[Road trip in Iceland] Day 4: Black sand beaches, Svartifoss waterfall, grass church

Today, the program is rather light so we allow ourselves to make a little sleep-in before taking again the road. Our guesthouse does not propose breakfast so we lost moreover time to make omelets, sandwiches of all kinds (including sardines that we brought back from Portugal!) …

It is thus only at 10 am that we take the road, in direction of the famous black sand beach Reynisfjara, which we saw from above yesterday

Previous episodes : Day 1, Day 2, Day 3

Part 1: Travel Diary Part
2: Practical Tips

Part 1: Travel Diary

Itinerary – day 4

To open this map on Google Maps, click here

Stop 1 : Reynisfjara beach

The wind is blowing very strong today, in the 45km/h range. I have to wear 4 layers of clothes – merino t-shirt, fleece, down jacket & coat + 3 layers at the bottom (leggings, pants, windproof pants) to not get cold. We are wearing boots today so we don’t have sand in our shoes.

Note: This beach is considered dangerous because a big wave can come at once (even if it looks far like that, you are never safe from a mini-tsunami). At best, things get wet and cameras are destroyed; at worst… there have been tourists drowning here, because they were suddenly swept away by a big wave.

From here, we see the peninsula visited the day before, and the fine black sand like that, I like it too much!

On the beach there are basalt organs. I quote Wikipedia

Organs (by analogy with the instrument) or basaltic columns are a geological formation composed of regular columns. It results from the solidification and thermal contraction of a basaltic flow shortly after its emission. The lower part, which cools or dries out more slowly, fractures from the surface to the depth in the form of sub-vertical prisms with hexagonal section of decimetric order. These columns are surmounted by a zone of small less regular prisms (or “false prism”) that can be associated in sheaves. By extension, volcanic formations whose composition isn’t basaltic are often referred to as basaltic organs.

The famous Giant’s Causeway in Ireland or the waterfalls & cliffs in Jeju have the same structure.

As the picture shows, there are many cracks on these columns so don’t do like other tourists, try not to climb on them. Also, the person taking the picture (with his back to the ocean), must be very careful and check the waves constantly.

We continue a little and fall on this absolutely incredible cave ! It is so beautiful that we saw a couple coming to take wedding pictures here.

Stop 2 bis : Black Sand Beach

We go around the mountain to reach this beautiful black sand beach. We can see the rocks in the distance, in the name of Reynisdrangar. Legend has it that they are trolls petrified by daylight while they were stranding a boat.

We take advantage of being in Vik (a rather big town) to buy some gas.

Stop 2: Hjörleifshöfði Cave

We take again the road towards this cave, off the beaten track. The path that leads there isn’t the best, we have to drive slowly that’s all. There are some passages with snow. However, the sight of the carcass of a car 4 places completely destroyed does not reassure the other tourists too much. A couple asked us the state of the road and decided that it was too much for their small car.

It is only at the end of the road, 10m from the cave, when you have to drive on (hard) sand, that a sign indicates that only 4×4 are allowed.

Unfortunately, despite this little adventure, the cave is rather disappointing. I think that when summer comes and all this moss will be more numerous and greener, it will give something pretty. For the moment, bof.

Here, in the middle of nowhere, JB is surprised to see that the gas gauge of the car did not move when we just added 10 liters. We worry a little bit by saying to ourselves: if the gauge does not work, we may run out of gas without noticing it.

According to the Internet, the problem is known with our car model, just open and close the gas cap. And here’s the tragedy: he can’t open it and the car key is stuck in the cap. By forcing a little, fortunately, he manages to remove it. What a fright!

We tell ourselves that it is better not to risk being stuck here, between a lava field and the ocean. We turn around to go back to the gas station in Vik to try again. We say to ourselves that in case of problem, we will find people to help us. By turning left to right, we finally manage to open the gas cap, to put it back, without damaging the key. And indeed, the gas gauge works again. Phew!

