Drangsnes to Varmahid - September 1, 2019

This is really a tiny room!  Both beds are against their respective walls and the space between them is about the width of my body!  I wind up doing half of my yoga practice in the kitchen, hoping that no one decides to cook!

We have breakfast in the guest house’s restaurant and the spread is far more varied!  Also, the wifi works in the restaurant, which it certainly didn’t in the room!!  I manage to get the photos added to last night’s blog just in time for our departure.  While we were eating, the family from Catalan that we met yesterday comes over to our table to say Hello!!

We’re heading for Holmavik for starters, to pick up Stu’s cup from the witchcraft museum. On the door is a sign that says “Picked by Picky Locals!”  I get to see that charming, good looking young man from yesterday!How lucky that I got his email and that we had to come back this way to get to Iceland 1, often called the ring road.  It’s the tourist drag and most people don’t ever get off it.  Of course, we’re not most people and we’ll spend most of today on secondary roads.  But they’re not “F” roads, so the rental-car company, Budget, shouldn’t be too upset with us!  

From Holmavik we’re heading for the Arctic Seal Center.  Along the way there are more sheep along side, or in, the road.  And at one point we even see a horse who just glances our way and continues grazing, about a foot from our car!

Our next stop if Hvammstangi, where we are looking for the Icelandic Seal Center. As we turn off the main road there is an information center - really a small cluster of signs, one of which is a map. I love maps!  I can finally find one of the stops Gunnar has recommended but that isn’t on any other map I’ve seen!  It shows the location of the seal center;  but it’s cleverly disguised as the Selasetur Islands!  We figure that out on the second pass!  The man there gives us a map of seal-viewing spots, since we’ve declined the hour and forty-five minute bus and boat ride!  A little shopping and we’re off again.

There was a t-shirt that said “I survived 711” and we laughed until we saw the road!  It isn’t really that awful;  but we are glad we’re driving a rental! We stop at one of the “attractions” and build peanut butter and jelly open-faced sandwiches.  Lunch!!!

The first stop is called Svalbard and we trek down to the shore.  We’ve decided that tripods might be in order, since we don’t know how far off the beasties might be.  That’s when Marilyn discovers that the quick connect she just bought from Amazon is no longer on the bottom of her camera!  Much gnashing of teeth!

Turns out there are only four seals lying on a rock.  Not much action, so we take a few photos and head on to the next stop, Illugastadir.  Now this is a stop!  There are probably twenty seals and a couple are arctic white!  As we arrive at the end of the long trek, one of the little buggers is jumping out of the water.  The down side of a tripod is that I was busy setting it up and missed the shot!  Still, there were lots of seals posing on the rocks.  And there are also a ton of sheep through which we must pass.  Some of them are down among the seaweed, munching away!

As I arrive, an older couple is leaving.  The lady is about my age, with beautiful white hair and she compliments mine.  She says she wishes she had the courage to do that, and I assure her that it’s fun and she should!  She agrees she might and we exchange hugs for luck!

It’s getting late and I give up on seeing another seal leap from the water.  We drive around the tip of the fjord and stop at Hvitserkur where there is supposed to be an old volcanic plug that resembles either a troll who got caught in the daylight, or a dragon drinking water.  There are also seals and a black-sand beach.  It’s one heck of a walk to the dragon rock, and to the beach, so we settle on some photos from the parking lot and move on.

They do have police in Iceland!  I think jH's just giving directions!

Next stop is a old Viking fort, according to old Icelandic legends.  It’s called Borgarvirki and the road is not as good as the ones we’ve been on.  It is about what I expected;  but Marilyn is quite surprised and decides to take a photo and wait for me.  I, of course, want to climb the whole thing!  There are stairs to get to the opening and from then on it a matter of clambering around on the rocks.  It’s fun!!

Yep - I was there!

From here we are heading to our guest house in Varmahid.  Gunnar thought we’d go to the open-air folk museum in Glaumbaer before turning in for the night.  He was wrong!  We’ve been very successful using Google Maps on Marilyn’s phone;  but I guess no one has field tested Varmahid, because there is dairy a street name, nor a guest house!  We stop at an O’b gas station and use our discount pass thingy; but there isn’t an attendant, so we drive down to the fast food place down the road, and I go inside.  There is a lady just standing inside the door, maybe waiting for someone?  I ask her if she is from around here and she says no;  but she knows some things!!  One of the things she knows is the location of Sydra-Skordugil Guest House!  Her directions are close enough to get us there!

This is how they separate their sheep into individual farmer's flocks.

Yep - in the middle of the road again!

It is both a guest house and a horse-rental establishment!  We pull into the guest house part and a gentleman comes out before we can open the doors!  He says the guest house is across the street (I think this is their private home) and he hopes in his car to show us.  Once there he guides us to our room, shows us the bathroom and the kitchen, where breakfast is sell-serve.  There are a million kinds of breads and crackers and eggs in the fridge.  

When we arrived there were two young men in the hot tub!  They’ve already finished their bottle of wine.  While we’re getting settled the two couples prepare their dinner and they sit down to eat, with much merriment.  Marilyn and I decide to take our showers and give them time to finish up.  When I get out of the shower and into my jammies I find that Marilyn and her computer are ensconced on the couch by the dining room table.

We play computers for a while and agree that we’re starving and fix our black beans and rice.  I try to reach the tall glasses on the top shelf, and when I can only get one, one of the young men comes up behind me and takes one down for me!  We eat at a separate little table, as the kids now have their map spread out all over theirs.  Somehow a conversation gets started and much laughing and comparing of notes ensues.  They are from Austria and have already done a great deal of traveling!

Our host comes in with another family from the US and everyone again exchanges stories and advice about what they’ve seen and are planning.  Marilyn asks our host about himself and it turns out that he breeds and shows horses and takes visitors on trail rides that might be five or six days long!  And he has six hundred sheep and raises his own hay - and his three daughters, along I suspect his wife helps!  (and he comes back later with extra toilet paper!)

Time for blogging and bed!

OH!  For those following along who don’t have access to news - Dorian appears to have decided to go up the east coast and leave our little corner of the world in peace!