Patreksfjordur to Flateyri - August 30, 2019

Another lovely Icelandic breakfast, with some extra, like waffles, oatmeal, and smoothies!  And there’s a lovely view of the fjord out the dining room window.  We only have two objectives today, “the most beautiful waterfall in Iceland” and the “best Belgian Waffles in Iceland”!  May as well go for the best of everything!

Before we left home we tried valiantly to follow the directions to download Google maps, so we could use it during the day without wifi.  Neither of us was successful.  Today, quite by accident, we learned how to do it!  And it was a million times easier than what we had read!  I do so love having a map, especially when it shows our car as it moves along!

There are so many fjords in Westfjord and every time we spot a new one, it’s like we’ve never seen anything more beautiful!  And the same holds true for the waterfalls.  And they are everywhere, from tiny little ones that run into small streams and disappear, to the ones that fall hundreds of feet!  Every mountainside seems to have at least one!

As we’re driving along our gravel road (most of today was spent on gravel roads, and most of them are really pretty good as long as you go slowly enough.) we spot a bus pulled over and what might be a WC.  Always need to stop at those, as they are few and far between!  Like gas stations.  They are so scattered that our Nat Geo map has them marked on it!

Anyway, back to the bus.  We pull in and discover that there is a spartan-looking swimming pool with one or two hardy souls in it.  I have to know what the temperature is, and when I did my finger in, I discover that it is one those hot springs they talk about in all the guide books!  There’s nothing fancy, no gate, no admission, no name or advertising!  There’s just a little changing room and the pool!  As I walk a little backward, searching for a better angle for a photo, I notice a young woman in a black bikini heading for some rocks.  Turns out there is a natural spring and pool and she approaches, removing her top.  She settles slowly into the water, and her male companion, in his swimming trunks, joins her.  They aren’t shy about photos!!  If I looked like her, I wouldn’t be either!

We didn’t bring bathing suits and so we head back onto the road.  As we’re driving we discuss whether we should go back and find something that would dry quickly so we could give the pool a try.  Nay, if Karma wants us to try a pool, we’ll find another one.

We’re searching for the waterfall called Dynjandi, figuring that there will surely be signs and a parking lot fitting it’s designation.  It’s marked on our Google map and as we pull along side it’s spot we see a pair of waterfalls and figure we’ve arrived!  There’s no sign. There’s no parking lot.  But there are a couple of other cars and we see a couple coming back along the road.  They assure us that there is a path and we’ll be fine.  

We head out and find something that looks a bit like a path.  Sometimes is goes over rocks and we have to just hope we’re heading the in the right direction.  Eventually the path Peters out altogether and I have to blaze a trail that will take us over the ridge, and hope we’ll see the falls on the other side!  We do!  I’m victorious!  We take lots of photos, all the while muttering because we had read that there were lots of other falls leading up to the big one…and we’ve seen nothing!  But the falls are lovely and the walk was invigorating (yea, Iceland is cold and windy!). We finally make it back to our car and continue northward.

Not too much further down the road we see that same bus in a parking lot with about thirty other cars!  OH!  THIS is Dynjandi!!  There ARE signs, and a parking lot!  And lots of smaller falls leading up to the main feature!  As we’re reading the signs and gearing up for another hike, we chat with a young couple from the Netherlands, Frederieke and Regis.  They are hiking and camping across Iceland for two weeks!  After some getting-to-know-you, they ask where we’re going next and when we say Thingeyri they say they are to and couple we give them a lift?  We say, sure, but we haven’t hike the waterfall yet.  They are happy to wait for us.  Hmmm.  Hope this is going to end well!

The walk starts out easily enough and there are, indeed, amazing waterfalls along the way, each with its own name.  About three fourths of the way up, Marilyn’s knee tells her that her knee brace isn’t enough to allow her to continue.  She says I can go, and so I do.  The walk has turned into a hike, although there is a part and it has steps of sorts.  And even a handrail for part of the way to make sure you don’t stray.

There is a French couple in front of me and at one point he-and his long legs- climbs up a really tall rock. He has to help his young wife, and the offers to help me.  I’m not too proud to accept help!  At the next waterfall they are taking photos of each other and I offer to take some of them together.  They are happy to have them and, in turn, he offers to take one of me.  I’m happy, too, and then ask to take one of them with my camera.  They pose willingly and he asks me to send him a copy, and gives me his card.

They are surely going all the way to the top;  but I’ve got three people waiting for me and I think that the last little bit is just “a step too far” so I head back down (Yes, Ginger, I didn’t go all the way - just about 85%!) 

When I get back to Marilyn, she is on the phone with Gunnar, who put together our tour, asking about hitchhikers in Iceland.  He says it probably fine;  may people do it.  Maybe, though, we should at least take their picture.

As we reach the bottom, Regis comes to meet us and offers to take our photo, as a thank you for us doing them a favor.  Sweet guy.  We load all our stuff into the trunk and they “tetris” all theirs, and themselves, into the back of our little Hyundai 30i.  They are very entertaining and intelligent and it’s fun to have them as companions.

Hmmm.  There’s a symbol on the dashboard saying the tire pressure is low.  Turns out one of the rear tires is fading fast.  Too fast for us to try to make it to the next town.  That means unloading everything from the trunk and extracting the spare, which is one of those useless donuts.  So we’ve got two old ladies, one young girl, and one young man who doesn’t even have a driver’s license, much less experience changing a tire.  Never fear, we have a book and some smarts, and a young man is is willing to learn how this is done!  

With the project underway, and the wind picking up, and the temperature dropping, a car full of three Italian guys stops to help.  Actually, mostly they just supervise as Regis does all the work.  One of them does hoist the flat back into the trunk, and it was nice to have back up incase things went south!

That adventure behind us, we head to what we are now calling “Flat-tirey” and stop at the N1 gas station to see if there is someone in town who can fix our flat.  Well, there’s a guy and we go to the shop, while the kids head to the Simbahollin Cafe, where we’ve promised to treat them to anything they want.  Of course the tire shop is closed, so we go back to the N1 to ask the lady there to call the guy and see if he could come back for an emergency repair.  She calls and he would, except he’s away on vacation!

We go to the cafe and have Iceland’s best waffles and hot chocolate.  Fredericke has a chocolate muffin and cappacino. While I was at the register, Marilyn has agreed to take the kids with is Flateyri, where we are spending the night. 

We find the N1 and the campsite is right behind it.  It’s raining, so they will wait to set up their tent.  We ask the lady there is there’s a fix-it person in town and a guy in line for food says there isn’t and that we should try Isafjordur, a must larger town.  Of course, tomorrow will be the weekend and maybe no one will be working.  Hmmm.  We leave the kids, after loving up on a poor puppy who is tied up outside in the rain and cold, and check in to our guest house, Litlabyli Guest House.  I tell the lady our sad story and she calls her brother in Isafjordur who says that if we call him in the morning when we’re leaving, he’ll take care of us!!

We also tell her about the kids who were so helpful and ask if she has any empty rooms, that we could rent for them. She says that she’s full;  but she also runs the campground, and she won’t charge them for tonight!!  What a sweetheart!!

The house is quite lovely, there’s free coffee and tea in the kitchen, there’s a full bathroom downstairs and a half bath on our floor, and the room is spacious and well appointed.  We have some tuna, a cutie each, and two little bottles of wine.  Live is good and will be even better when we get the tire thing straighten out.

AND Marilyn looks at a map of the hurricane’s newest proposed path, it appears that it might turn north around Orlando!  That would be lovely, and might mean it will only be a tropical storm in our area!  Time will tell!!