Stop 3 : Laufskálavarða

We reach Laufskálavarða, a mound of lava. There is a parking lot on the side of the road and we see piles of stones piled up. Apparently, it is necessary to pile them up like that, when we go there for the first time, so that the trip goes well. Many tourists take advantage of this landscape of dream to break the crust (there are even 2 picnic tables in the middle of the snow)

Stop 4: Grafarkirkja, stop #fail

I read that there are only 6 grass churches in Iceland, including Grafarkirkja. So we make a small detour to go there. The landscapes are splendid, the road is more or less tarred but it isn’t embarrassing, we just have to drive slowly.

Arrived on the spot, it is the big disappointment. We look left to right, and we spot the only church of the corner. Let us play the game of the 1000 differences

What we thought we’d see:

What we saw:

WTF !!! I foolishly thought they had destroyed the old one (which must be in bad shape) to build a new one. The snow is pretty deep and my steps are sinking (to my calf). Luckily, I kept the boots from this morning. In any case, incomprehension and disappointment overwhelm me. JB says jokingly that given the price of petrol, my mistake cost us at least 20€

Only consolation: this church, in the middle of nowhere, remains splendid. There is a cemetery surrounding the church and as you can see on the picture, it’s a local area, not touristic, so nobody took care of the snow (except the road).

It is only in the evening, while searching quietly on my computer, that I realize that the church I wanted to go to is in the North of Iceland, and not in the South. Phew! I went to the town with the same name as the church. Well, I will post the picture of the other church when I get there.

Stop 5 : Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, stop #fail

Another stop #fail of the day. From a Justin Bieber clip, there are too many tourists, so they simply closed the access to this magical place to let nature rest a bit (check out the pictures on Google). There is no barrier, just a sign like this one. I know that other tourists go there anyway, but I’m for the respect of nature and local rules.

Stop 6 : Systrafoss

While in New Zealand there are public toilets everywhere, this isn’t the case in Iceland. The trick is to find the nearest service station. Toilets are reserved only for customers most of the time, take the opportunity to fill your tank, you never know.

So that’s how we met for lunch at the N1 station not far from Systrafoss. The hot-dog (small) + drink costs 630kr. (about 5€). It is the option recommended by the travelers low budget, because we can sit down and eat hot, without spending a fortune. Even our guesthouse owner on the 2nd day told us that we should prefer the service stations for a fast-food/coffee rather than to go in a real café.

Small photo stop to admire the beauty of this waterfall: Systrafoss, just beside the road. It is divided in two. Systra means “sisters”. We can follow a hiking path to go up to the lake at the top, which feeds the waterfall. We did not do it because we want to be at 16h at the national park of Skaftafell, at 1h from here

Stops photos

On the way, we stopped for some quick pictures. In this case:

• Foss a sidu: waterfall located in a private property, but you can take a picture from the barrier (see the 1st picture)
• Foss : 30m away, a very nice waterfall (see the 2nd picture)
• Dverghamrar : the cliffs of the dwarf, also basalt organs. We didn’t go there but if you have time, come back to us
• Then, on the road, you will see a magical place, full of mosses, lichens, herbs… it’s not very nice at the moment, but I’m sure that in summer, it will be beautiful (see the 3rd picture)

Stop 7: Svartifoss in Skaftafell National Park

It’s sunny today and ugly tomorrow, so we drive at full speed towards the Skaftafell national park, even if we have to skip a stage (a fork in Haoldukvisl to go see a glacier – we’ll go back there tomorrow).

The star of the park is the Svartifoss waterfall. There is no way to get there without walking, so my little legs will have to work today.

So the official website of the park only presents us the sick hiking trails (5.5km minimum), and some blogs scared me a lot (I must say that I have an overflowing imagination). So I went in “survivor” mode while the path is ultra easy, and the round trip (if you only go to the waterfall and take exactly the same path to come back) is only 3.6km so 1h.

We have to go up, pass in front of two waterfalls which look very similar, the beginning of the path is almost tarred. Difficulty 0.

We then arrive at a view point. This is where tired visitors give up because the view is already very satisfying.

It’s the descent that is a bit complicated. It snowed a few days ago, the path is muddy. The mud is mixed with the rocks so it doesn’t slip, but you still have to be careful. In case of snow, I think you have to use the crampons.

