Day 17 - Faroes day 2

On our second day of being on the Faroes, we decided to drive around.

Drive 1

Our first stop was Saksun were there is a bay and you can walk into and look at the stunning cliffs.

Drive 2

Our second stop was a small village that is named after the gorge that lies right by it, creating a natural harbour.

Drive 3

We then drove to Klaksvik for lunch and had lunch at Cafe Frida where we all had the buffet.

The cafe

Drive 4

We then drove to Vidareidi and looked at the church there.

the church

Drive 5 

We then drove all the way back to Torshavn

For dinner we went into town and ate some toasted sandwiches from a stand at the fair.

Day 15 and 16- ferry and 1st day on the Faroes

We got on the ferry the next morning and then got to the Faroes at 3:30 am! We were all tired so fell asleep immediately when we arrived at the hotel.

We slept in the next day and then went to see the parade in town as it was the national holiday. It was very interesting. We had a quick lunch first and then walked around the harbour.

The parade

Open air museum

We then went to an open air museum which had some buildings from an old farm. There were about 11 buildings and they were all very cool and we were able to go inside them!

Faroese museum of culture and history

We then went to the other part of the museum and learned about Faroese culture, clothes, history, nature and animals. It was very impressive.

Dinner

For dinner, we had an excellent buffet at the hotel.

Day 14 - Hiking day 3

Puffins

On our third day of hiking, we drove by car from the hut to start the day by seeing puffins on this small cliff island. The little birds were amazing to see and we even saw some catching fish!

Puffins

Gorge

We then stopped to see a gorge nearby. It was amazing to see the huge crack and we were able to walk into it. There was also a river running through it and we had fun jumping across.

This is not the exact one but this is a similar gorge to the one we visited

Then we drove along a winding road with beautiful views over the sea. We stopped by the side of the road and walked alongside the bay/sea until we reached an old harbour. We sat down and had lunch. The harbour was really cool! then we walked back the way we came, however, the tide had come in so it all looked very different! It was a great hike!

We then said goodbye to our guide and drove to Seydisfjodur. We checked into our hotel and went for dinner at a pizza place.

Day 13 - Hiking day 2

Our second hike was around 11km long. It was an amazing hike with great views of the village Borgafjodur , where we were going to stay that night, and the bay. We hiked up to almost the bottom of an old glacier and went alongside a glacial river and crossed it many times. We saw the 'Elf village', a large collection of rocks that look like little elf homes. It was really fun and we also collected many Crow berries along the way!

Our lunch spot, the river is down that hill and you can see the old glacier in the background!

All of us together! (our guide took the photo)

Hotel

We stayed in the Geusthouse Alfheimar, in Borgafjodur. The girls had one room and the parents the other. 

Dinner

For dinner, we went to a local restaurant which had very good fish soup. The perfect meal for after a long hike!

Day 12 - Hiking day 1

Our first day of hiking was great. We parked the car by the side of the road and walked around 10km to a small mountain hut were we stayed. The weather was perfect! It was the perfect temperature and the sun was shining.

We did a beautiful walk round the side of a mountain and down into the valley. We stopped for lunch by a small river and bathed our feet in the cool water. We had an amazing guide and it was really fun.

Walking by a small lake!

Arriving at the hut!

After having dinner at the hut, we went for a nice walk along the beach nearby.

Day 11 - Drive to Egilstadir

The drive

This was the longest drive yet in Iceland. It was around 600km and about 7.5hrs long.

The drive

Eyafjallajokull (English pronunciation: ei-ya-fyat-LA-yer-kitle)

Our first stop was to see the huge volcano that exploded in 2010. 

The volcano, with picture of explosion in foreground

Iceberg lagoon

Our second stop on this drive was to see the Iceberg lagoon. It is a huge lagoon filled with floating icebergs that were pushed down from the glacier over hundreds of years (around 10cm a year).

Here are some pictures:

Guesthouse Olga

Then we arrived after a long drive and stayed in this guesthouse:

Guesthouse Olga

Written by Ellie ;) :)

Day 10 - Reykjavik

Day 10 - Reykjavik (shopping!)

In the morning, we drove to Reykjavik. The drive was just over an hour and we could see beautiful country-side along the way.

