DAY NINE: West Fjords, I love you.

Here’s your warning now – day nine involves a fair bit of driving so have that playlist ready to go! Make sure you’ve pre-downloaded a few awesome tunes in case you run out of reception.

First stop on the itinerary for Day Nine was the magnificent Dynjandi waterfall, and oh boy was it gorgeous. I’ve never seen anything quite like it before. Dynjandi Falls is made of nine smaller falls that cascade down the face of a cliff, making it a sight to behold.

Dynjandi Waterfall

We walked all the way to the top of the waterfall in BOOTS, not hiking boots, but dress boots. Jamie’s even had heels on them! Warning for next time; wear your hiking boots! The walk up is steep, muddy and very slippery at times. The walk is well worth it, and you can even go super close to the falls and feel like you’re part of them.

IMG_2998.jpg

Next on the itinerary was to visit Iceland’s oldest steel ship, that is located literally in the middle of nowhere. It was super windy when we went, and we nearly froze. The stop is worth the visit though, with the ship surrounded by beautiful fjords and a postcard view of the entire valley.

IMG_2925.jpg

Day nine really did involve a lot of driving, and we knew trying to do the West Fjords in just under two days would be a bit of a stretch. We really wanted to visit Látrabjarg, that is famously known as the Bird Cliffs, as thousands of birds nest here each year. This includes the famous puffin, but unfortunately one of the downsides about coming in September means no puffins! They only migrate for a few months, so I’ll definitely be back in July when they’re here next time.

IMG_3064.jpg

The drive to Látrabjarg was LONG, and there were loads of potholes, slippery turns and sheer cliffs to fall off. It was a big diversion from our route, and almost didn’t feel worth it to be perfectly honest. The cliffs were absolutely beautiful, but without the birds they weren’t nearly as special. If you’ve been to Ireland, the cliffs resembled the Cliffs of Moher!

Something special about this ares that a lot of guide books don’t talk about, is that it is the most Western point of Europe. There is a tiny sign anda lighthouse to mark the special spot, but not much else. We were lucky to have stumbled across it, and it really did feel like the most Western point with how powerful the wind was, and how fricken freezing it was!

Látrabjarg

After nearly freezing to death at the most western point of Europe in Iceland, we hopped back into the car for what would be quite a long drive. Day nine was easily the most driving we did the entire trip, but sometimes you need to do these days. I’d recommend if you have an extra day to stay near the Bird Cliffs and take the next drive nice and slow, we just didn’t have the time.

Instead, we drove to Búðardalur campsite, that ended up taking around 6 hours all up to drive to. We didn’t arrive till quite late, and we were exhausted when we got there. This was probably the most disappointing campsite we stayed at. Showers were not included in the price, and there was no common area or place to charge your belongings. There was nothing except a sink that was outside, and we were absolutely freezing cooking our food and trying to charge our cameras in the bathroom. BUT, at the end of the day a campsite is a campsite, and it provided the basics which is all most people need. Did I mention it was a steep 2500ISKper person?! Eek, try to stay somewhere else if you can.

The next day was MUCH more spectacular, and included a place where I cried with joy. It literally brought tears to my eyes and I hope you’ll go there too. Click HERE to read all about it.