August 4 -- Explore Snaefellnes Peninsula

Today was our sunniest, warmest day yet. We walked on a couple beaches, lift heavy weights, ate lunch outside, sample fermented shark with a schnapps beverage called "Black Death" and went for a boat ride to see birds.

Just before we got to our first official stop, we made a quick stop for a waterfall that reminded me of Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite.We continued to Budir and walked over a lava field to a 'shell beach' (sand from ground up seashells). Back on the bus, we made an unscheduled stop to photograph the main volcano on this peninsula, Snaefelljokull, which is normally covered by clouds. The mountain is famous as the one that is featured in Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Budahraun sand and lava

Snaefelljokull with an interesting cloud 'hat'.

We continued on to Hellnar, where there were magnificent basalt formations along the coast, including a couple of arches and collapsed caverns on the sea. At one point, looking west, you could have sworn we were in Mendocino instead of Iceland. When we finished our walk here, we learned that our bus wouldn't start, so we had a wait to find someone to help with a jump start.

Basalt columns and honeycomb, but NO railings!

Jim over a collapsed cave

Kittiwakes nesting inside the cave remnants

Lunch above the beach

A bit further on, we had lunch on the deck of a VERY small restaurant. So far the meals here have been VERY fish oriented. This was the 3rd day in a row that fish soup was featured. As a non-soup fan (I do like a few...), I jumped at the chance for a vegetable quiche instead, which was a pleasant change and very good. Jim said the soup was great too. We finished it off with a cheesecake made from Icelandic yogurt (skyr) and it was also yummy. The weather was wonderful -- we even got out of our coats for a bit.

Our illustrious guide recovering from a strenuous morning of guiding.

Then we went to a black sand and pebble beach that featured the wreckage of a boat from 1948 and a collection of heavy stones that were used as sort of an employment test in by-gone days. The beach was awash with polished basalt rocks of all sizes. I probably picked up a pound of them! There were also 4 large stones weighing 50, 100, 200, & 300 lbs. that were used to gauge strength and employability in the past. Our driver and guide each easily managed the 100 lb stone, but neither were up to the 200. No one in the group wanted to give it a shot, so I lifted the 50 pounder, just to have us represented. Jim could have done the 100 lb stone with ease, but declined the 'opportunity'.

Snorri's 100 lb rock.....

My weenie 50 pounder...

At this point, we had a lot of driving to do and I dozed off, partially to avoid any potential problems with motion sickness. We made an interim stop in a small village to pick up adult beverages to try with the upcoming shark sample. Snorri sang the praises of the Black Death, and he was the only one who ventured a purchase. Possibly the most interesting part of the liquor store was where it was located -- inside a knitting shop! All liquor stores in Iceland are state-owned, but the country can't afford to set up shops in all the little villages around, so they license shops in smaller places. In this case it was the yarn shop, but it could have been a hardware store or a florists' or a gas station. A couple ladies bought yarn too.

Back on the road, I dozed til the shark stop. We first walked back a shed at the back of the property -- when we got there we quickly understood its location -- VERY stinky! The Greenland Shark is poisonous unless it is properly treated. They have no kidneys so their uric acid stays in their bodies, where it is offset by another naturally occurring chemical. Depending on the concentration of this other stuff, shark meat can be okay or not. It turns out that this extra stuff also works as an antifreeze, and since the water around Greenland is typically within 2 degrees of freezing, the sharks there have high concentrations of it. Luckily (?) you can allow the shark to hang, drain, and ferment, and they become safe to eat. If the Vikings hadn't been desperate to get enough to eat over 1000 years ago, we probably wouldn't care. We each got a small sample of shark to be chased with a shot of Black Death. One lady went back for seconds!! I tried my best to avoid the whole process, but was shamed into it and barely survived.

Draining shark meat

Photos of Greenland Sharks

That evening, we headed out on the fjord for a bird-watching boat trip and a seafood dinner. We saw bunches of puffins, kittiwakes, cormorants, and fulmars, including some chicks. Too many photos to put here! I uploaded some to Picasa, but could have added more. Picasa Photos Then the crew dropped kind of a dredge and hauled up the freshest seafood you could find and people (not me!) had scallops and sea urchins right then and there. This was followed by a nice cruise back to the harbor while we dined on more fish below. This was all a bit too much raw fish for me, but Jim enjoyed it.

Still in the capture net

Sea urchin and an itty bitty starfish in a broken scallop shell