The drive

(Blue dot is where we are staying and Reykjavik is to the left)

The Thai place

We parked in an underground parking place and went shopping! Well, first we had lunch at a really nice Thai place. The food was lovely. Then we went shopping. We looked in many interesting stores. Here is what we bought:

-Icelandic jumpers for me (Ellie) and Charlotte

-A nice new fleece/jacket for Mommy

-A nice necklace for Mommy

-Some earrings for Miriam

-Some unusually long socks for Nina

-Some post cards and a magnetic memo board

After buying all that, we went to a shopping mall to get some essential things.

Then we went to an Ethiopian restaurant near where we were staying for dinner. It was delicious food and nice Ice-cream for dessert!

It was a really nice relaxed day around Reykjavik! :)

Written by Ellie :) ;)

Day 9 - Parts of the golden circle

Day 9 - The Golden Circle (well parts of it!)

1 - Geysir 

Our first stop of the day was the amazing collection of Geysers. There were 2 Geysers, the original 'Geysir' and a smaller geyser 'Strokkur'. Sadly Geysir doesn't really spout water anymore but it is still amazing to see. Strokkur erupts water every 5-10 minutes so we saw it go about 3 or 4 times, once even from inside the car!

HERE is a link to a video Daddy took of Strokkur!

(Sorry is the video doesn't work! :\)

Here is a picture incase the video doesn't work :/

Daddy and his girls! 

2 - Gulfoss

Gulfoss is Icelands most famous waterfall and has multiple drops, equaling to 31 metres. The water is very powerful. It was very cool to see and we enjoyed ourselves. It is amazing how much water flows so rapidly down the steep drops! It was definitely worth seeing! 

Charlotte

Nina and Charlotte

The waterfall

3 - Thingvellir

Thingvellir is a nature reserve where you can go hiking and see the nice landscape and the many rifts in the earth as there is plate activity. We did a lovely hike of around 10km on small paths through a barren landscape. 

Big crack in the ground!

Written by Ellie! :) ;)

Day 8 - Drive from Djupavik to Fludir

Day 8 - Drive from Djupavik to Fludir

The drive

The drive was very uneventful so this will sadly be very short. We stopped for traditional Icelandic hot dogs once and then pretty much just drove all the way to Fludir. We had a couple of other stops but just at service stations. Of course we were still surrounded by amazing and dramatic landscapes.

A traditional Icelandic Hot dog! (delicious)

Written by Ellie :) ;)

Day 7 - Our second day in Djupavik

Our 2nd day in Djupavik

To start the day off, we did another hike in the surrounding area, although we took the car to the starting point of the hike. Overall it took us about three hours and was around 7 kilometres. First we climbed up and through a mountain pass and then down the other side, where we had lunch. Fortunately, an ice cream van came along and we all got ice creams to feast on as well as our lunch of muesli bars and cinnamon buns, we were all very surprised that there actually was an ice cream van at all. Then we climbed all the way back over the same mountain pass and to our car, we were all very tired at the end.

Afterwards, we had some coffee and cake in a nice cafe, in which we would later have dinner as well. Then we drove to a pool, which was heated with geothermal water and was almost an infinity pool.

For most of our time there the pool was relatively quiet, with not many people around. This was our second pool/baths heated with geothermal water that we had been to, with more to come.

The water in the pool averaged 38 degrees and 41 in the hot tub. However, it was a really nice temperature because it was so cold outside. We were relieved to finally have some relaxation after our exhausting walk.

Day 6 - Our first day in Djupavik

1st Day in Djupavik

Today we ate breakfast at the hotel (not that there was anywhere else to eat!). Djupavik is a tiny little village with the main building being the abandoned factory and then there are only a few other houses and building, including the hotel. It is right by the edge of the bay
. We were told that 'Djupa' means deep and 'vik' means bay. The bay is really deep and one lady said it gets up to 120 metres in places!

We decided to go for a hike in the morning because it was forecasted to rain later. We decided to walk up to the waterfall that lies right above Djupavik. It was a 2 hour walk and very steep at the beginning! There were streams to cross and many interesting rocks to find. It was a really nice hike that we all enjoyed. 

At the top of mountain!

Mommy taking a picture of Ellie and Charlotte at the top!

