Just below the Arctic Circle, there lies the northern tip of Iceland. The land is less populated than the south, but many more sunny days take refuge and is as lush as the countryside in Ireland. Small town values and morals rule the region as inhabitants live off the land and take pride in fishing for Cod for dinner and raising horses and vegetation.
I drove from Kolugljúfur Canyon towards the Airbnb in Sauoarkrokur, which is at the base of a northern peninsula. The Airbnb was owned by the friendliest couple I would come to meet in all of Iceland. One of my initial goals of driving around the entire country and staying at locals houses was to immerse myself in the culture and soak up as much knowledge and information as I could. I had been majorly disappointed at my first Airbnb in Reykjavik since my main host had gone on vacation without notifying me ahead of time. I might as well have stayed at a hotel (granted paying a ton more, but would have been worth it for the room size).
There was no address for this couple, whose names are Steinunn and Johann. Not only did they turn out to be the most pleasant couple, but they were the most communicative via email prior to embarking on my journey. They offered to set me up with horse rental, as they own several right there on their property. They offered me 4 different sites that are off-the-beaten path to visit and are not in main travel books, two of which I visited prior to their house (the rock formation in the water Hvitserkur and the waterfall in the canyon Kolugljufur).
Because they had no address, they gave me latitude and longitude coordinates that equated to be 65º 43′ 49.265″N and 19º 31′ 41.687″W. If this doesn’t light your adventure fire while traveling solo in a foreign country by vehicle, nothing will. This was right down my alley. But, I had to learn before the trip how to insert the “degree” symbol into Google Maps and figure out how to use this type of navigation. It turns out it was super simple, all you have to do is hold down the “0” button and the degree symbol will appear on the keyboard. You can type in the coordinates as I wrote them above, and it will take you right there!
It took me 1 hour and 17 minutes to drive from the canyon to the Airbnb. I arrived at 7p local time and was pretty famished. The actual house was just east and south beyond the city of Sauorkrokur about 10 minutes. The drive into the town was immensely breathtaking. The ocean with mountains all around and flat land was something out of a fairy tale. There is a movie theater playing current movies, which seemed out of place in such a foreign and rural land.
The GPS directed me off the main road once out of town and onto a gravel road, but was only on it for half a mile before I approached the ranch on the right-hand side of the road. The ocean emptied right into the house’s backyard and would offer a glorious sunset just after midnight that night. My first view was the pic below and Johann was outside working on his trailer. They were going on an excursion horseback tour in a couple days and they were going to be camping out.
There were horse pens on the right and left of the house and as soon as I drove down the gravel drive, the horses all ran over to greet me from the left.
After making introductions with Johann, Steinunn was also there hard at work in the kitchen. The aroma smacked me in the face as I wasn’t expecting a home-cooked meal, but that’s just how the locals in Iceland operate. They are super kind, always eager to help out the traveler and aid in any way they can.
Once introductions were completed, they showed me to my room. I had a gorgeous view of the ocean dumping into the inlet of their backyard.
Their living room was quaint, filled with knick-knacks and furniture, but very simple. There was a separate room off of my bedroom closed by a curtain that could act as another bedroom if there was a family staying with them that needed a couple more beds for the kids.
The main living room and kitchen is below:
Even though I could smell the home cooked meal brewing in the kitchen, I knew I had limited time in the area to explore one of the most supposed and unique structure in all of Icleand, which was the geo-thermal infinity pool in Hofsos and they call it Infinity Blue. This was a 30-minute drive east and then north up along the peninsula, but the pictures online and in travel books was something I could not miss.
When I mentioned this infinity pool to Steinunn, she seemed a little disappointed I wasn’t staying for dinner, but she absolutely understood. She never voiced the disappointment at all. She immediately called the pool and made sure it was still open and she confirmed it was open until 9p local time. It was approaching 7:30p, so by the time I got there, I’d have a good hour to take it all in before it closed.
I didn’t have much time, so I said my quick goodbyes and was off to Infinity Blue. The 30-minute drive was spectacular. The drives in the north were my favorite drives of the entire trip. I’m not sure why tourist books love the south so much, as I was a much bigger fan of the north. A partial video is below:
Once I arrived at the Infinity Blue, I could not stop taking pictures with my Nikon, camera phone and Go Pro. There was a blue-roofed church painted white all around the sides across the street that you would figure to see in an Iceland calendar.
I parked in the gravel lot and the pool was off to my right, the church behind me and the bluff overlooking the ocean directly in front. This was my favorite view of the entire 8-day journey. The town was also my favorite. This pool was planned beautifully and perfectly and built into the landscape with such exactness that I no one could imagine it not being there.
Below is a video of my first encounter of the pool before I went in. There is a trail that leads down directly in front of me so you can get closer to the ocean and view the sunsets.
Upon entering the clubhouse, you pay a reasonable $12 fee for one of the most glorious views of your life. You then must change and shower, as is law in Iceland prior to jumping in a public geo-thermal pool.
The site is located here: http://infinityblue.is/en/front-page/
I didn’t take my camera out to the actual pool since I didn’t have my waterproof case with me, but I did bring my waterproof Go Pro and got some great footage, but I haven’t loaded it to my laptop yet. So, the pictures below will have to do for now, still spectacular.
