This is our last full day in Iceland as we fly out Thursday early afternoon for London. We will spend most of the day on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula located northwest of Reykjavik. In my research it was described as a mini representation of Iceland. There are a number of sites to visit on our potential itinerary. It is a long drive to get to the first site being 80 minutes of Randy driving like a fiend. No surprise...Lana can't pronounce the Icelandic name properly so has started calling it the Snuffle place.
En route we go through a tunnel that is six kilometres long and under the ocean inlet. Incredible. The speed limit was 70 kms per hour and it seemed to last forever. There is good lighting though and no cars in front of me heading to the Peninsula, but coming back to Reykjavik there was traffic so I needed to be patient. (???)
The drive to the Peninsula and then on the first part of the Peninsula was the usual flat prairie like conditions with some mountains in the distance. The ocean was on our left as we took the southern route on the Peninsula as our itinerary was for places on that side.
We know that the first photo we post on the blog appears as the key photo so here you go....
Eldborg Crater from the top rim looking down. This was our major hike today. We'll describe later. 
A map showing Snaefellsnes Peninsula relative to Reykjavik. We did not take this blue highlighted route though. Apparently, on a clear day you can see the Peninsula from Reykjavik! I am dubious. 
Our first stop was actually the trailhead for Eldborg Crater. The trailhead was basically a building near a farm with zero signage. We went over the small bridge first and saw what appeared to be the start of the hike? We parked our Jeep and tried to figure out if it was worth the hike in the strong winds and light rain/chill? Nope. We figured we could return here when we were finished with our Peninsula tour if the weather had dramatically improved.
Our first official stop was Gerouberg Basalt Cliffs located west of the Crater. Lana is fascinated by the basalt and the many forms it may take. Also, after you park your car on the side of the entry road there is a bit of a walk and then you need to scale the steep side of this escarpment and it wasn't easy. In fact, Lana chose to walk to the end of the escarpment as it was an easy descent versus going back down the tricky rocks and loose soil like Randy did.
Gerouberg Basalt Cliffs that create an escarpment. When we parked there were a few tourists on top of the escarpment so that meant we were headed up there as well. 
Majestic and formidable. The large boulders in front were six-sided.
Closer look.
Side profile of the basalt stacks/cliffs.
When we were on top of the escarpment this volcano was an unexpected, but beautiful sight!
This is Lana walking back to the edge of the escarpment and in the background is the Eldborg Crater that we chose not to hike earlier.
Our second stop was along the coast at
Ytri-Tunga Beach. The purpose was to be on another beach and apparently there are seals present on the beach. Lana stayed in the car as it was warm and dry, while Randy hiked to the alleged seal location with her iPhone for pics. I did see one seal and that was it. After I returned to the Jeep, we ate our lunch that Lana made: two sandwiches, 1/2 apple and some sparkling water. More to see we gotta go...
Example of the parking charges at each visitor location. Parking rates based on size of vehicle.
Apparently these are the two types of seals that frequent this beach?
Do not disturb the seals please. You are supposed to stay on the path although that was ignored by some of the tourists.
OK, there was one seal that was a poser! Although that was the only seal I could see. I had to zoom in for the photo. After taking the pic, I figured during my life I had seen at least 25 seals so time to go...
Our next stop was kind of a lark. It is
Rauofeldsgja Gorge. There is a myth described below and it is millennia old involving maybe a troll. The title for today's blog is based on the fact I did explore this gorge and there was no troll! What the heck. Lana said it must have been laundry day and he was busy!
Information sign.
Walking towards the gorge at the foot of the large hillside. The hike in a round-trip was 1.18 kms covering 84 metres elevation gain.
Stream pouring out through the gorge. I explored into the gorge.
Inside this gorge/cave there is an opening above.
Stream cascading down into the hole where you enter. Maybe the trolls were hiding?
We knew we needed to get some more gas as there weren't many gas stations along this route. Earlier in the morning we stopped at a gas pump located in the middle of nowhere. Our credit card refused to validate. A fellow in the car beside us offered to use his card for us! When we said we had no money to pay him back--he said that was ok. He'd rather buy our gas than think someone might run out here in the middle of nowhere. Wow, how generous and unexpected. We did have enough gas so we declined his incredible offer.
Lana found a gas station in
Arnarstapi. All gas stations in Iceland do NOT have an office/toilets/convenience store or anything. Our credit card worked at their pumps so PHEW! Near the gas pumps we found these toilets.
We have seen these style units in other locations in Iceland that are located close to a beach or a lake. We speculate they are used by Icelandic people for summer retreats. Very basic accommodations but visually pleasing.
Our next stop was the Basalt sea stacks of Lóndrangar. The pictures pretty much tell the story. More basalt for Lana!
When we were taking this picture a couple from Denver, Colorado said to me you are Canadian? Then said you are a Montreal Canadiens fan because I was wearing their cap. That struck up a conversation as they were huge Colorado Avalanche fans.
Picture taken from our car on the way to our next stop.
