For most of the trip we have been only spending one night in any given location. In Isofjordur, the gates are open to the wild and offbeat Westfjords, so we stayed 2 whole nights! That afforded us a little more time to go and do some exploring. I can’t recall whether or not Melissa mentioned we did not actually get the 4x4 vehicle we requested when we arrived, that will become relevant later in the story. The morning started with a little bit of a back track. We went one fjord back in order to visit the Arctic Fox Center in Sudavik. (In reality it was only about 15 minutes).
The arctic fox is the only native mammal in Iceland. I had no idea they came in several different color variations. The most common colors are the white morph, blue morph, and beige morph. It is interesting that 90% of all arctic foxes in the world are white morph but 80% of the foxes in Iceland are blue morph. Unlike the white morph, the blue morph does not change from brown to white and back, it stay brown the whole year through. The Icelandic arctic foxes also aren’t experiencing the same challenges with the ever increasing population of red fox that are migrating north. That is because Iceland is an island, and there are no red fox here. But the arctic fox population in the rest of the world is being negatively impacted by their larger cousins from the south.
Following the visit to the Arctic Fox Center, we followed the very detailed plan Melissa had laid out for the family. The first stop was right outside the town of Bolungarvík (which boasts a very respectful population of approximately 1000 people), at Osvor a replica of an old Icelandic fishing station. We were met by our host, dressed in the traditional outfit. He was extremely informative about the small cluster of buildings, the manual winch used to haul the boat from the water, and of course, the fishing boat itself. The conversation probably would have been even better if he spoke more English or one of us spoke Icelandic. Nevertheless, we learned that during the fishing season the house at the station would typically hold 12 men and 2 women. This traditional fishing practice continued up through the 1920s, to which my son exclaimed, ‘that was 100 years ago!’. My eldest daughter pointed out that was only double my current lifetime… Anyway, after the fishing village we hoped back into the family truckster and tested it’s very 2-wheel drive suspension on one of the many ‘f-roads’, which are unpaved gravel roads leading to the inner part of Iceland. It was up, up, and away! for the Flatt’s. We were headed to the radar station on the top of Bolafjall mountain.
This was my first real experience with the famed Iceland f-roads. We were blessed with good weather and the fact there are not a lot of people driving in this part of the country. I can’t really give the road a proper description, but I never felt like we were going to fall off the edge. You really need to just look at the pictures and short video. The views from the top were spectacular. Everyone did a great job walking out on to the cantilevered viewing platform, a mere 638m (about 2000 feet) above the sea. I saw a tiny little disturbance on the surface of the water and made the mistake of asking Ryan what he thought it was. He, very matter of fact, pointed out it was a boat. We were really high up. The drive back down was non-eventful and we were on our way down the named dirt road (still gravel, but less rough) that follows a solitary creek down to a beach nestled between two mountains. The area was inhabited until the 1960s. Now only a few summer houses dot the landscape.
The beach and the surrounding area was an absolute delight. Ryan found another group of nesting arctic turns that dive-bombed his head. I think Elizabeth actually got this one on video. Ryan was wearing his trusty hooded Carhart and was generally unpreturbed. Nothing gets through a Carhart. I decided that it was time for me to take the first flight with my new drone. Prior to leaving the US, I researched the laws for drones in Iceland and even took, and passed, an exam so I would be completely legal. I also ‘upgraded’ my little drone with a bigger battery in order to extend the flight time. The new battery changed the classification of the drone and as a result it refused to take off. Lucky for me, Iceland seems to have extraordinarily good cell coverage and I was able to get some advice from google on how to get past this situation. While the kids walked on the beach and discovered a fully intact lamb skeleton (I will spare you the photos) and looked for interesting rocks, I flew my little 4K camera platform around the valley. I was even able to capture some video of the sheep approaching Melissa. She told me that she is absolutely certain they all need a good fluffing, and she is just the one to do it. The sheep were wanting to cross the bridge to the other side of the creek. They did get really, really close to her. She still hasn’t fluffed any of them, yet.
We made it back to Isafjord in time to visit the Culture House. It had been the local hospital before being converted to the public library. The second floor has a small art gallery and the stairwell to the third floor has artifacts from the time it was a hospital. Some really interesting stuff. Then we popped over to the Jonsgardur garden for a family photo under a whalebone arch.
Have I mentioned there are not a lot of people in Iceland? The town we are staying in is one of the most densely populated with approximately 2700 people. That is the same size as the small town I live in outside of Nashville. It really isn’t very big according to US standards. There are only a handful of restaurants to choose from. Originally we were going to eat at a local brewery but the menu was pretty limited and we looked for what other options were available. According to Trip Advisor, Húsið was only a 5 minute walk from the hotel and had really good ratings. I called over just to make sure they had room for the fam and the very nice young lady told us to come on over. We really lucked out because shortly after we arrived, they started turning guests away with a hour and a half wait. I really like to eat. I am a huge fan of trying local dishes when we travel. One of the reviews mentioned that fish soup was some of the best the reviewer had ever had, so that was what I ordered. Holy moly! This bowl of soup might not only be the best fish soup I have ever eaten, it might be the best soup I have ever eaten. Even Melissa, who is not a huge fan of fish, loved it. The rest of the dishes were also excellent. I can't say enough about the soup. If you ever find yourself in this part of the world, eat the waffles from Litlibaer and get the fish soup from Húsið in Isafjordur!
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