East Fjords

     Our drive today was a bit longer because we were winding along the edge of some very long fjords.     The landscape was different than I expected in that the cliffs are a long way from the ocean with wide, flat fields along the edge of the fjord.  This makes for much easier driving than clinging to the edge of a cliff.  The biggest stress factors were some super steep sections, including one 12% grade.  Fortunately the hills are short so, as Rick said, "You can just ride the brakes the whole way down and not burn them out." 

    As we drove along the coast I saw hundreds of water birds - Whooper swans, Greylag geese, Arctic terns, Icelandic Oyster catchers, and Great Northern Loons.  The loons looked very much like the Common Loons that live on Lake Waukenabo, so I looked them up to figure out the difference.  The answer is "nothing."  Two names for the same bird!  This is nesting season and birds were everywhere.  Dozens of swans swimming in little lagoons.  I spent lots of time looking up each new variety on the Internet because we have WiFi in the car.  We saw herds of goals and sheep, all with many babies.  After I saw reindeer on the way to dinner last night I was determined to have Rick see some and finally he did.  They are pretty shaggy this time of year. 

     Our first stop was a town founded by the Danes in the 1700's, Djupivogur.  We went there thinking we would see some great old houses.  However after two big cups of cafe au lait and two hours of driving we were very relieved to find free, clean public restrooms.  We saw lots of fishing boats, but no old houses. We have noticed that almost all the buildings here are well maintained and look reasonably prosperous.  The town is also know for "The Eggs of Merry Bay."  These are 32 large eggs carved out of granite representing local bird species.  Weird, but interesting.

     We drove around a huge fjord and saw fishing boats near some very large floating rings.  These are fish farms.  Salmon is the biggest fish farm product, although Arctic char and trout are farmed here too.  The fjords provide a perfect protected environment for the farms.  Faskruosfjorur is a fishing village on the fjord which was settled by the French and many of the streets have French names.  We struggled with Google maps to find a tiny museum which talked about the French fishermen, but gave it up when we realized it was Sunday and the town was mostly closed.  Instead we found a gas station and bought some soft ice cream cones!

     In World War II 3,000 Allied soldiers were stationed in Reydarfjordor, although the town had a population of only 300.  We drove to the WWII Museum only to find that it doesn't open until June.  There were rows of old barracks still standing on the hill overlooking the harbor.  

    The final leg of our journey today took us through a six kilometer tunnel and then up over a mountain pass to the town of Egilsstadir which didn't exist until 1944.  Now it is a thriving, modern town with a lovely Icelandair Hotel where we are spending the night.