Snæfellsnes Day 11

Day 11: Snæfellsnes

The weather is mixed today. It is mostly raining and foggy, and it isn't expected to improve.
So we start from Búðardalur heading to the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. Again, we mostly have to take a gravel road. Now we understand why the other cars are so dirty. The town of Stykkisholmur does not offer much; we park at the harbor and walk to a small peninsula to the lighthouse. From there, we can overlook the town and the Breiðafjörður fjord. Again, we see many seabirds. Our route then leads us to Grundarfjörður. There, we walk to Kirkjufellsfoss, a waterfall at the foot of Kirkjufell.
There are many tourists, but we are not impressed; we have seen better ones.
Now we switch sides of the island; unfortunately, the weather is even worse on the other side. We cannot see the glacier volcano Snæfellsjökull. It starts to rain heavier. In Arnarstapi, we walk along the black cliff coastline.
The sea has shaped the basalt columns on the beach into different coves and caves that extend beneath the cliffs. Some of these caves are open at the top, and during storms and high waves, foam rises from them.
Rock columns, former lava channels, and remnants of craters stand in the sea and serve as nesting places for numerous seabirds. It continues to rain, but we make use of the time and hike for a while. The supposed whale unfortunately turns out to be just rocks in the sea. Afterwards, we enjoy ice cream and cappuccino in the camper. We briefly stop at Lóndrangar. The kids wait in the car while we admire the coastal rocks.
Then it is back to the northern side of the island. In
Hellissandur, we look at the murals from the car and then choose our place for the night in Ólafsvík. The spot is getting increasingly crowded, more and more campers are arriving. It is quite a spectacle to watch them.