Travel with Kevin and Ruth: Back to Iceland

It's hard to believe that it was only seven weeks ago that we were in Iceland. We were thinking about that yesterday and Ruth reminded me that we never presented part two of our day trip to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. So for today, we're going to take you back to Iceland!

When we left you at part one, we were half way through our day trip. There were simply too many photos of the amazing landscape to cram them all in to one post. Just to refresh your memory, here's part one...

http://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2012/10/the-wonders-of-snaefellsnes.html

Natural bridge formation.

Beautiful coastline.

Anything to see through there?

Our tour bus stopped at a place called Dritvik. There's a stone beach near there where a fishing trawler wrecked in 1948. There's also a few hiking trails, and when they said we were going to be stopped for an hour, Ruth and I decided to do one of the hikes. It was over a mile each way so we were going to have to be fast so that we didn't miss the bus!

Crescent stone beach near Dritvik.

Coastline near Dritvik, Iceland.

The remains of the British fishing trawler "Epine".

The iron remains on the beach are from the British fishing trawler Epine which wrecked east of Dritvik on the night of March 13, 1948. Only five of the crew of nineteen were saved. Rescue teams came from three nearby villages to help but conditions were difficult with bad weather and heavy seas. members of the crew could be seen on the wheelhouse and tied to the rigging of the damaged trawler. The tide was coming in, and huge waves broke over the ship. One man was washed up on the beach still alive. After the tide turned, it was possible to shoot out a line which the crew managed to tie to the mast, and the four men who were still alive were pulled to safety. (Taken from a sign at the site.)

From the middle of the 16th century until the middle of the 19th, Dritvik was the largest spring fishing station in Iceland. The season lasted from the beginning of April until the middle of May. At times, there were forty to sixty boats based here with between two hundred and six hundred men working here.

Our tour bus from Reykjavik Excursions.

An Icelandic horse.

Icelandic horses are the only breed of horse in Iceland. They have very few diseases and it is against the law for any other breed of horse to enter Iceland. Any Icelandic horse that leaves the island is never allowed to return.