We found some snow/ice! In summer!

The Herring factory (Mommy and Charlotte in front and Miriam and Ellie walking in background)

We then had lunch at the hotel (some soup). After, we had a tour of the old Herring factory. It was so cool, if not slightly creepy. You could still see the old machines and we saw the generator room, the room where the fish is dried, the room where the fish oil is made, the warehouse and we even got to crawl into a tank that used to contain the fish oil! it was amazing to see! They had many old pictures to show what the factory looked like when it was still in use! We all enjoyed this. They also had an art exhibition set up and we took a look at it. Very interesting art and sculptures/knitted sculptures.

We then went back into the hotel as it was raining and had a bit of down time before dinner where Daddy tried the lamb and said it was one of the best lambs he'd ever tried! Now we are heading to bed soon.

We are ready for another great day in Djupavik tomorrow!

Written by Ellie ;)

Day 5 - Drive to Djupavik

Driving

(Before I start, please forgive any missing accents or mis-spellings of any names/places in Iceland! they are complicated!)

The drive

We left our beautiful little house and drove around 45 minutes to a small petrol station that had a breakfast place. We had a nice little breakfast and then continued driving down the valley to get to somewhere where you can see seals lying on the beach. The others (everyone except me (Ellie)) got out to see the seals but I wasn't SUPER interested so stayed in the car. Apparently the were many seals lounging about, I will get someone else to write about them later on! 

Then we drove to a very nice restaurant a little further down the road, approx. 15 mins. Their food is all home grown/produces I think and we all had some nice soup and cake for dessert. It was really good!

We then drove around 3h 30 mins to get to Djupavik. We stopped an hour and a half before Djupavik in Holmavik for coffee and cake in a cafe next to an Icelandic Witch craft museum. Then the rest of the drive was on twisting gravel roads. 

We arrived at the Hotel (Hotel Djupavik) and got our rooms, 2 rooms each with 3 beds. (1 with - Daddy, Mommy and me (Ellie) and the other with Nina, Miriam and Charlotte) Then we had dinner at the hotel, nice food.

Djupavik from above

The seals

We stopped on our way to Djupavik at a beach type place to see some seals. We saw TONS of seals, at least 20 were lounging on the sand opposite us. The seals were of a magnificent grey colour and were very shiny and wet. We walked along the beach and found some pretty shells. The water from the sea was glimmering in the beautiful sunshine, however it was incredibly windy! Our hoods almost flew off! It was really cool to see real seals, so close to us! 

Written by Charlotte (with a tiny bit of help from Ellie) :)

Day 4 - Akureyri
Today Daddy, Nina, Miriam, and I went to Akureyri. First we went to the botanical gardens and had lunch in a lovely cafe. After that we drove to the supposedly the best ice cream shop in Iceland. When we finished our ice cream we walked down the road to a famous authors child hood home and the local art museum. As soon as we got out we drove to the Akureyri cinema to watch Despicable Me 3. After we walked down to a near by Indian curry take out place. Finally we walked back to the car and drove home.
By Charlotte

Day 3 - Horse riding and Whale Watching
Today we went horse riding at a place called Lava Horses, which was in an old lava field. I went riding on a trail with Mama as well, through the lava fields. It was very exciting doing a tölt, which a special trot that only Icelandic horses can do. - By Charlotte

Ellie and I also went horse riding, for 2 hours, through the lava fields. Our Icelandic horse were lovely and easy to ride so it was a very enjoyable experience despite the fact that it rained for most of the ride! We rode through a mix of locations - the lava fields, cow fields and large open expanses of black pebble beaches - we even crossed a small lake on horseback. We also tried the special gait of Icelandic horse - the tölt - which is like a trot but smoother and more comfortable.

In the afternoon, we attempted to go whale watching in Husavik but the guide said it was very rough waters and we would probably get seasick, so we decided not to take the tour there. Luckily, the same company had a different tour in a different location, where the weather was better. We drove to Hjalteyri, near Akureryi, and went whale watching in a traditional old oak boat. Surprisingly, the whales were very close inland, in the fjord, and we closely followed about 6 whales. It was amazing because the whales got incredibly close to the boat and this allowed for some spectacular photographs:

By Miriam