SNAEFELLSNES+PENINSULA

=SNAEFELLSNES PENINSULA=

Wowzers! This is like driving through a completely alien landscape! Unfortunately the cloud covered the glacier (which fills the crater on top of the mountain) and we didn’t see it at all – we did see it in the distance, shining brightly in the sunshine the day before, but weren’t smart enough to take photos then! Todays drive took us around the Snaefellsnes peninsula with its amazing array of scenery - rugged cliffs with volcanic plugs, soaring mountains (mostly covered in mist) and colourful houses and neat little churches dotted amongst the landscape. There also seems to be a waterfall cascading down the mountainside at every turn. We boarded the ferry to travel the 3 hours across to the Westfjords. Unfortunately the west wind that had cooled us earlier had also blown up quite a swell and the first couple of hours was pretty rough with waves smashing over the bows and along the windows. Having survived that though we then had an hour's drive through several mountain passes to get to our overnight accommodation. With light rain falling, mist swirling around and darkness falling probably the last thing we needed was a narrow wet road with high cliffs on one side and a long drop on the other with NO guardrails! Fortunately there appears to be little traffic anywhere so we didn't meet any oncoming cars on the windy bends. It was a relief to finally arrive and get out of the car! Sorry there are no pictures of the road - we were too scared to stop but Gail swears she saw several dark gnomes!
 * Snæfellsjökull** (Icelandic for "snow- fells glacier " or "snow-mountains glacier") is a stratovolcano with a glacier covering its summit - it last erupted around 1800 years ago but the lava flows cover much of the countryside creating a weird landscape. Mostly covered with moss and some grasses strange dark shapes just “appear” along the side of the road – its quite eerie!
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 * [[image:IMG_2229_2.jpg]] || [[image:IMG_2234.jpg caption="yes, they are gloves I'm wearing! It was COLD!"]] ||
 * [[image:IMG_2238.jpg caption="and ... windy!"]] || [[image:IMG_2267.jpg]] ||
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and on to ..... THE WESTFJORDS