Woke up and drove an hour to the Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, where Justin Bieber apparently famously trampled some moss as he was shooting a music video and got in a lot of trouble with the locals. There was a short walk from the parking lot up to the top of the canyon where we got an amazing view. Took a handful of photos of the scenery and spent some time just admiring the view from the observation deck.
Similarily to the Stuðlagil Canyon, Harris and I found this mysterious grey box which turned out to be a people counter for the Iceland tourism board.
When we got back to the parking lot, we noticed that all of the other RVs traveling here had followed our lead by parking on the side of the road. There was quite the line-up. I guess renting an RV and driving around is really *the* thing to do here!
It wasn't on the agenda until the next day, but we noticed that we were driving past the black sand beach. We stopped at the nearby restaurant for lunch as Jillian searched for Skyr Cake. They had some there but it wasn't the same amazing recipe she remembered from her previous visit. Then we walked down to the beach and read the warnings about the "sneaker waves" which we had also heard about on the podcast. These surprise waves would sneak up on people and carry them out to sea and with the strong currents, several tourists had been killed. The water was fairly calm though and despite being on the lookout, we didn't see any sneaker waves. Instead, we saw these cool basalt columns that looked like they could have been in the Goonies movie.
Our next stop was a pair of waterfalls -- Kvernufoss and Skógafoss. To get to Kvernufoss, we parked in a museum parking lot and paid a small fee inside but then when I discovered a cool magnet, they gave us the parking for free. I wanted to check out the museum since it had all kinds of history about transportation in Iceland, but we were on a schedule, so I'll need to check it out next time. We took a short walk through a field and over a fence to see the Kvernufoss, which was one of my favorite waterfalls. This one was much less crowded than the others and had a dramatic approach as you rounded a bend to see it. It was also neat that you could walk up behind it to see... *the back side of water!* Jumped back in the RV and took a couple minute drive to the Skógafoss parking lot and campground. This one was definitely more crowded. There was a sign that the stairs to the top were 527 steps but Harris only counted about 427. There was a long hiking trail that you could take from here but we just went to the top for a few pictures and then walked back down. We had decided to do the top first which was a good decision because another trail took you to the base of the waterfall. Despite being a good distance away from the waterfall, we got *soaked* from the mist.
After changing clothes quickly, we set off for the next destination only to be stopped by a handful of sheep crossing the road. This time of year was the great sheep roundup where all of the farmers would go around to find the sheep who had been wandering all summer and then sort them by farmer. They used 4-wheelers to keep them on the road and chase them down the side of the mountain.
Another pair of waterfalls, we first stopped at the Gljúfrafoss and then walked on a short path to Seljalandsfoss which was also famous for being able to walk all the way around it. An hour drive from here back into the town of Vík where we managed to check into the campground before they closed! Had plenty of time for more games of Uno.
Similarily to the Stuðlagil Canyon, Harris and I found this mysterious grey box which turned out to be a people counter for the Iceland tourism board.
When we got back to the parking lot, we noticed that all of the other RVs traveling here had followed our lead by parking on the side of the road. There was quite the line-up. I guess renting an RV and driving around is really *the* thing to do here!
It wasn't on the agenda until the next day, but we noticed that we were driving past the black sand beach. We stopped at the nearby restaurant for lunch as Jillian searched for Skyr Cake. They had some there but it wasn't the same amazing recipe she remembered from her previous visit. Then we walked down to the beach and read the warnings about the "sneaker waves" which we had also heard about on the podcast. These surprise waves would sneak up on people and carry them out to sea and with the strong currents, several tourists had been killed. The water was fairly calm though and despite being on the lookout, we didn't see any sneaker waves. Instead, we saw these cool basalt columns that looked like they could have been in the Goonies movie.
Our next stop was a pair of waterfalls -- Kvernufoss and Skógafoss. To get to Kvernufoss, we parked in a museum parking lot and paid a small fee inside but then when I discovered a cool magnet, they gave us the parking for free. I wanted to check out the museum since it had all kinds of history about transportation in Iceland, but we were on a schedule, so I'll need to check it out next time. We took a short walk through a field and over a fence to see the Kvernufoss, which was one of my favorite waterfalls. This one was much less crowded than the others and had a dramatic approach as you rounded a bend to see it. It was also neat that you could walk up behind it to see... *the back side of water!* Jumped back in the RV and took a couple minute drive to the Skógafoss parking lot and campground. This one was definitely more crowded. There was a sign that the stairs to the top were 527 steps but Harris only counted about 427. There was a long hiking trail that you could take from here but we just went to the top for a few pictures and then walked back down. We had decided to do the top first which was a good decision because another trail took you to the base of the waterfall. Despite being a good distance away from the waterfall, we got *soaked* from the mist.
After changing clothes quickly, we set off for the next destination only to be stopped by a handful of sheep crossing the road. This time of year was the great sheep roundup where all of the farmers would go around to find the sheep who had been wandering all summer and then sort them by farmer. They used 4-wheelers to keep them on the road and chase them down the side of the mountain.
Another pair of waterfalls, we first stopped at the Gljúfrafoss and then walked on a short path to Seljalandsfoss which was also famous for being able to walk all the way around it. An hour drive from here back into the town of Vík where we managed to check into the campground before they closed! Had plenty of time for more games of Uno.