The view from below is so satisfying. We can’t get close to the waterfall, there is a platform from where we admire it. But it is so enormous that we take full of eyes (it is even more beautiful than on the photos). We see here the basaltic organs like what we saw this morning on the black sand beach, but there are pieces which fell down (as in Jeju), it is too beautiful! It is this waterfall which inspired the architecture of the cathedral in Reykjavík.

Now we have to make a decision: cross a small bridge and go for a loop, with the risk of adding 2.2km. Or take the same path to come back. JB opts for the loop, and we cross the bridge to take another path on the way back. I am relieved to see that we aren’t alone. Even if most of the tourists take again the way of the outward journey for the return, 3 other people cross the bridge with us.

After 1km, a sign indicates a view point at 200m: Sjonarsker. Let’s go there, the other group goes down without going there.

Well, they are wrong! Because at the end of 200m (it climbs all the same), we have a view at 360°C on all the zone. We realize the impact of two volcanic eruptions (centuries ago), there are lava fields as far as the eye can see on one side, and snowy mountains with huge glaciers on the other side.

Here is the glacier that we will see tomorrow (I zoomed in)

and panoramic photos

The wind rises, we are a little cold. It is there that we see a guy running, in shorts. To come here from the other side, he had to cover at least 5km already. And it seems that he still opts for a path of 5km more. It’s all uphill and downhill. Respect!

The descent is easier, at some point, if you follow the hiking trail of the park (S2), you have to branch off. But we are tired rebels and we follow the arrow to go down to the information center. In this case, you have to cross a bridge to get to the path – to get to the parking lot. In total, we spent 2 hours in this park.

Go to the end of the article to read the practical tips related to this park

Stop 8: the grass church in Hof

We zap another stop sign (which we book for tomorrow morning) to drive to Hof, where our hotel is located.

It is also in this small town leaning against the mountain, that one of the 6 grass churches is located. It is magnificent! And very small!

The moss reliefs you see are… graves. The ones with a date and a name are from 18xx. The roof of the church is made of stones and covered with grass.

Our hotel

Tonight we will sleep at Hof 1 Adventure Hotel(link Booking). The room is small but well appointed with a small washbasin and a tea corner. The shower is collective. It isn’t very well rated because tourists having the bad luck to be in a bungalow (outside the main building) aren’t happy. But when we have a room in the main building like us, it is very correct. We did not realize that there was no kitchen. Fortunately that we still have the sandwiches prepared this morning. That will save us to have to pay 35€ the small dish at the restaurant of the hotel.

Our next article in Iceland, it is by here (Day 5)

Part 2: Practical Tips

Today, we covered 207km. Time spent in the car: 3h30. Walk : 2h

Budget

• Gasoline: 5500kr
• Hot dog + drink: 630kr/person
• Parking at Skaftafell National Park: 750kr/day for a small car (up to 5 spaces)
• Hof 1 Adventure Hotel(Booking link): 82€ per double room, breakfast included.

Tips

• I have already told you everything about safety on the black sand beach. I have nothing more to add
• For the national park of Skaftafell : it is necessary to pay the parking and the machine is out of order. Don’t forget to download the myparking.isapp as soon as possible
• To go to Svartifoss, locate the campsite on the map to the left of the information center. This is where the path to the waterfall starts.
• To the right of the information center is the path to a glacier (route S1). It seems that the path is easy (only 1km away). We did not do it because we are going to visit two of them the next day by car.

This is the one you will see closely following the S1 path (photo taken from the road, by car)

• You aren’t obliged to follow the S2 route to go to cascade. You can follow the signs to go to Svartifoss and then
  • option 1: you take exactly the same way back (3.6km round trip from the parking lot)
  • option 2: either you do as we do: after the waterfall, cross the bridge, go to the Sjonarsker viewpoint, go down again, then follow the arrows pointing to the information center (4.2km round trip from the parking lot, it took us 2 hours)
  • option 3: you follow the S2 hiking trail (5.5km), which passes by Sel (an old sheepfold) with its grassy roofs