OK, next stop ended up being pretty scary. The reason it was scary is that it was a bad gravel road to gain access and mostly uphill. There was a parking area, but I saw a super steep gravel road above so kept going and put on the 4 wheel drive. We barely made it up and then it appeared the road ended at a cliff! Yikes, we need to somehow turn around and then drive back down to the parking area. Easier said than done as it was super narrow with long drop to your death on both sides. We did turn around and made it to the parking lot below. Nobody was here but us and it was super cloudy. We eventually got Lana's fingers released out of the dashboard--she was holding on for dear life!!
Songhellir Cave is known for the musical qualities of its echoes. We don't have any musical instruments nor can we sing. The cave echoed for sure. As you can see from the photo the clouds had moved in.
Pretty large cave opening.
During the day the weather was very unpredictable. At time the winds were howling. At times there were rain and mist. We weren't sure if we could do the crater hike, but when we arrived at the spot from the start of the day it was not windy and pretty clear skies. The decision was to hike to the
Eldborg Crater and then up to the top of the rim. It is 15:30 and the hike was
estimated at 90 minutes total and around 6 kms round trip. Parking is free and there are washrooms.
The weather is pretty good for our hike. On the way back it begins to drizzle and the winds pick up, but that is OK as we are on our way back. Statistics: 6.40 kms round trip. 1 hour 46 minutes total. 100 Metres elevation gain which would have been hiking to the top of the crater. It was so steep there was steel chain/rope to pull yourself up and help you get down with our falling and dying.
Super funny thing occurred as we were just leaving the parking lot at the end of our hike and it was drizzling and chilly. Annie Lennox song "Here Comes the Rain Again" was playing on the 80s music station. Coincidence?
Information sign.
Randy in the blue shirt. Lots of bushes in this part of the hike and the terrain was extremely tricky. Many volcanic rocks and tree roots which is tricky for Lana--a natural born klutz! her words not mine...
Crater looming above the surrounding countryside.
Randy wearing his red waterproof jacket/windbreaker.
Interesting geology on the hike.
Pictures taken from the rim of the crater looking down. Randy has a fear of heights and simply did not walk near the edge of the rim and pretty much sat in the middle of the ledge. Lana took all the crater photos.
Top of the rim of the crater looking down.
Looking down again. You can see that the bottom of the crater is fairly lush. The walls of the crater are really steep and it is quite a drop to the bottom.
Lana takes a selfie to try and show the depth of the crater.
This crater can be seen for many kilometres.
The sheep are very curious!
For dinner on our last night, we have to go to this famous Icelandic hot dog stand! The name of the stand is
Baejarins Beztu Pylsur and it became famous in 2004 because Bill Clinton visited and had a plain hot dog with just mustard on it. Hot dogs are a must try when you come to Reykjavik. We find the stand and luck into a parking spot half a block away. There's a line up of course which they say moves quickly--when you're hungry nothing moves quickly it seems LOL. While waiting, there is a group of four women in front of us and one of them asks Randy about the Columbus name on his jacket. He explains it's his ex-soccer team and they say they're from Columbus Ohio and wondered if there was a connection. Sadly not but they tell us that they've all travelled to Iceland to attend a family member's destination wedding. Because they've all travelled so far, the couple have arranged a bunch of sight seeing activities and tours for everyone. The wedding is tomorrow at a secret waterfall location. Now that's a destination wedding.
The hot dogs come with your choice of toppings: raw onions, crispy onions, ketchup, mustard and remoulade sauce. Everything = all dressed. Or you can select what you want. The hot dogs cost 690 ISK or about $7CAD. We bought four hot dogs.
We each order two and because Randy doesn't want ketchup on his two dogs--the lady in the stand, out of habit, accidentally puts ketchup on his, then throws two away when she realizes she's made a mistake. Randy told her he would eat it anyway but she insisted on making him his "perfect" dog. The brownish sauce below is mustard--which is not very sharp at all. The light yellow sauce beside it is the remoulade sauce.
Overall, we like these dogs. Apparently they are made with beef, pork and lamb (of course!). Very tasty and the weiner has a nice snap to it. The bun is fresh and soft. The ketchup isn't as tomatoey and sweet as the north American version. The crispy onion gives it some added texture. Lana says the Danish hot dogs are better as she likes the pickled cucumber they put of their version.
I wanted to figure out approximately how much mileage we drove today. My informal calculations total 390 kilometres of driving today. That is comparable to some of the other driving days we experienced prior to arriving in Reykjavik.
We returned to our apartment around 19:45. Our first priority was to do the laundry. The dryer finally finished at 22:30. Another long day, but mostly fun. Sporadic weather, but again when we had something to see the weather usually obliged. Difficult driving the Jeep again with the wind slamming against the vehicle. We were not too tired unlike yesterday. For today my stats show 18,000 steps and the equivalent of 67 floors elevation gain. We have done a lot of walking/hiking since we arrived in Iceland. It is now 23:20 and time for both of us to get to bed. Travel day tomorrow!
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