Church and lupins

There’s been so much to do and see today that I was really struggling to chose a photo. Most of the day was cloudy with some rain.

We left at 8am to journey along the south coast, stopping to admire waterfalls, one of which we could walk behind and another where we had a steep climb up to the top of the fall, though we didn’t see much of the drop from the top. The landscape is spectacular.

Next we drove up to a lighthouse from where we could view sea stacks and black beaches. We went down to one which had basalt cliffs and a cave like Fingal’s a cave on Staffa. We were warned that tourists had been killed there by “sneaker” waves which suddenly crash further up the beach than expected and carry you off onto the North Atlantic. We went round the side of the cliff to another cave - with his back to the sea, taking my photo in the cave with interesting rock formations, a wave rushed up to engulf Mr C’s boots. Luckily the sea was calm but we did hurry back, not wanting to be trapped in the cave.

We then headed to the small town of Vik. While the others went to buy lunch we walked to the pretty little church which was surrounded by lupins. I took the blip from the beach where lupins were growing in the sand. They are Alaskan lupins and were brought in because they like sandy soil. They are growing on all the hillsides and I imagined they’d be considered a pest. Not so. The nutrients they put back to the soil improves it and means trees can be planted.

It was a long drive across miles of lava field. When there was a big volcanic eruption from the glacier the resulting flood swept lava for miles.

Our final stop for the day was at the glacier for 5 of the group who were doing the glacier trek. We had done days of glacier trekking to reach K2 base camp, and also a commercial one on the Moreno Glacier in Chile, so we declined the offer. Instead we had a wander around the lagoon admiring the icebergs, which looked beautiful as the sun just appeared.

Our hotel is by the sea. We are now on the east coast. I’ve chosen Arctic Char for my meal tonight. It had better be good as it costs over £30.

It is Mr C’s birthday. He laughed and laughed when he opened his present - a guide to Northumbrian trig points.