Westman – Energy and Time

Iceland day 12: Heimaey

The Westman Islands were created about 45 thousand years ago by a large undersea eruption. They were enlarged by further eruptions 10-14 thousand years ago, and most recently in 1973 when Eldfell was formed in an eruption that destroyed half the town and threatened to block the harbor. Heroic efforts stopped the lava flow by spraying seawater on it, and in the end the harbor actually improved. Only one man died; everyone else was evacuated by fishing boats, which were all in port due to bad weather.

Our campsite Glamping & Camping was in the bottom of an ancient volcanic caldera called Herjólfsdalur. One side had eroded away, but the rest was shielded by crater walls up to two hundred meters high. It was easily the most spectacular campsite of our trip, AND had excellent facilities open 24/7, including 4 WCs, 4 showers, and a spacious kitchen.

We grabbed breakfast at a bakery before heading out to circumnavigate the island counterclockwise.

There are many other small islands in the archipelago, all volcanic, none permanently inhabited.

Our first stop was the hill at the southern tip of the island, which features a weather station and a bird sanctuary. Around 5 million puffins nest in this area each summer. Unfortunately for us, they had all left a week or two earlier.

The closest I got to a bird was in the parking lot for the bird sanctuary.

The closest animals to the viewing station were sheep.

The island on the left features “the world’s loneliest house” (actually a hunting lodge); you have to take an inflatable boat there and then climb those cliffs to reach it.

The weather station at the summit near the sanctuary

The bright red band looked like paint, but was actually a red seaweed.

Next, we climbed Eldfell, the volcano that destroyed half the town in 1973. The red and black tephra and lava is on top of hundreds of buildings that were buried.

The mountain in the left background is the volcanic shield wall that surrounds our campsite.

After that we went horseback riding. Most Icelandic horses are small, almost pony-size, with a max load of 90 kg. But Lyngfell Stables had strong full-size horses. I told her my weight, afraid it might be too much. “Have you seen my husband?”, she replied. 🙂

The bird sanctuary / weather station spit in the background

After that, we visited the Eldheimar eruption museum, which was built around a complete house excavated from under the volcanic ash.

Then we went swimming/soaking at the public pool. Carol thought this was the best pool of our trip, but I liked the water at Stykkishólmur and the view at Hofsós better.

Finally, dinner and a well-deserved sleep after a very long activity-packed day.

Iceland day 11: Svartifoss to Heimaey

We had camped just outside Svartifoss, and Carol woke up early and wanted to hike there. But I was feeling a bit beat up and decided to skip it in favor of a leisurely breakfast.

Me eating breakfast next to our black Dacia Dokker camper

Svartifoss (“Black Waterfall”, probably from the same root as the English “swarthy”) is known for it’s black hexagonal basalt columns, which tend to break away before they can be worn smooth, leaving fairly jagged rock. This is the same kind of rock as seen in Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.

another (unnamed?) waterfall on the hike

Then it was off for a long driving day.

There are tall thin waterfalls all over Iceland, in some areas one every kilometer or two.

Our next stop was Fjaðrárgljúfur, a canyon which is (sadly) most famous for Justin Bieber filming parts of a music video there, which increased the tourist load so much that it had to be temporarily closed in 2019.

I found two kinds of mushrooms on the way out.

This looked somewhat similar to a Liberty Cap (*Psilocybe semilanceata*), but I wasn’t about to ingest a foreign LBM to find out whether it was hallucinogenic or not. Also, the stipes seemed too thick and short, and there was no sign of blue or purple discoloration in the older specimens.

We stopped in Vík for lunch at Wok On Vík, an Asian fast food place.

Looking southwest. The 3 rocks in the distance are a famous landmark.

I had something in peanut sauce over brown rice, while Carol went for green tea noodles.

A delicate rock arch. Same 3 rocks in the distance, only this time east (behind us).

Onward to Skógafoss, a 60-meter falls (slightly taller than Niagara Falls).

Lots of spray. You get close, you get wet.

Seljalandsfoss, often described as the only Iceland waterfall you can walk behind, even though Kvernufoss also has that property.

Since we were a little ahead of schedule, Carol proposed that we visit Vestmannaeyjar (the Westman Islands). So we took the short ferry ride to Heimaey (“Home Island”), found a nice campsite (more on that tomorrow), and had dinner at Tanginn.