North Iceland and the waterfall of the Gods

When we received our itinerary I felt that the latter part of our trip was lacking in activities.  I reached out and asked if it would be possible to include the magnificent waterfall Dettifoss in our travels and if we could get more hiking in.  Anna was happy to accommodate this request and added Dettifoss and a hike that she highly recommended, Ásbyrgi.  This looked very doable and seemed perfect to me. That perfection took a different view when the day actually arrived.  Please remember I had been experiencing some unhappy body soreness.  That wasn’t really the issue today though I’m sure it still played into my overall mood.  I really was not looking forward to another day with a lot of drive time and hiking in the cold and rain and wind.  The elements were starting to wear me down.  And this looked to me like my last opportunity to possibly ride an Icelandic horse.  So my wonderful husband agreed to pass up a hike we both really wanted to do and to try to go horse backing riding.

I had become obsessed with the Icelandic horse before our trip and wanted to spend some time with them.  We had planned to try to ride when we were in Vik but that day was one of the windiest that we had seen and we didn’t think it would be pleasant for anyone.  I had looked up a stable the night before and knew they were on our way to Húsavik and they had availability at bedtime the night before so I thought it was worth taking the chance.

So off we went after much debate now committed to the idea of horseback riding.  I was watching the clock hoping we would arrive on time and Jeff was watching the sky probably wondering why he had agreed to this.  But when we saw Saltvik farm (http://www.saltvik.is ) we pulled in and went to the guesthouse.  The hostess was very kind and directed us to the barn where she felt they would be able to get two horses ready for us.

We surprised a young lady exercising a horse but she quickly went into action to address our needs.  She told a young man who was a student there that “we do have guests this morning” and to help her get ready as he would get to join us on our ride.  Our guide was Meril, a young woman from the Netherlands.  She told me that she loved these horses and had come on holiday to Iceland.  She asked if she could work there and was excited when they said yes so she was spending her gap year at the farm.  She planned to start veterinary school in Belgium in the fall.  She actually owns an Icelandic horse at home.

Meril determined our riding skill level and picked two horses for us.  She assured us that even with some rain it would be a pleasant ride.  My horse was Timmy.  She had us brush them and then she saddled them while we put our helmets on.  And then we were off.

The Icelandic horse is a special breed with some fun characteristics.  The breed was originally brought to Iceland with the Vikings from Norway.  This original Viking breed is now extinct outside of Iceland.  They are smaller in size than other breeds like Quarter horses but they are definitely horses and not ponies.  They have a very friendly disposition.  This breed has two gaits that no other horse breed has.  The tölt and the Skeið.  Legend says the tölt (pronounced tilt) was so named because a Viking could run his horse at this gait and not spill his beer.  It is a four beat lateral ambling gait which results in explosive acceleration and speed.  The Skeið or flying pace is fast and smooth and used for pacing horses for short distances up to 30 mph.

We started off at a nice slow pace and headed to the beach.  Yes it was drizzly but we were on horses on a black sand beach in Iceland!  We rode past a whale skeleton and then as we came off the beach Meril asked if we were ready to go faster.  So off we went.  I felt like the tölt was really fast.  But also smooth.  And clearly our horses were having a blast!

We had a great time.  Once again we lucked into a private tour.  We got to visit with a foreign student and learn about her life and experience in Iceland and we spent time with a local student.  I made friends with a dog, two cats, and my horse and can honestly say it was the best time I have had on a horse tour.  And Timmy introduced me to a new soreness and muscles crying out.

Back in the car it was time to head to Húsavik.  Húsavik prides itself on being the whale watching capital.  I was slightly concerned that we were not taking a whale watching trip from here.  I had followed Anna’s recommendation and we were scheduled for a trip the next day from Hauganes.  It was miserable and rainy so it really didn’t seem like the best time to be out searching for whales.  We found a place to park and wandered around the town.  We went into the whale museum but only looked at the displays at entrance.  We explored a church.  We walked around the harbor.  Then we decided we probably should eat.  So we found a gas station and finally experienced a hot dog.  For only $16 we both had a combo meal of a hot dog, soda, and candy and we split an order of fries.  I have to say the hot dog was better than I was expecting.  It was a large dog of something more meat like than at home and was topped with fried onions.  I was sad that we didn’t manage to have another one before we left.  I attempted to read a newspaper.  It appeared that most of the news centered on agriculture.  It was a very pleasant dining experience.

Since we had shortened our day it was time for me to fill it back up again.  So into the guidebook I went.  I thought I remembered a detour and then I found the one located online the night before and saved to my phone.  So on our way to Goðafoss we stopped at Grenjaðarstaður Folk Museum.  The museum resides in a traditional turf house dating back to 1865.  One unfortunate truth about visiting outside the heavy tourist season is that some of these sites are not yet open for business.  This would open in June.  But we still appreciated the buildings and the setting and could see some of the museum through the windows so it made a nice diversion.

Now it was time to head to the mighty Goðafoss.  This is a truly spectacular waterfall.  This was also one of the most heavily tourist populated areas we visited as several cruise ship tours arrived while we were there.  The name Goðafoss translates to Waterfall of the Gods.  In the year 999 Þorgeir made Christianity the official religion of Iceland.  As a symbol of the conversion he threw pagan statues into the water at Goðafoss making it the symbolic site of Iceland’s conversion.

It was of course rainy when we were at Goðafoss but I could see some sun in the distance.  We waited a while hoping it would make its way to us and give us a rainbow over this famous picture spot but it just couldn’t quite make it.

Back in the car I still felt I had to make up for the hikes we had let go earlier in the day.  So I found a new place for us to add to our itinerary.  We were a little nervous because it would take us to an F road but we decided that was why we had rented a 4 wheel drive car so let’s go for it.  So we found ourselves on the way to Aldeyarfoss.  It is 41 km from the Ring Road down an unsealed road to the northern entrance/exit of the Sprengisandur route that traverses the interior highlands. 

We definitely felt isolated travelling this road.  Both of us thought about how bad it would be to have car troubles now as we were very alone out here.  When we approached the turn off to the F road for the final journey to the falls we saw other people parked and preparing to hike the rest of the way.  We kept reminding ourselves that the sticker on the dash said our car was cleared for F roads and it was only 2 km but it was still a little intimidating to wonder what we were about to do by turning on that road.

We arrived at the car park for the falls and were happy to see very few other cars there.  One couple was leaving and another was exploring.  I believe areas like this are what make Iceland so magical.  We were about to take a hike to see majestic beautiful nature and would feel almost alone.  We shared this area with four other people while we were there.  Aldeyarfoss is another of Iceland’s beautiful photogenic waterfalls.  As the churning water bursts over the cliff’s edge it splashes through a narrow canyon lined with beautiful basalt.  It was a simply fabulous place to spend some time.

Now we headed to Akureyri.  This was our favorite city in Iceland.  It was a charming town and we had a lovely walk down to Akureyi Fish and Chips where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of fish and chips.  We were told about the beer spa while we were having dinner.  It is actually a spa where you soak in giant wooden tubs filled with beer.  I was of course intrigued and as it was close to where we would be whale watching decided I had to look into it.

As we headed back to the hotel we commented on how our car was showing the effects of our travels.  Jeff washed off the license plate so it could be seen before leaving the next day.    We both wished we had more time to stay and explore this lovely town but vowed to come back some day.