The Traveling Widower

Tag: nature

  • Ferry, Cross to Hrisey

    A scenic view of a coastal area featuring a small town along a shoreline, with a backdrop of mountains under a cloudy sky.
    Approaching Hrisey

    So ferry ‘cross the Mersey
    ‘Cause this land’s the place I love
    And here I’ll stay
    Gerry and the Pacemakers

    June 28th, 2026

    Every now and then, a song comes to mind when I’m doing something strange like riding a ferry to an island. I started humming this awful song from the 60’s by a one-hit-wonder band when we boarded the ferry. I wish I could forget it.

    Every day on this trip is significantly different from the previous day, and just as interesting and strange. Today we started off with the Herring Museum in the village of Siglufjordur. We then drove along the fjords, going through a couple of long one way tunnels… yes, one way. 

    Interior view of a vehicle driving through a tunnel, showing the dashboard and two passengers in the front seats.
    Two lane tunnel – much safer

    There are rules and turnouts to avoid head on collisions, but some drivers apparently do not follow the rules as we found out. But buses with a great driver trump cars in this situation, and the other car was forced to back out to the closest turnout to let us go forward. We made it safely to the town of Arskogssandur (say that fast 3 times…or just try and say it once), to take a ferry across to the island of Hrisey. Why you might ask? For more Icelandic history and culture, to have lunch, and to take a tractor ride around the village. Sounds like fun. It was, and very strange.

    The town with the long name, is another village with a Herring fishing history, and still supports tourist and commercial fishing as well as whale watch tours. It also has a sense of humor when it comes to traffic signals.

    The island of Hrisey is a short ferry ride up the fjord, and the only way (obviously) to get there, other than a small plane or helicopter. The ferry is faster than either of the other two. The island has been populated since Viking days, and the village is basically there for no reason other than for fishing, and possibly for collecting and riding tractors. Everyone seems to have one.

    The village is very small, but with a lot of cute houses, and one very nice restaurant with an owner who could be a good stand-up comic. After a great lunch, with some of the best dark rye bread I’ve ever had, we boarded a tractor pulled trailer for a ride around the village, with the restaurant owner as the guide, who gave a humorous running description of the village. We ended the tour at the town’s museum, in what was the oldest building in Hrisey. After about a 3 minute walk thru, I decided to just wander the streets for a while seeking photo opportunities,  and eventually wound up back to the harbor, and photographed some Eider ducks with the ducklings. Cute. We all made it back to the ferry in time, and boarded the bus for our next stop – The Waterfall of the Gods (Godafoss). On the way, we passed by another town we will be staying at for the last two nights of the trip, and traveled through a couple of tunnels again (two way, thankfully no near collisions).

    A scenic view of a small town featuring a winding road, a white church with a red steeple, colorful houses, and snow-capped mountains in the background under a cloudy sky.
    A whimsical outdoor scene featuring a colorful, decorated house with a white facade and red trim. The entrance includes steps leading to a white door, adorned with a blue and red sculpture. The front yard has quirky decorations, including two standing rubber boots and a red glove, surrounded by rocks and wooden logs.
    A decorative tree stump sculpture with a carved face, complete with wooden eyes and facial hair, set against a white building and surrounded by stones and planter boxes.
    A silhouette of a statue on a grassy hill with a cloudy sky in the background, featuring a bench in the foreground.
    A wooden tree stump decorated with garden gnomes, surrounded by colorful flowers in a residential yard beneath a balcony.

    They did have Uber on the island – here is the waiting line for drivers at the ferry

    A row of red tractors parked on a grassy area near a building, with overcast skies in the background.

    The very few kids on the island had a great park, complete with a zip line. I thought about it for a minute or two, but stayed off of it.

    A playground scene featuring a swing set and a colorful jumping pillow, with grassy areas, a building in the background, and cloudy skies.

    There was a real hobbit house on the island

    And I did get a couple of nice Eider Duck photos

    So far, we have been rained on for all the major waterfalls we have visited – I still managed some good pics, but I keep wishing for some sunlight. Today, we finally found some. As waterfalls go in Iceland, which has an endless supply of them, the Godafoss one of the largest and most powerful. It reminded me of Niagara Falls….which I last saw about 60+ years ago so the comparison is a bit shaky I guess. 

