean a couple hours drive through the golden circle that we saw when we first came to Iceland.
Mercy’s Take (10/13) – I woke up at 6:40a. I slept ok and got a rat in my hair when I woke up. Today we were visiting a lot of beaches which is fun, but we’ve been hiking a lot, which is ok but a little tiring. We went to some waterfalls too. When we went to our hotel I got a letter from Mrs. Chris Paulsen.
Our itinerary showed that we would be driving a lot today (~4hrs) and that felt like an understatement. We were able to drive up the coast and see a fun rhino rock. We walked out to a viewpoint of it and then walked down to the beach. The sand was black and there were lots of stones everywhere, no shells. From there we went to an old fortress. Mercy had been praying for mist and this is where the mist started and stayed with us for a couple hours. It was a complete white out, which made the mountain driving even more fun. There was one hour that I could barely see the hood of the car and the vehicle’s tail lights in front me as we did turns and went down steep mountain hills. We also came to a vehicle in the middle of the road. (Remember there are very few pull offs in Iceland.) We went around the car to find five young ladies in the ditch waiting for help with their flat tire. We offered to help them change the tire, and they said that was the problem. The rental car agency forgot to put a spare tire in their car! They would have to wait for hours for someone to show up with a tire.
Kolugljufur CanyonKolugljufur CanyonKolugljufur CanyonKolugljufur CanyonKolugljufur CanyonBathroom – $3/personKirkjufellsfoss WaterfallKirkjufell MountainKirkjufellsfoss WaterfallKirkjufellFreeze Cultural Center
We saw some beautiful waterfalls today. One was right beside the road and said to be the most scenic waterfall in Iceland, which I questioned, but it was pretty. Once we were fully on the Snaefellsnea Peninsula we noticed something else. The locals here are the first ones we have met that are done with the tourist season for the year. They are very short in their conversation, keeping it to a minimum of what is needed for us to be on our way. It has only been like that here, everywhere else the people have been terrific and beautiful. For the night, we booked the only place available (Freeze Cultural Center), and it turned out to be an interesting experience. Online it mentions it is a great place for families, and we have seen some pretty young kids running the hallways of the hotel. The receptionist was very nice and gave me the tour of the place before Jodi and Mercy joined me. I was glad she did, so that I could help navigate them to our room. The overall atmosphere is pretty dark, more like a late night bar experience. The life size mystical murals in the halls and in our room were a little overwhelming. With the all the nudity in the paintings and the hallway coffee table adult literature available I would not say it was kid friendly, but the room was clean and the beds were comfortable. We got a chance to sing worship songs and play cards games in the room before signing off for the night. We look forward to a fresh clean start with the new day.
Mercy’s Take (10/12) – I woke up at 6:35a. Daddy and I read Bible. Then mommy woke up around 7a. We went to breakfast, and it was so good. Daddy gave me a letter from Tirzah Joy Tuten and it was gorgeous. Thank you Tirzah! We went our way to the rhino rock and it was cool to see. We headed to Borgarvirki which was fun to walk around . Then we went to Kolugljufur Canyon, which was beautiful. We headed to Kirkjufell which was pretty. We are going to the hotel now. I went to bed at 9p.
9/11/2025 We left our little house and drove the northern coast of Iceland today. The views were majestic and the drops off sheer. I had to keep my eyes on the road as the consequences would be fatal. At one point we started the tunnels. They were a little unnerving to me as they were […]
9/10/2025 This morning we met Sabrina with Eyjardalsa for a horse ride. Sabrina came from Germany 4yrs ago and fell in love with the area. She is finishing up her college degree in tourism, specializing in horse training. Sabrina said it took her six months to understand the Icelandic language and then another year and […]
9/8/2025 Our day started with looking out the window at a green mountain full of waterfalls. In the grass fields in front grazed very fluffy contented sheep, even with the blustery winds. After a nice breakfast of meat/cheese/toast/boiled eggs we drove back down the road to Diamond beach. This is the main stop that brought […]
9/9/2025 Last night we stayed in a hostel with an international community flare. They had games available to play, so we sat down to a couple games of rummikub. This morning we had a delicious breakfast with several homemade products (rhubarb jelly, cinnamon toast, pesto, hummus, etc.). We enjoyed all the languages being spoken around […]
9/7/2025 Our night in the Arhus Camping Cottages was uneventful and the river beside it was still beautiful in the morning, even with the howling wind. We got on the road and soon stopped at a beautiful waterfall. This one was unique because we could walk behind it. Mercy and Jodi even walked down to […]
9/6/2025 Today was our day for the famous golden circle route. Our first stop was the crevice filled with water between two tectonic plates. You can snorkel or scuba (down to 300ft) through the crevice. Mercy was too young for the adventure, and Jodi wanted nothing to do with the cold waters of Iceland. When […]
We made it! With little to no sleep we hit the ground running. We got our rental car and drove an hour to the via ferrate. A very nice lady gave us our gear and I took a picture of the map of the course off her Facebook page. I had emailed with her a […]
This morning we decided to go to the north shore to a land called Hanalei to body board. This is the land puff the magic dragon was created to live in. We looked for puff but never found him. He must have been hiding out in his cave while we were there, because as we […]
