Horses for courses

Too cloudy for a Northern Lights display last night – but a lovely moon glow through the clouds

A slightly later start today was a welcome treat as it meant we could take our time over breakfast and enjoy the morning. The guesthouse put on an amazing spread – all made on-site by our hosts. Warm bread, lamb paté, cured meats (including horse!), marinated cheeses, a variety of condiments and delicious fluffy eggs (and cereals etc) were on offer.  

A recurring theme of our tour around Iceland has been the horses as the only livestock in the fields. Sheep and cattle are normally kept in barns at this time of year. These colourful horses have thick Winter coats and very fluffy manes and tails. Our first stop of the day was at an Icelandic horse stud. We watched a display of the five gaits of Icelandic horses – walk, trot, canter, tölt and flying pace. The last two are particular to this breed, and not every horse manages the tölt. We learned about the history of the horse (introduced from Norway around 1000 years ago), its isolation from external genetic input, its protection from overseas contamination (strict environmental/importation regulations), the selective breeding for its temperament and its importance to Icelandic culture. Getting up close to these calm, petite and shaggy horses was delightful.

We have been incredibly fortunate to experience great weather on our tour so far. Today was a little different. We encountered rain as we drove along fjord edges and over mountain passes on our way to Borgarnes. The grey day was befitting the mood, as our tour is coming to an end in a day.

An additional stop was at Grábrók, a 3600-year-old volcanic crater system. The cones are perfectly formed and the walk around the rim, although wet, was fantastic. Not sure how dormant the system is, but we felt very brave! The Keflavik fissure system (think helicopter flight on Day 1) is reactivating. A live feed has been set up so people can monitor the field’s activity. Hope it erupts while we are here, but not so much it impacts our departure. The system is in the same area as the airport!

No day on the tour would be complete without a visit to a waterfall and today was no different. Unusually this one does not have ‘foss’ in its name. Glanni (meaning ‘bright’ or ‘shining’ on account of its white water) was in full spate … the warmer weather and rain has melted the snow earlier than normal, feeding the rivers.

A few hot tub sessions at the hotel with some of the tour group was a lovely way to finish the day. And of course there was another delicious dinner.

Maybe tonight we will double our Northern Lights interactions?