Lighthouse Súgandisey and route 54
Today was our last full day in Stykkishólmur, and having done many of the nearby sights, and being tired from aurora hunting, we got up slowly – had a casual breakfast, and packed a few things while the boys watch the iPad. The weather today was glorious again – clear skies, no wind, sunshine and a balmy 6C.
Conway and I headed to Bonus to stock up on some needed food supplies – milk, bread, food for a curry, yoghurts (and skyr), and some secret Easter eggs for when we got home.
The opening times of supermarkets are really odd – this one did not open until 11am, so we parked by the dramatic church, Stykkishólmskirkja, while we waited. A magnificent white concrete building, it sweeps up into the sky like a sail.
Lighthouse Súgandisey
When we did get up and out, in the early afternoon sun, we headed over to the port, and up the steps of the hill, to the squat red lighthouse on top.
Súgandisey is an island that’s now connected to the mainland by a port and road. It acts as a natural shield, sheltering the town from the harsh north winds. The grandfather of the owner of our Airbnb used to operate the lighthouse. The views from the top are fabulous.
We looked north, across the fjord to the Westfjords, and a white tailed eagle flew over us – heading to the nests of the quickly-scattering sea birds. We posed for family pictures by the lighthouse, and the boys in their orange and yellow coats, and hats shouted “lighthouse” as we took the pictures.
It was tranquil up here, and we stayed for a while, watching the little boats go out one by one, making ripples in the calm water.
And before we left the boys got excited about the ferry that was docked in the port. Its front was open to let vehicles in, and a crew were prepping it. Forrest got very excited by a forklift truck, and some enormous tyres now being used as road blocks.
East on route 54
From Súgandisey we took the car south, then East, from a paved road to a gravel and dirt one, along a road less travelled. The road was bumpy and brown, and only after driving in Iceland for so long did we now feel comfortable on this route – and only in such friendly weather conditions. In places the tyres caught some wet mud and the car slipped a little, but it was all fine, it wasn’t even an F road.
Route 54 hugs the coastline, and cuts inland as it wraps around a small fjord, Álftafjörður. In the sunshine, with patchy white clouds and glistening snow, the landscape looked beautiful, and thankfully we found a little patch to stop and photograph the view.
We stopped at a viewpoint, a rusty old boat sat amidst the yellow grass, and the boys ran around and around in circles, playing some sort of game Conway had invented on the fly, with very complicated rules no doubt.
Back at our Airbnb we cooked a curry, got the kids to sleep and packed, and with a cloudy sky we took a break from all the aurora. Our relaxing night in was however interrupted by a rather unpleasant event involving one of the boys, but the less said about that the better.