    There was a short walk to the first view spot, where the sun was directly facing the camera. I did not complain, just followed our fearless leader to the next stop which was much better, so I clicked away. The best location was down some very steep, rough steps, and across a very rocky trail. I heard that little voice saying…”Don’t hurt yourself idiot”, but decided to go anyway. The voice should have said “Put the camera in your camera bag!!”, which I did not. I managed to make it down the stairs, but almost lost it on the rocky trail. I managed to right the ship before I crashed on the rocks. Our trip leader was looking very concerned. I then put the camera away, and used my multi-purpose monopod as a hiking stick, and made it safely to the spot where everyone was taking photographs. Phew. It was worth the effort – the falls were magnificent and the lighting was pretty good as well. There always seem to be some people who feel that they must get as close to the falls as possible – that’s why people wind up getting carried over Nevada Falls in Yosemite. And if they don’t get killed, they wind up ruining the photographs for everyone else. So when the inevitable occurred, I figured it was time to put the camera away, and head back up the trail and stairs. 

    A scenic view of Godafoss waterfall in Iceland, showcasing cascading water over rocky cliffs, surrounded by green landscape and mountains under a cloudy sky.
    A scenic view of a waterfall cascading over rocky cliffs surrounded by lush greenery and dramatic clouds in the sky.
    A scenic view of a waterfall cascading over rocky cliffs under a cloudy sky, with a river foreground and smooth water surface.

    I spent a bit more time at the last viewing point at the top of the falls – absolutely awesome. Most everyone else had headed back to the bus, so I packed up and stumped back down the trail. An end to a very good day. We started out in the pouring rain at the Herring Museum, ferried over to a strange village on an island for lunch, had an exciting drive through a tunnel, heard all kinds of stories from our trip leader who should write a book or two about his life in Iceland, and then visited this beautiful waterfall. Sort of the way this trip has been going. No complaints about that.

    Peace

  • Waterfalls, Horses and Tomato’s

    A close-up of a brown horse inside a stable, looking over a wooden gate.

    June 25th, 2026

    I was a bit concerned about the itinerary for this trip when I finally got around to reading it in detail – it seemed a little too heavy on cultural related stops instead of nature. Now that we are a couple of days into the trip, I’m understanding why the leader structured the trip this way. This is a great, very detailed introduction to Iceland – nature, history and culture. And it’s been an absolute blast so far. 

    We had a busy schedule this day, a real smorgasbord of activities, starting from the South of the island, and working our way North with plenty of stops along the way. Unfortunately, this day had the worst weather forecast so far – lots of rain, sometimes heavy. I kept my rain gear ready, including the camera rain coat I bought for the Sony. I’d prefer not to use it, but best to have it ready.

    Touring by bus when you have so many different activities, especially when photography and hiking are involved. Since I’m traveling solo (sniff), I had an empty seat next to me, and that became my closet – I had room for both camera bags, place to keep my hiking poles, and seat backs to hang wet jackets. The bus was locked up at night, so I could leave some gear behind at night. I can occassionaly be quite organized. 

    Interior of a vehicle showing two pairs of pants, a collection of backpacks, and items in the seat pocket, including a bottle and bananas.

    The first stop of the day was a spectacular waterfall, the Gullfoss, one of the stops on the Golden Circle tour. We were doing it in reverse, and since we started early, we pulled into an almost empty parking lot. This is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Iceland – there are trails and overlooks close up to the falls – it would have been nice to have blue skies and maybe a rainbow. No such luck. But it still was impressive even in the rain and mist. I hiked around for a while, wandered up the 100 steps to the upper viewing point, and then just watched for a while. Fantastic.

    A panoramic view of a powerful waterfall cascading into a river, surrounded by green hills and a cloudy sky.
    A panoramic view of a majestic waterfall cascading over rocky cliffs, surrounded by lush green grass and mist, under a cloudy sky.