There were a handful of people in the pool, but definitely not crowded. The water held people that spoke languages from all across the globe, a true melting pot of culture. It was in the upper 40s in temps as the sun was setting to the east on the right-hand side of the pool. I laid my arms up over the outside of the pool, took a deep breathe, and relaxed for what seemed like the first time in 4 days.
After the flight and the driving and the tour and everything I had encountered, this seemed like the first time I could catch my breathe and enjoy the fruits of my restless and determined days in guiding me to this exact spot and to take in this exact moment. I turned off my Go Pro camera, set it outside the pool, and inhaled and observed life for 30 minutes. It was the greatest 30 minutes of the entire trip and I’ll never forget it to my dying days.
It was approaching 9p and closing time, so I jumped out of the water water into the freezing 40 degree temps and ran straight into the shower room, got dressed and was trying to figure out a close restaurant.
I found a great spot just right down the street in what looked like a regular blue house but is called Restaurant Solvik. Solvik means a school where people come from all sorts of backgrounds to study. I couldn’t think of a more fitting name.
They were getting ready to close, but agreed to still serve me. There were picnic tables and benches on the patio out front and I wanted to watch the sunset as I ate.
I ordered the Cod soup and the lamb for dinner, in which lamb is huge in Iceland and I had not tried it yet. It also is not cheap at $57 just for the lamb.
I must say, the lamb was not worthy of the hefty $57 price tag, with a lot of the meat being fat. The Cod soup, however, was incredible. But, I would have paid that just for the atmosphere and the view. The temps were dropping pretty steadily and I was in the shade, so it was definitely getting cold, but was worth it all. I had my “KC World Series Champs” stocking cap with me, so I was prepared.
After the feast, I stuck around a bit and sat on the hood of my car and, again, took in the sunset as the time approached 10p. It was still just over 2 hours from the sun actually setting, but the reflection off the water was still worth it.
The drive back to the Airbnb was relaxing since I wasn’t rushing back like I had been on the way there and the sunset in the distance offering a tranquil feeling. It had been a long day and I was absolutely going to crash when I got back. I knew I had a long day coming the following day of driving around the coast of the northern Trollaskagi Peninsula on my way through some great cities Siglufjorour (Herring Era Museum), Dalvik, Akureyri (considered capital of the north and Iceland’s second-largest city), and finally staying in a cottage overlooking the ocean at Husavik (huge whale-watching town).
When I got back to the Airbnb, I took some photos of the backyard as the sunset. I had wanted to stay and blog here, but I was just way too tired.
The morning came early on day 5, July 18, 2018. I was sluggish but the adrenaline was starting to race for the day’s excursion.
I hopped in the shower, which was a nice change of pace since it was my first actual stand-up shower in Iceland. Johann was already in the kitchen with food laid out for me. Again, so hospitable and so accommodating, I really felt bad I didn’t get a chance to sit and talk to them more.
As I ate breakfast, which entailed a turkey sandwich and toast, he asked me about America as they both had never been. They knew of our sports basketball and soccer, but knew nothing of baseball. Steinunn asked if that was the game with the bat and took a stance. I laughed and told her she was correct. They were both teachers, which allowed them both summers off work. So, that is why they opened up their house for Airbnb and they love having travelers from all over the globe. They left their homeland of Iceland to live in Switzerland for 10 months before their son encouraged them to come back home. They loved it over there, but they both agree Iceland is more beautiful.
Johann is a music teacher and used to be in a band that traveled all over Iceland, but he quit about 2 years ago. Steinunn is a Kindergarten teacher with a gentle heart. They told me soccer and basketball are the two major sports in Iceland and told me how proud their country was for making the World Cup in soccer for only having 350k people that live in the country. I told them soccer is not huge in America, which is why we did not qualify for the World Cup, which was embarrassing. Johann mentioned they only go out to eat on special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. They live off the land and catch Cod to eat for dinner most every night. They like to plant vegetables, but they were in the midst of the wettest summer in 100 years in Iceland and it pretty much destroyed all those crops. I asked him how hard it was to have all the sunlight in summer, but then only a few hours a day of light in winter. He said the worst part is how wet it’s been, it doesn’t even feel like summer and then goes straight into winter. They never get used to dark-filled days of winter. I could not imagine that.
I promised to keep in touch They asked me to sign their guestbook and I did. In return, I asked to take a selfie with them both and they are below. They were the nicest people I met in Iceland and I hope we can cross paths again. I told them my mom and stepdad were coming next month, but I doubted they ventured this far to the interior of Iceland. They gave me their card anyway. Maybe on my next trip out there, I can stop by and say hello. I also met their son for a quick moment the night before when I got home.
Before I left their driveway, I had to take one final video of the morning sun. It was about 8a-9a and the horses were up and moving about. I wished I could have stayed another night there. Great life moment.
I took up a lot of time on this specific blog because this was my favorite part of the entire trip and I wanted to document it in a way that encompassed all the details, from the sights to Johann and Steinunn to everything in between. I had been so rushed through the trip to this point, I was the perfect breather and combination of relaxation and adventure that was due.
My next blog will focus more on the coastal drive and towns reached on my way eventually to Husavik, which was the nicest actual place I stayed on the trip in the cottage overlooking the ocean. It would be the only time in the entire trip I had a bathroom to myself. I really wish I had many more days in Husavik as well.
Until the next adventure……
Moonlit Wings Reflect the Stars That Guide Me Towards Salvation 