Travels with rarecat: Iceland - the scenic road to the north

It was a day's drive from the Western Fjords to Akureyri, in north Iceland with many breaks in between. But it was a scenic drive with interesting stops along the way.

Our first stop was the powerful waterfall at Kolugljufur Canyon, plunging into a deep, rugged gorge. We then visited the beautifully restored farm museum at Glambauer with its long houses in a wonderful setting with a mountain range as the backdrop. It was interesting to see the inside of the houses. In addition to the turf houses, there were two timber houses from the 18th and 19th centuries on the grounds.

The most exciting part of the day was lunch at a lady's ranch, Flugumyri in Skagafjordur, where she raised Icelandic horses. Anna, a single mom, raised a family and made a name for herself raising Icelandic champion horses. Her daughter rode the beautiful black and white stallion Stakkur and showed us the uniqueness of the Icelandic horse. Apparently the Icelandic horse has 5 gaits, walk, trot, canter, tölt and flying pace. Most horses only have the first three. It was fascinating to watch.

We continued our northward journey after lunch, reaching Akureyri, the northern capital in late afternoon. We spent a little time at the waterfront in Akureyri - there were lots of eiders and some arctic terns. I wish I had known that when I got off the bus with my wide angle...

We spent the night at the Hotel Laugar in a beautiful rural setting beside two streams teaming with bird life. We saw Arctic terns fishing in the river - it was not easy to shoot in the evening light but I did anyway - an unexpected find!

Thundering waterfall plunging into the deep gorge below at Kolugljufur Canyon

Bridge over the canyon

We were driving through farm country with some fairly big farms on the way. Below shows trumpet swans that seemed to have invaded the farms in Iceland. They were digging up the fields and in general making a nuisance of themselves. We saw many similar "invasions" throughout our drive on the ring road.

Glacier along the way

We stopped near this modern church for a break

The old church at the farm museum in Glambauer

View of the mountains through a gravestone

The beautiful mountain backdrop for the turf houses

The turf houses look like regular houses from the front

Long and narrow inside

The beds are very short. Apparently the early Icelanders sleep sitting as the prone position was only for the dead.


The turf houses from the back

Two timber houses from the 18th and 19th centuries on the property

The long houses echoed by the modern long houses on farms along the road. (below)

Beautiful Icelandic horses at the ranch

Going through the paces at the Flugumyri ranch in Skagafjordur

Finished with his performance, he was rewarded with some free time...what a beautiful setting

Akureyri, capital of the north with its art deco church on the hill

An impressive art centre

Family of eiders - it seemed that mom did all the work while dad just stood guard. She was training the two kids in how to dive by showing them how. They followed exactly what she did and did it again and again. It was quite fun to watch. See the little one frisking in the water below.