RTTI: 10 – Hvítserkur
4 minutes read | 662 words by Ruben Berenguel
As you may remember, yesterday we were not happy with our guest house. And in addition to what we saw yesterday, today our breakfast was d––n late. When you are driving around a country trying to be on time everywhere, you wake up early and drive a lot. If your breakfast is late, you are bound to either go faster (not a good idea in Iceland) or get to places later. Anyway, let’s stop the rant.
After leaving our guesthouse, we went to get some fuel and buy some souvenirs. We got some nice key-chains made with treated fish “skin” (cod, salmon and others) and our usual dose of skýr for the trip.
Blönduós' textile museum, Borgarvirki’s fortress
Our first stop was Blönduós, where we visited the textile museum. The entry fee was 600 ISK, and it was somewhat interesting. If you happen to pass around there it is worth a look just for the old clothes you can see.
I was impressed with this plaque in Borgarvirki.
It is an usual view around Iceland, signaling places
Next came Borgarvirki, which is supposedly a natural fortress, used by local settlers to defend the area. If it was really used or just an odd-shaped hill is still unsettled, but the views from the place are just huge. As a defense point it looks really good. The road up the hill is quite rough, beware.
Driving in Iceland can be tricky
Hvítserkur
The Hvítserkur is an odd-shaped rock formation, 15 meters from the shore. It looks really interesting, and it is one of the most visited things in this area. There are two ways down the beach: to the right of the parking zone, slowly and going pretty far in an almost flat walking path or an uneven quite steep path just below the viewing area.
We liked this formation
We recommend the steep path, after our experience with the flat one. This is the first place we had Hitchcock like moments with the local birds, Arctic Terns, known as kría in Icelandic. The national bird (depicted in postage stamps), loved by the locals for its protective behavior is an animal we hate. Kría lay their eggs in flat areas, with a preference for the sides of pathways. They are highly territorial, and will attack anything that goes close to their nests… Or any other bird’s nest in the area. And indeed, they attack. First they scream around your head, 6 or 7 meters above, two or three times trying to get you away from their nests. If you don’t, they’ll dive to your head. They have hard beaks.
We had to run for our heads' sake a few moments before reaching the beach in front of the Hvítserkur, where we collected rocks and seashells. Facing the prospect of more attacks, we climbed the wall in front of it. An interesting feature is the small waterfall in front of the rock, beside the downward path. It was probably due to the recent rain.
On The Way to Holmavík: Seal Watching
On our way to our guesthouse we stopped in an old, abandoned farm set as a seal watching area. Really wonderful! Also full of kría… We saw how a careless Frenchman was hit in the head by some birds.
It was also damn cold, and we were lucky to have a hot chocolate there. It was not expensive (it wasn’t incredibly good either) but made us feel warmer.
Our guesthouse was in Drangsnes, and we had some problems locating it: it is named Malarhorn, but the signs read Malarcafe. The road was odd: we had lots of fog for a long while, and then suddenly everything was clear as soon as we reached the seashore.
Funny rock decoration in Holmavík
Let’s rest, tomorrow will be a long day…
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