Iceland Day 7

Our guest house food last night was tasty- cod with a black crust and onion butter sauce, veg and potatoes coated in a caramel gravy. There was a sliver of rhubarb cake and ice cream to follow. I got down the scary stairs safely twice in the night so all was well.

It was a beautiful morning with temperatures at 19 degrees. We drove further west along the peninsula to a black beach Djupalansander where there were rusty remains of a British trawler which sank in 1948. The way down to the beach was through a lava field. At the bottom were a line of basalt stones of varying weights from 50lb to 350lb. I managed the “weakling” 50lb one.

Next stop was a cliff top walk to see some stunning formations and some gulls nesting.

We made a brief visit to a pretty black church surrounded by buttercup fields then we stopped at a supermarket for grab some lunch. I saw a shop nearby selling Icelandic wool and was even able to get a pattern for a jacket in English so now I am carrying back a bag of dark grey, cream and light grey wool.

It was a quick 2 hour drive to Reykjavik where Jonas parked at the kirk so that those who had not been could see it. There was a jolly crowd all dressed up - I asked what was going on and they said they were teachers celebrating end of term. I admire their spirit - We were always to exhausted to maraud round town celebrating with cans of beer.

Jonah took us for a wander to see the City Hall and Parliament building after which he drove us to the hotel where we said goodbye. He’ll be pleased with his tips - I think everyone would give him more than average as he was such a good young guide.

Everyone is pretty tired. It had been a wonderful trip though rather rushed. We’ve seen so many wonderful landscapes, walked an average of 6 miles each day and drove 2000km.