Trolls have almost human faces. Almost.
And long tongues that snake out underfoot.
That fall over the cliff and make the sea.
Neskaupstaðir Nature Conservancy
That’s right. The sea is troll spit, full of fish and dreams.
If you are in the Easter Cave at Neskaupstaðir at sunrise on Easter…
…not only will you be wet and cold (or drowning) …
… but you will see the sun rise straight out of the cave’s mouth, where seals, it is said, turn into men.
And men, presumably, into seals.
Some farms that no one lives on anymore are still being farmed for hay. Note the fine tractor road here in Reydisfjörður.
Others have gone wild, although they are still farms and can be claimed again. This one, in Neskaupstaðir, is accessible only by foot. A boat looks out of the question.
I bet there are eiðars, though!
Which is the most beautiful, an unnamed fall in the summer at Neskaupstaðir?
Or famous Litlafoss below Hengifoss in April?
What a tough choice!
These are rare landscapes in Iceland, as they were mined for peat for many hundreds of years, but they are still there in the remote East, and are being rebuilt in Neskaupstadir (such as the one above). Aren’t they lovely!
It’s always a great day to walk out on the shore of the sea, where the seals and eiðars once swam. The sea might change its level, but that’s a bonus for us.
Neskaupstaðir
And the eiðars demonstrate just what it was like here long ago.
Easy does it!
Wildflowers taking the place of eiðars.
Out in the nature reserve in Neskaupstaðir (just go right to the end of town), the beach below the trail is gorgeous.
And alive with Eiðar ducks and their ducklings.
Surfing. Scrabbling in the backwash for good things to eat.
In a good wave, the ducklings get tossed a metre into the air, tumbled head to heels, then dragged a metre under water again, only to pop back out.
This is beautiful to watch. For the ducklings, it’s survival. When a skua comes to take one, the whole flock of ducks imitates this scramble. It’s life or death.
I’ll show you that scramble tomorrow.
A Farm in Iceland 