Having come from the Southern Hemisphere & now travelling around a country where the sun doesn't set (ie; it does not get dark), we are waking up quite early in the morning. In most of our accommodation choices there has been access to a kettle & teabags, which we have taken advantage of at these early hours. However, not this Hotel. And breakfast wasn't an option until 8am! So Jeff raised the option of doing something really crazy; getting up immediately & going straight to Borgarfjordur. This meant a 2 hour drive, some of which was on long winding loose metal roads. It also meant no cuppa for at least 2 hours!
He was prepared to share the car with Mrs Grumpy, so we set off.
Not before opening the curtain to this view though!
We arrived safely in Borgarfjordur after passing through the most gorgeous scenery, a lot of it with patches of dense cloud just hovering like a UFO in the valleys. Our purpose for stopping here was two-fold, to pay our respects to the Elf Queen, Borghildur, who resides there in a dominant rocky outcrop, and to visit the one café for tea & coffee. We had made really good time & arrived at 8.30 am.... the café didn't open until 10am!!! Arghhhhhhhh!
There was nothing else to do, but get on with the real purpose of this journey... to visit THIS headland at Hafnarholmi.
Why? You may ask.
Because this rocky outcrop, pock marked by burrows, is home to zillions of PUFFINS!
Since he was a little boy, Jeff has longed to see puffins in the wild, so as you can imagine...I shared this momentous event with one very happy camper!!
The site was set up with a viewing platform that was free to climb & look from. To our utter amazement, puffins were very close, within a metre of where we were standing. There was also an observation hide that we could pay to go into. There we could quietly sit further out amidst them & watch through open screens. Naturally we did this & were so glad we did. Jeff had full control of the camera today & sat for ages trying to catch an image of puffins landing. They are ungainly birds in flight & just as they are twitchy, anxious little creatures when on land, their flight is full on manic activity, as if they are scared they will drop out of the sky if they don't flap away like mad!
It was such a gift, to be able to quietly sit there & just watch. I was surprised how quiet they were. There were other birds nesting nearby too & they were making a LOT of noise, but the puffins seldom made a peep.
Here are some of Jeff's best photos from the hundred or so taken today. We loooooooove digital cameras!!
When we finally came out of the hide, we found that rather a lot of tourists had arrived since we'd hid away inside, & they were now clunking their way up & down the steps. We also noticed that there were no where near as many puffins on the cliffs as we'd seen on our arrival. A lot were now on the water looking for food.
We may have gone without cuppa & breakfast, but it was TOTALLY worth it to get there early!
We slowed down as we approached the café in Borgarfjordur & being 9.50am weren't totally surprised to find that the café wasn't open, so I gave Mary Lou (our GPS) directions for Bokakaffi Hlodum near Egilsstadir. There I was in heaven. My favourite sort of café; old & new books, home made fresh food & a good range of teas, comfy seats as well as table & chairs, & handicrafts dotted around. They even had a basket full of wool & a pair of knitting needles for anyone who felt the urge. We had the most scrumptious filled pancakes for 'brunch' & both of us were very happy that timing had led us here.
Afterwards we checked out the local museum, which showcased life in local farming communities. This house, which is exceedingly small & was originally topped with a turf roof & turf built up on each side as a form of insulation, was occupied by families up until the year I was born; 1964!
Half of this museum was dedicated to the Reindeer, which was introduced into Iceland during the 1700's in hopes that it would help people survive in this rough environment. At last we would get a photo of a reindeer... even if it was a taxidermied one!! There was an interesting display & an informative film about the way their numbers are monitored. This was particularly timely as we'd had reindeer meat in our meal last night. Although this animal roams great distances, I was surprised that the flavour wasn't more gamey, it was neither lamby or beefy, but unique & quite mild.
Back in Seydisfjordur, the first thing we did was fill up with petrol & wash the car. All those gravel roads leave their mark!!
The second thing we did, was visit the local church. It was BEAUTIFUL. We had noticed that Icelanders like happy colours & the blue interior of this church was immediately uplifting.
Yet again, we have been blessed with another blue skied & sunny day filled with the most wonderful sights. I was very conscious about how fortunate I am to have sight... albeit via spectacles! As we were travelling back from puffin watching, I was trying to think about how I would describe the landscape & everything else we'd seen, to a blind person. It was a challenging exercise, as some things are just beyond words. There's no harm in trying though!
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