Wild Wonders in the North Atlantic

By Kristen Pope

It was raining sideways when we flew into Reykjavík, the capital, at 6:15 a.m. After picking up our rental car, my husband and I found a little café where we enjoyed a satisfying meal of broccoli soup, fresh-baked bread, and pastries, while gulping down coffee after our red-eye flight.

At first, we laughed at the warning sticker on the rental car: “Don’t blow up car door.” But as the wind gusted, we soon realized it wasn’t a joke. A car door could easily be damaged by what the Icelandic media dubbed “flying trampoline weather.”

Stocking up on sandwiches and snacks, we headed out to road trip along Iceland’s southern coast. After donning layers of fleece, rain jackets, rain pants, and hiking boots, we were ready to explore.

Iceland is known as the Land of Fire and Ice, and we soon discovered both its volcanic wonders and glaciers. We were enthralled by Reynisfjara’s black sand beach, Geysir’s geological features and the kaleidoscope of colours at Kerið Crater. Peering into the Silfra fissure, we saw where two tectonic plates meet and then went on to tour Þingvellir National Park.

Ice was on the agenda at Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, which was packed with chunks of ancient ice, from room-sized slabs to pebble-sized pieces. We savoured every moment of silence and solitude, listening to glaciers calving with a reverberating splash and watching ripples spread across the water.

Flowing water was also plentiful further along our route, with many cascading waterfalls lining the way. We hiked near a few beauties, including Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss, and spotted plenty of others as we drove in the mist, which created an air of mystery.

The days flew by, and soon it was time to hop on a 90-minute flight to the Faroe Islands. The North Atlantic archipelago is a selfgoverning nation within Denmark, and has remained relatively undiscovered. While Iceland is known by travellers from around the world, we mostly shared the Faroe Islands with locals and sheep. As we drove from the airport to our rental accommodation, we watched the late evening light dance along the hillsides as ewes and lambs settled in for the night. Our host greeted us with a spread of meats, cheeses, breads, sliced bell peppers, tomatoes, and all the fixings. He kindly said he thought we would be hungry. He left us to eat and rest before another day of exploration.

In the Faroe Islands, particularly scenic drives are designated as “Buttercup Routes” (the buttercup is the Faroese national flower), so we set out to traverse as many of these narrow, winding roads as possible, taking our time along the way to stop and listen to the symphony of sheep “bahhhing” as they nibbled on grass and scampered on the hills.

We laced up our hiking boots and set out to immerse ourselves in the stunning topography. We found many of the trails to be more rugged than those we encountered in Iceland. Many of the Faroe Islands’ prized routes go straight up mountains and meander along precarious ridge lines, packed with slippery moss and the possibility of precipitous falls. Carefully, we set out to explore the Bøsdalafossur waterfall and the famous “floating lake,” which appears to hover above the ocean. We sneaked a peek at the illusion, staying far from the cliff’s edge. Another day, we explored a village and spectacular viewpoints of Múlafossur waterfall on a cloudless day.

The Vestmanna Boat Festival just so happened to coincide with our visit, so we hopped a tour boat out to the Vestmanna Sea Cliffs and grottoes where puffins, fulmars, and guillemot nest. Then, we stuck around to watch the seafaring Faroese compete in rowing competitions and events, with plenty of merriment to go around.

We had hoped to take a ferry to see the large population of puffins on Mykines, but the forecast wasn’t favourable for the return trip – which would have meant missing our flight home – so we decided to save that adventure for a future journey. You never know what the wild North Atlantic has in store.