Today we woke up and did a quick 5-minute hike from our campsite to see our first waterfall of the day, Gljúfrabúi. We had seen so many waterfalls in Iceland but this one was pretty cool because it was hidden inside a gorge.
We also went right next door to Seljalandsfoss, but it was pretty cloudy, so the photos were not that great. Don’t worry, we returned later in the day when the skies cleared, and I got a ton of pictures. We took things slowly today and caught up with the outside world at the N1 Gas Station Cafe. If you’re wondering, the grilled cheese and one slice of a ham sandwich with fries were $15. We also grabbed some delicious ice cream at Ísbúðin Valdís Hvolsvelli across the street.
We returned to Seljalandsfoss once the skies had cleared because it was on the way to where we would catch our ferry to the Westman Islands. Seljalandsfoss is one of the most recognized and famous waterfalls in Iceland because you can walk behind the waterfall. I will admit that it is really beautiful and lives up to the hype.
It was only about a 20 minute drive to Landeyjahöfn port to catch our ferry. I booked our ferry tickets the night prior on herjolfur’s website and the cost was 6000isk each way (around $50 USD) which includes tickets for two adults and the campervan. The ferry ride waws very nice and we got to see several small islands along the 30 minute journey.
Since we still had a ton of daylight left when we arrived, we decided to drive around the island to explore. Our first stop was a cool Icelandic Church. Many Icelandic churches are black because their wooden exteriors were coated with protective tar, a Scandinavian tradition that preserved the wood against Iceland’s harsh climate.
We then went to the windiest point in Europe, Storhofdhi, which holds the record for the lowest land observation of air pressure in Europe! I can attest that it was indeed very windy.
We also saw hundreds and hundreds of puffins at the “puffin lookout” come out of their nest to catch dinner, which was super cool.
Satisfied with our day, we went to our campsite, cooked some spaghetti for dinner, and called it a night. More Westman Island adventures to come tomorrow 🙂