Vik is windy. I thought my tent might fly away with me in it last night. Inspite of this, I lazed out and decided to leave my tent in Vik and head back west to check out the black beaches before continuing east later tonight.
Reynisdrangar beach is right at the foothill of a cliff that has interesting patterns due to erosion. This mixed with the black sand and rising rocks from the sea gives it a game-of-thronsey feel. The below picture is in colour.
I found a cave I liked. Felt kinda homely and a good shelter from the incessant wind. It almost had an apartment feel to it.
I drove out to Dyrhólaey a little further west along the shore, which is on a cliff. The ocean was rough and the waves were ten feet high. Definitely glad I didn’t take the ferry to Vestmannaeyjar yesterday.
I got a little adventurous and tried driving up a side road – Rte222 that leads to a glacier run-off. My car made it about a kilometre before I got to a steep gravel road that was too much for the little guy. I had to reverse back downhill. I pulled over to the side and saw this monstrosity barrelling down the road. The driver waved at me, stopped and told me I’m crazy for trying to take my car up here. Ok, maybe not my brightest idea.
Next stop was the site of the US Navy plane wreck from when it crashed in an open field by the sea in the 70s. I had seen pics of it on the Internet and figured it would be a good photo-op.
Parking the car off the ring road, the trek is a 8km round trip to the site of the wreckage. The wind was insane, there was black sand flying everywhere and reminded me of being stuck in crazy sandstorms when I was a kid.
The plane itself was an interesting subject to shoot. Kinda worth it, I guess.
Trek back to the car was just as bad. At that point, I was done with the “magnificent black beaches” of Iceland.
Generally, I have a dislike for sand growing up in the desert. I can handle white Florida sand, but black sand is even worse as it is much coarser. I got back in my car, got to Vik, packed my tent up in a haste, and got off the coast asap.
Spotted these guys on the way. Living the good life.
Driving further east, I camped at Hörgsland. The horses in the field next to my campsite were pretty interested to see a tourist. The sun seems to up even later now. I need to get eye-patches or something.
Glad to be off the windy coast. On to Jökulsárlón tomorrow.
My stuff 