    We moved on to the next stop, in the never ending rain showers – a small field of bubbling hot springs with a small geyser. It was incredibly unspectacular for anyone who has been to Yellowstone a few times, but it was fun standing around with a crowd, waiting for a very small geyser to blow every 5 minutes. More like a burp. I got to play with the GoPro, trying to catch the spout in slow motion. I did get “the blue bubble” as the geyser did it’s burp, but missed the full burst. No great loss. But it was still a fun stop.

    The Bubble…woo hoo!

    I have heard reference to Icelandic horses before, but never gave it much thought since I’ve never been that interested in riding or racing. I think I’ve been horse back riding maybe a half dozen times in my life, none of which were pleasant or memorable.  I did know that the Iceland horses were a special breed, but had never seen one before this trip. Our guide discussed them a bit as we drove around in the farm country – lots of these beautiful, small horses out in the pastures. The next stop was to a stable that bred and trained the horses, so we got to see them up close and personal. We walked around the stable for a bit, pet the friendlier ones that were sort of like very large golden retrieves, and then one of the locals demonstrated, on the track, the different gaits the horses are trained to do for shows. What’s interesting about the breed, is that once they leave Iceland, say for a horse show, they cannot return. Ever. The horses are very much isolated for the common diseases that horses get in other parts of the world – when they are shipped anywhere else, they must be inoculated, but the cannot be brought back home to avoid infecting the thousands of horses back in Iceland.

    A brown horse standing in a stable, with two riders in equestrian attire engaging in conversation. The stable features wooden beams, greenery outside, and a sign on the wall.
    Show horse

    Our next stop on this busy day was a very short walk from the stable – lunch at a huge green house, which is the largest grower of tomato’s in Iceland (Fridheimar). We had a tour, and then a great lunch of different breads and surprise, tomato soup. They had a big basket of delicious cherry tomato’s passed around during the tour – it was like eating M&M’s. The best part of the tour was the bee’s – they have to pollinate the thousands of tomato’s vines in the green house, and use female bumble bee’s, imported from Europe in boxes. Since the place is also a restaurant, they use bumble bees which are friendlier than honey bees. This short video is pretty cool – a box of busy bees.

    A greenhouse interior filled with tall tomato plants, under artificial lighting. A sunflower and pink flowers are visible in the foreground.
    Interior view of a greenhouse with vibrant green plants growing vertically, illuminated by warm overhead lights. Two potted flowers, one pink and one orange, are placed on a table in the foreground.

    We then did a very short stop which I found interesting, I watched some food related show on TV, which was focused on baking in countries around the world. One segment was in Iceland, and they showed one bakery that baked their bread in pots, buried in a hot spring. Well, we did stop to see that. It was on a college campus, and some of the students were also cooking eggs. We never did get a chance to either see or try the bread. Darn.

    The final stop for the day, was also on the Golden Circle – a historic national park, Thingvellir, which also happens to be a rift zone, with one side on the European plate, the other on the North American plate. The valley in between is beautiful – you can go snorkeling and scuba diving in the rift zone (very cold water), or just walk along the trails. The side we walked along has a huge basaltic wall, which was used for some scenes in the Game of Thrones.

    A narrow path between towering volcanic rock formations, with a group of hikers in colorful clothing walking along the trail under a cloudy sky.
    A walkway surrounded by towering rock formations with several people walking along it on a cloudy day.
    A scenic view of a rocky cliffside surrounded by lush green grass and colorful wildflowers in a natural landscape.
    A close-up of a rocky cliff with a heart-shaped arch at the top, surrounded by textured rock formations.
    A serene landscape featuring a winding river surrounded by rocky cliffs and lush greenery under an overcast sky.

    That was the end of a long day of driving, with some very interesting activities, much better than what I was expecting. It would have been nice to have sunny skies instead of mist and rain, but I enjoyed all of it. We ended the day with a two hour drive to our hotel in Husafell (Hotel Husafell), and a nice, relaxing dinner.

    This day happened to be a sad one for me – it would have been my wife’s 75th birthday, and the second one since she passed. I celebrate this and our anniversary by making or ordering a slightly dirty martini for her, and I toast the occasion with whatever I happen to be consuming (no alcohol anymore). It was a strange thing to do around a group of strangers, but it did lead to some nice conversations about her. I love to share stories about her. I miss her so much. She would have enjoyed this trip (maybe not the volcano).

    Peace